Indecorous Theatre presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Schuylkill Center

Midsummer is set in Athens, but most of the action occurs outside the city. A mischievous band of fairies meddles with two pairs of lovers set loose in the forest, and a comedic troupe of actors rehearsing for a play that will mark the nuptials of the Duke of Athens and his Amazon bride. As some scholars have noted, here Shakespeare transformed not only the way Elizabethans conceived of fairies but also subverted the hierarchies of the time by focusing on the working-class actors and the misadventures of the four lovers, rather than on the royal wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, whose function is mostly to open and close the play.

Into the woods

I’ve attended many Midsummer productions, but never in the actual woods, on a warm midsummer night just before sunset. This immersive experience was a natural way to bring the play’s whimsy and poetry to life. And indeed, it didn’t take long to feel like I was entering a different world: audience members had come dressed in their fairy best and I was given bright pink beads at check-in, associated with my fairy guide.

The show begins at the Schuylkill Center’s stone amphitheater, which overlooks a beautiful grove of tall green trees. The four lovers at the center of the drama steal into the woods when Hermia’s father thwarts her desire to marry Lysander by insisting under penalty of a nunnery that she marry Demetrius, who in turn is loved by Hermia’s old friend Helena.

Once the lovers make their escape, three fairy guides—Cobweb (Kaiya Sutton), Mustardseed (Samantha Solar), and Peaseblossom (David Forbes)—step forward to lead the audience through the meadow, past a pond and to our first stop, a bridge where the fairy king Oberon confronts his wayward queen Titania. From there, we move act by act through the center’s grounds, with stops that include grass, trail, paved, and dirt surfaces. The direction and choreography take full advantage of the setting, with actors appearing and disappearing behind bushes and trees, around and through the audience, creating a fun and fully immersive experience.

Plenty of room for innovation

Directed by the multi-talented Emily Parker (who appears as Titania and also designed the playful costumes), this production successfully takes the audience members, along with the players, out of their seats and into the forest. The youthful and engaging cast members each commit to their roles, all while walking, running, and singing through the meadows and woods and maintaining engagement with the audience on the move. (Audience members opt in for interactive treatment by wearing a small butterfly pin.)

Innovative directors have plenty of material within Midsummer to further subvert notions of social class, plus gender roles and the fluidity of love and desire. The setting of the forest takes us into a liminal place, away from Athens and its social rules about who marries whom. Parker leans into the possibilities of matchmaking for love rather than duty and the mythical quality of desire. The play is beautifully cast, with Lysander (Christina Carelli) and Demetrius (Rose Palmieri) played by women, challenging the idea that human love must be heteronormative. Puck is traditionally played by a male actor (the text never explicitly states Puck’s gender) and in this version, Rachel Golan plays a sly and mischievous Puck, dressed in fabulous purple bloomers, offering the audience of mortals knowing looks.

When mortals flee

I was fortunate the night I attended: during a week of flash floods and thunderstorms, the sun stayed out through the adventure and a soft breeze rustled through the trees, breaking up the day’s humidity. During the curtain call, gentle rain drops began to fall—just enough to cool us off. I imagined a kind but mischievous fairy laughing at the way we mortals had to flee the woods and make a run for our cars.

Tickets to this production of Midsummer are currently sold out, but a waitlist is available here.