Midsummer Reviews

Sooo, we got a sneak peek of this show last night. There were a LOT of good parts, great acting, tears, and I haven’t seen my 13-year-old laugh so hard in I don’t know if I have ever. In his words, “that was the best B-Act show I’ve ever seen.” I was a little reluctant to get on board with the 60s theme, but once we were there and it was started, we were tripping along with the cast. I recommend you go to Bact.org and get tickets ($2 less online than at the door.) or just go to one of the shows!! Erik (AKA Bottom) tried to take several parts, and managed to steal a good portion of the show. Opening night in 5 hours! Have funk! you will. (A typo, but I will go with it.) --Eliza G.

Things to know about BACT’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which my wife Anne and I had the privilege of seeing this evening: 1.) This is the Shakespeare play with the fairies and the guy whose head is turned into a donkey’s head. 2.) It is FUNNY. Erik Martin hams it up as the self-important Nick Bottom (of the aforementioned donkey’s head), Annalise Settafrati minces around the stage as the puckish Puck, and Anthony Robbins nails his roll as The Wall in the play-within-a-play. But I think every character made me laugh at least once. This is Shakespeare comedy the way it should be: silly, fun, and genuinely funny. 3.) You can actually tell what’s going on. This a trippy, dreamy play, and the 1960’s / mushroom forest setting captures the mood perfectly. The plot includes love triangles and quadrangles and probably other shapes I don’t know the names of. But for all that, even without reading a synopsis ahead of time, the action and words were all presented so clearly that I had no trouble following the plot through all its topsy-turvy twists and turns. That is a testament to the skill of director Suki and the work of an excellent team of actors. 4.) If you want to escape into a dreamland of hilarity for a couple of hours (yep, really - Shakespeare in just two hours), you should see this show. --Coleman G.

I thoroughly enjoyed BACT's performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream last night - sound acting, wonderful '60s setting (took me back to my youth), and hilarious presentation of a delightful play! I definitely recommend this even if you think you wouldn't understand Shakespearean dialogue - the actors' delivery makes it accessible to a wide audience. --Hilary G.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare’s beloved comedies. It has wonderful elements of farce often precipitated by sometimes clumsy fairy meddling. One of the challenges of producing Shakespeare is how might you make a production “fresh.” I think many of us would question “updating” Shakespeare’s language. This production is happy to use his original language, which I enjoyed. The other option which this production employs, as a number of others that I’ve seen, is to choose an era and style for the actor’s clothes and the scenery. While remaining true to Shakespeare’s wording this production, in my opinion, makes wonderful use of hippie clothing and colorful spotted mushroom forest scenery. The result is something I’d highly recommend you attend. Great fun in this production with actors filling roles with robust energy. I enjoyed this production and think you will as well. --Eric C.

I came to see the first performance tonight. The play was hilariously funny, the acting was superb! And the set -- ah, the set -- was absolutely gorgeous. --Paul S.

I really enjoyed the show! One of my middle school age granddaughters wanted to see it twice! Such fun!
--Barbara B.