REVIEW: Repertory Philippines' take on 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' sprinkles modern twist to over 400-year-old play
There are many ways to mount a Shakespeare play. One is to stick to tradition, which uses an all-male cast, Elizabethan costumes, the British accent, and a minimalist stage design. Another is to add contemporary elements, such as animated graphics, Gen Z outfits, and American pop music. Repertory Philippines, in their staging of A Midsummer Night's Dream, chooses the latter.
Eighteen years since its last Shakespeare production, the nearly 60-year-old theater company turns St. Cecilia's Hall in St. Scholastica's College, Manila into a modern midsummer dreamscape. Vertical wooden beams suggest a forest canopy while butterfly graphics flit above tiered platforms that give the stage an illusion of depth.
Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius—the angsty quartet—wear costumes normally seen in a coffee shop with a Gen Z clientele. If the digital graphics don't clearly send the message, the modern outfits do: this production aims to be different.
Director Jeremy Domingo stands by this conviction throughout the performance. His cast doesn't speak with a British accent. At one point, he works a Rick Astley classic into the script; at another, he slips in some Gangnam Style moves. Then there's the scene where Titania, the fairy queen, leads her entourage Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed through a harmonious rendition of a Dione Warwick favorite.
It is a gutsy move for a director working on a centuries-old English play. Had his audience come from Britain's upper-crust society, Domingo might have had some walkouts by Shakespeare purists.
But preview night is in St. Cecilia's Hall, which sits in a school that's known equally for its social activism and musicality. In a place where passionate artists and change-makers thrive, an updated A Midsummer Night's Dream brings applause, not offense.
It helps that many young audience members are dressed like the angsty quartet. If the characters look like you, they must feel things you feel, too. And they do.
Hermia and Lysander are madly in love with each other when, thanks to Puck, Lysander wanders. Helena starts out crazy for Demetrius until Oberon interferes. Then, when Demetrius reciprocates Helena's feelings, she thinks he is mocking her and rejects him.
If there's one thing A Midsummer Night's Dream teaches us, it's that human mind games that confused lovers in the 16th century are still as potent today.
So is the language. That is probably one of the reasons why Rep's production this season connects with its audience. The timelessness and universality of Shakespeare's communication skills break barriers because he chose to write about what makes humans human.
Of course, owing to his time, he had a fancy way of putting things, which adds to the charm. Why say, "I dated a jerk," when you can say, "Methought I was enamored of an ass," as Titania does? Bottom's "I will roar, that I will make the duke say, 'Let him roar again; let him roar again'," hits differently than if he says, "I have main character energy."
That is where things get tricky during Midsummer's preview night, however.
At some points, in the actors' desire to deliver the long lines of dialogue in full, some tend to speak too fast, which makes it difficult to follow. Shakespeare's English is supposed to be melodic, mirroring the phonetic patterns of human speech. There are moments when that isn't completely delivered.
The audience wants to be entertained not just by the adventures of fairies and humans. They are there to also bask in the language. Rep's production is already vividly entertaining; how much better would it be if it added more focus and care to the words?
Randy Villarama, who plays both Theseus and Oberon, does. His 20-plus years of theater experience show in his utter control of the language. He recognizes the cadence of the words. Villarama doesn't just deliver them; he lets them roll out of his lips.
Speaking of rolling, Joey Cosio-Mercado's literal fluidity in his performance as Puck is eye-catching. He moves and sounds like a bored, annoyed salamander who appears to want to be anywhere else but onstage, which adds to much of the laughter in the theater.
One more thing that makes Rep's staging a hit with the audience is the physical humor expertly provided by Tristan Bite's Nick Bottom, Alexa Sandiego's Peter Quince, and the rest of The Mechanicals. As they overact their way through their "Most Lamentable Comedy" to celebrate Theseus' and Hippolyta's wedding, there are loud cackles from the audience, demonstrating Filipinos' absolute love for anything funny.
A Midsummer Night's Dream endures because it talks about core human experiences. Rep's version, boosted by 21st-century music and age-old Filipino creativity and enthusiasm, joins in that celebration of humanity.
PhilSTAR L!fe was given a free ticket to Repertory Philippines' A Midsummer Night's Dream. It runs through all weekends of September, including Fridays, from Sept. 12 to Sept. 27 at St. Cecilia's Hall in St. Scholastica's College, Manila. Tickets are available at TicketWorld and Ticket2Me.
