by Jody Tuso-Key — Managing Editor

On Sunday, I enjoyed a production in one of my favorite spaces, Atlanta’s famous Shakespeare Tavern where the Atlanta Shakespeare Company is currently playing the classic comedy, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. This interpretation is both enchanting and hilarious and very much Speakeysie HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about four young lovers and a group of amateur actors who are transported to a magical forest where fairies cause them to fall in love with the wrong people. The play is one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies.

The play begins in Athens, where four young lovers are caught in a love triangle. Lysander is in love with Hermia, but her father Egeus wants her to marry Demetrius instead. Hermia and Lysander decide to run away together, and they are joined by Helena, who is in love with Demetrius.

Probably the most well known character is Robin Goodfellow, AKA Puck. Puck is the fairy servant of Oberon and also serves as the story’s narrator. This sprightly spirit is played by Amanda Lindsey McDonald, an Atlanta Shakespeare Company regular, and her performance of Puck is by far the best I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen quite a few!! She fills in the gaps of her mischevity with an infectious laugh and energetic physicality. While her character reveres Oberon, Puck also delights in doing things his way. Amanda also plays Philostrate, Theseus’s party planner, which she portrays as an eccentric old woman. I’ve seen McDonald in several productions at the Tavern, and she never disappoints, giving her all to every performance and making it look effortless.

Chris Hecke, fresh off Aurora’s super successful run of THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, takes the stage as Theseus/Oberon, and we get to see his full range in this production (he spent a good deal of the former show as a dead corpse on a setee). I hope we will see more of him in the Atlanta area. Opposite Hecke is Mary Ruth Ralton as Titania/Hippolyta, who plays the two parts regally, as called for.

The four lovers, Helena (Anna Fontaine), Hermia (Anna Holland), Lysander (Daryel T Monsen), and Demetrius (O’Neil Delapenha) play off and complement each other perfectly. They are the quintessential combination of angst and amusement.

Not to be discounted are the “Rude Mechanics” a band of skilled laborers who, in their spare time, work as court thespians. With the exception of Sarah Newby Halicks as Bottom-the weaver (who doubles as Ass), each of these characters double as forest fairies. The players are: Peter Quince-the carpenter and director of the play (Tyshawn Gooden); Snug-the joiner (Loren Bray); Flute-the Bellows Mender (Tim Colee); Snout-theTinker (Mila Bolash); and Starveling-the Tailor (Alejandra Ruiz). These actors steal the show with their ‘goes wrong’ rendition of “the most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe” to the delight and heckling of Thesius, Titiana, and the four lovers. I loved the Rude Mechanics, and they deserve a Speakeysie HUZZAH!

This weekend is your last chance to partake in some delicious food and enjoy this fun comedy. Get your tickets today at https://www.shakespearetavern.com/on-stage/company/a-midsummer-nights-dream/ or call the box office at 404-874-5299.