Published April 22nd, 2024 - Edited April 22nd, 2024 to amend the last name of Valmik Duvadie

The uOttawa Theatre Club’s first Shakespeare Production A Midsummer Night’s Dream opened its weekend run Thursday April 4th at the Arts Court. One of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, the comedy follows the story of four lovers stuck in a love potion mess, along with the wedding of Amazonian royalty and the failing marriage of the King and Queen of fairies. 

While this storyline may be sometimes difficult to follow for a Shakespeare newcomer, this was not the case for uOttawa’s production, led by Director Kenzie Barrera and Assistant Director Andrew Lemieux. The actors took on the challenge and gave the audience a wondrous rendition that was easy to follow and full of comedic relief and passion between the actors.

The show opened with an intense monologue from Max Zimmermann, portraying the revered Duke of Athens and quickly establishes the love triangle dynamic between Hermia, one of our lead lovers, her lover Lysander, and Demetrius, the man hoping to steal her away. 

Leading lady Hermia is beautifully played by Alana Malanga, whose fierce demeanour and seductive one-liners commanded the stage every time she spoke. Her best lines were her lamenting for her Lysander, portrayed by Alex Lindahl, and while the two often lacked chemistry on stage, Malanga made up for it with her convincing lust and clear devotion to their love story. 

Lindahl, who struggled to find their pace in the first few scenes, began to shine brightly later on in the show, giving the audience an enjoyable performance of the flamboyant Lysander. Finally, Phillip Caron gave us a passionate rendition of Demetrius, Hermia’s suitor. The young actor gave his heart to Hermia, then Helena, and the audience as he fully committed to every emotion on stage. 

The last of the lovers is the hopeless romantic Helena, stunningly portrayed by Daniella Bell, who gave one of the most enchanting performances of the evening. From her first appearance on stage, she dazzled the audience as she seemingly floated to centre stage. While she called longingly for her Demetrius, the audience latched onto her every word, falling in love with the actress and her hopeless desperation. Bell’s delivery of her lines reminded viewers exactly why Shakespeare and his long monologues are still treasured over four hundred years later, and the powerful effect a good actress can give them. 

Apart from the four lovers, the show followed the subplots of the passionate love-hate relationship between the King and Queen of Fairies, their dutiful servants and a troupe of theatre performers hoping for their big break. The most memorable of performances was Isaac Mitchell’s Puck who effortlessly leaped and frolicked around the stage like it was his inhumane second nature. A character central to the play's storyline, Mitchell portrayed the trifling Puck in a way that would have likely made Shakespeare himself proud.

The Spotlight Performer of the show was Valmik Duvadie, who portrayed the arrogant and womanizing Bottom. Duvadie oozed talent as his natural charisma quickly won the audience over. His monologues were flawlessly delivered with effortlessly smooth cadence and an inimitable comedic touch. Duvadie's portrayal of Bottom showed true actor's intuition, perfectly reading his audience and complementing the dynamics of his fellow actors, especially the 'mechanicals'. 

The mechanicals did a commendable job at amusing the audience with their spunky one-liners, including the show's Spotlight Line: "I have a beard coming in!" shrieked by the female-presenting Julia Higginson wearing humourous dark chin makeup.

While each of the actors excelled at breathing life into an ancient play, what really made A Midsummer Night’s Dream sparkle was the magical set and lighting design, led by Jessica Schriber and Alex Cherkassky respectively. Vines interwoven with fairy lights delicately dangled from the theatre’s ceiling, making the audience feel as if they are truly trapped in a midsummer dream. Even during the quietest moments, the soft blue undertones and the pink glimmer of the vines seemed to whisper to themselves, giving the stage a magical fairy-like feeling. One of the most memorable set pieces were the pair of wooden flower thrones brought on in the final scenes of the show, which deserved to be shown off on centre stage.

The play’s costumes followed the magical theme, though sometimes felt misguided in the production. The headpiece worn by Valmik Duvadie’s Bottom during his shift from human to donkey did not depict what it was meant to, and left the audience unsure of the transformation that had just occurred. There also appeared to be a lack of consistency in the mechanicals costumes as some of them wore clothing from the Shakesperan era, while two, Peter Quince and Bottom, wore modern clothing that could have been from the actor’s closets. 

However, most of the costumes matched the fairytale vibe of the story with use of corsets, and glimmering face makeup . This show’s Spotlight Costume was adorned by Rorey Brown in the show's latter half. Brown's Hippolyta graced the stage with a simple but elegant wedding gown, and a beautiful eye-catching gold crown paired with loose curls during the character's finale wedding scene. A special mention is deserved to the ‘Wall’ costume that is meant to quite literally resemble a wall. Clearly handcrafted with love and possible hastiness, the costume did exactly what it was needed to in the already ridiculous play scenes. 

The show seemed to trade magic for humour near the end in typical Shakespearen fashion, becoming almost too lengthy of a production. Thankfully Barrera abruptly shifted the mood onstage and chose to artistically conclude the play with a number of dance sequences between the four pairs of lovers. 

While the value of the dance in the earlier scenes may have been questionable, and even a source of comedy, the waltz between Brown’s Hippoylta and Zimmerman’s Theseus gave true depth to their love story. The actors masterfully portrayed the love between the newly wedded pair and gave the audience an intimate look into the supporting character's we wouldn't normally get to learn much about. 

The same can be said for the beautiful dance that took place between Oberon and Titania, portrayed by Khalid Seriki, and Madeline Hiltz respectively. While the dynamic between the two lovers may have seem choatic and confused in earlier scenes, it locked into place during the final dance, when we finally got to see why these two tyrants are the perfect match.

While a lengthy production, A Midsummer Night’s Dream was overall an excellent rendition of a classic comedy that even a Shakespeare cynic would enjoy. The uOttawa Theatre Club’s first Shakespearean piece was undeniably a success, and it was clear from the standing ovation that the audience agreed. Congratulations to Kenzie Barrera and her team for giving Shakespeare lovers a magical night that felt like a true midsummer dream.

The show ran Thursday April 4th to Sunday April 8th at the Ottawa Arts Court. All photographs included in this review were provided by uOttawa Theatre Club.

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Rating: 79/100