Written by orange• March 8, 2025• 5:39 am• Review, San Clemente, Theater, Uncategorized

Southern Fried Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream @ Cabrillo Playhouse – Review

pc: Eric Modyman

Written by Patrick Chavis

William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is playing now at the Cabrillo Playhouse from February 28 – March 23, 2025.

(Imagine everything I write from here onward in this article is in a thick Southern accent.)

Eric Modyman directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This production seems to be an amalgamation of Monty Python, a smidgen of New Orleans, and Shakespeare if he were a fine Southern gentleman. I didn’t know this combination was needed, but I do declare this was a solid outing at the Cabrillo Playhouse.

Story:

Farcical in nature, A Midsummer Night’s Dream involves multiple storylines, typically set in Athens. This playful version is set in 1920s New Orleans and, instead of a forest, the Louisiana Bayou.

Ashley Montgomery (Helena), Garret Claud (Demetrius)

We follow the misadventures of two couples, Hermia (Chelsea Caracoza) and Lysander (Ben Green) and Helena (Ashley Montgomery) and Demetrius (Garret Claud), as they galavant around the forest because of a group of fairies, led by Oberon (Jae LaRosa) and the silver-haired Queen of the Fairies Titania (Caitlin Zinn), manipulations. Hilarity ensues, yes, indeed.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a light and whimsical play about love or infatuation and its magical pull on people to do all kinds of things, whether brave or mischievous. Also, forgiveness is important, as love or the appearance of love can be challenging and not always so simple, as is life.

Direction:

They did a fantastic job of making this show their own while maintaining the message and chaos of the original. Similar to the previous production I watched at Cabrillo, “Much Ado About Nothing,” also directed by Modyman, there’s a real emphasis on a loose, comedic approach, even within a Shakespearean structure. It worked in Much Ado About Nothing, but it thrived in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream like butter on cornbread in this version. It just works.

Caitlin Zinn (Titania), Jae LaRosa (Oberon)

Set/Costume Design:

Set designer Rebecca Rubino takes a very hand-drawn artistic approach to the set design in this production. Many of the pieces look like works of art, such as the draped backdrop painting of 1920s New Orleans, with dirt roads and horse-drawn buggies. The even more impressive forest design, with various layers and colored lighting, adds dimension. They used the length of the stage so beautifully, with some lighting transitions, making the forest or bayou come to life. While it was mentioned as a bayou, it looked more like a traditional forest. Being more swampy would have made this design pop even more. That being said, the design was still quite good.

The costume work did wonders with this aesthetic, but it was not nearly as great with the New Orleans theme. Still, the fairies’ style was quite captivating, from Titania’s pale white Gothic makeup with the silver wig and exaggerated makeup like a Gothic Amazon from the Nether realm to LaRosa’s hedonistic robes.

Lisa Stout (Puck), Michelle House(Philostrate & Mustardseed)

Acting:

Excellent casting pairing of Zinn and LaRosa as this comical pair. Zinn is slightly taller than LaRosa, with an earnest but commanding performance you would expect from the Queen of Fairies. Oberon is a somewhat insecure but commanding King of the Fairies who loves his wife, and this is shown in his performance.

Ashley Montgomery (Helena), Chelsea Caracoza (Hermia), Ben Green (Lysander), and Garret Claud (Demetrius) bring drama with some of the funnier performances in the play. Montgomery brings a lot to the role of the loyal but comedically insecure Helena. Both Montgomery and Caracoza integrate their accents and bring much-needed drama to their roles. They also sport terrific 1920s short curly bob haircut styles.

It’s not really Midsummer without the troupe of actors: Flute (Jim Henson), Snug (Kristin Austin), Quince (Bria DiCenzo), and Snout (Fin Miles Reid). They bring the hilarity, along with some light audience interaction from Thomas McNeil, who plays Pyramus and Bottom in this production.

This is a fun, quickly paced romp that’s definitely worth checking out.