Breathtaking "Midsummer Night," by Julie Taymor

(image credits)

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a longtime favorite, and each production of it sheds light on how Shakespeare managed to make a dramatically complex play so easily delightful for all ages.  Magic fantasy may indeed be the trick, and if so, then Julie Taymor succeeds rather well:

In any case, Julie Taymor may not be at the height of her powers. There may be more heights, and different ones. But I woud urge audiences to delight unabashedly in her beautiful magic tricks, because they may end up with what she really wants to give them: a stronger sense of what Shakespeare knew about love--and that's no mean feat.

Reference: Why I Love Julie Taymor's Midsummer Night's Dream.

Yet, Taymor may bring a mixed bag of audience reactions:

But you don’t go to a Taymor production for the acting, or — let’s be honest — to exercise your deeper feelings. While I think you could make an argument for a sustained thematic interpretation here, this “Dream” exists more as a glittering necklace of breathtaking moments than as an emotionally affecting whole.

Reference: When the Sky is No Limit.

Many of the moments on the stage are without question spectacular – wondrous, thrilling, stunning. The clever uses of something as simple as a pole and as elaborate as a built-in elevator on the back wall, along with a myriad of other materials and equipment and maneuvers, create a world of live magic. But all these effects can make the language of the Bard feel beside the point; at times the stage visuals seem to serve as a substitute for plain good acting. At the end of the nearly three-hour production, one might leave the theater thinking: Who knew there is such a thing as being too creative?

Reference: A Midsummer Night's Dream Review: Julie Taymor Returns, In Brooklyn.

I remember seeing a British production of this play in Dubai, and it was clear that the director and his staff were too inexperienced and anxious about Arabic culture.  Public displays of affections, even those on stage, are frowned upon, at best, and censored and penalized, at worst.  It was too conservative, thought, and much of what ought to have been delightful and comic simply fell flat.

American culture is quite the opposite, of course.  But I wonder if Taymor swung the pendulum too far in a bold, creative fashion.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is on stage at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center until January 12th 2014.  If you end up watching it, please e-mail me your thoughts and experiences of it:  Ron.Villejo@drronart.com.