Cedric Neal as Puck. Photo by Brandon Thibodeaux.

Cedric Neal and Matthew Stephen Tompkins (Oberon). Photo by Brandon Thibodeaux.

Lee Trull (Lysander) and Rukhmani Desai (Hermia). Photo by Brandon Thibodeaux.

Liz Mikel (Titania) and Chamblee Ferguson (Bottom). Photo by Brandon Thibodeaux.

Liz Mikel, Matthew Stephen Tompkins and fairies. Photo by Brandon Thibodeaux.

Matt Tallman (Demetrius) and Abbey Siegworth (Helena). Photo by Brandon Thibodeaux.

Matt Tallman and Cedric Neal. Photo by Brandon Thibodeaux.

Matthew Stephen Tompkins and Liz Mikel. Photo by Brandon Thibodeaux.

Rukhmani Desai, Abbey Siegworth, Lee Trull. Photo by Brandon Thibodeaux.

  

A Midsummer Night's Dream

by William Shakespeare

Presented by Dallas Theater Center

October 30 - November 22

at Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre
AT&T Performing Arts Center
2100 Ross Ave.
Dallas, TX 75201
214-880-0202

$15-$81

7pm Tuesdays-Thursdays; 8pm Fridays; 2 & 8pm Saturdays; 2 & 7pm Sundays

In the late 1970s and throughout the '80s, pop artist Keith Haring responded to New York City street life with his bubbly graffiti art, and became the visual voice for AIDS and queer activism. He eventually became an established figure, but like all graffiti artists, his work was rooted in being mischievous and curious. His spray paint cans were the equivalent of a megaphone in the hands of a rabble-rouser with something to say.

Haring was Kevin Moriarty's inspiration for his current staging of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, which appropriately inaugurates the Dallas Theater Center's new home at the the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre. Moriarty equated Haring with Puck, Shakespeare's mischievous fairy who sets much of the action in motion in one of the Bard's most beloved works.

That inspiration led to the Skittles-colored contemporary take on Midsummer, which is brimming with a youthful exuberance that is rarely, if ever, seen on the stages of multi-million dollar theaters, where the general idea is to produce respectable and too-often intangible Capital-T Theater. But Puck isn't the only character here who owes something to Haring's outlaw spirit.

With this production, Moriarty proves that he has quite the puckish nature. Seriously, is there any other director in the country who would choose to debut a much-ballyhooed and costly new theater by mucking it up at every performance with chalk drawings?

That's what happens here. The fairies begin their playful scenes by drawing stars and moons and clouds with chalk on the checkered stage floor, upstage wall and all of the balcony fronts in this show's thrust configuration. By the end of the show, just before the celebratory finale, almost every available surface in the Wyly's audience chamber has been desecrated by the chalk monsters, who include audience members at intermission. (Who was it who once said that you know it's art because someone else has to clean it up?)

To do this, the fairies (and other characters) climb up and down ladders and run through every corridor and almost every row in the new space. It's at once exhausting and invigorating. And while this show may not be the best example of brilliantly spoken Shakespeare, it's unlike any other interpretation of the Bard you'll see.

In addition to the contemporary costumes (by Claudia Stephens), Moriarty has added to the "now" quotient with recent pop songs, sung by the cast. Most of them are suitable for the situation, such as Keri Hilson's Knock You Down, sung by the fairies, and Boys Like Girls' Love Drunk, which is accompanied by a squirt gun fight between with the lovers and fairies. A big chunk of the music comes near the play's end. After the Mechanicals' hilarious performance of their play, they dance to and sing Pitbull's I Know You Want Me. The show ends on a euphoric note with Jason Mraz's I'm Yours, after which the audience is welcomed to help with Titania's house-blessing with an onstage party, complete with balloons, ginger ale and dancing.

One could dissect each of the performances, but there are no major missteps from this cast, which includes students from Southern Methodist University and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. This is a Shakespeare showcase that's more about concept than it is about the language and character. That said, there are terrific turns from Liz Mikel as Titania, Cedric Neal as Puck, Abbey Siegworth as Helena and Marcus M. Mauldin as Francis Flute, who gets much mileage from  his burly physique when he plays the female role in the Mechanicals' reenactment of "Pyramus and Thisbe," which is the production's most gloriously silly-billy moment.

In that section, Chamblee Ferguson, as Bottom, who had already been the show's most consistently alive performer, cements his status as the funniest actor in town. The deaths of Pyramus and Thisbe are played for bigtime laughs, and they earn them.

What this Midsummer lacks in nuance and genuine emotion, it more than makes up for with young, supernova-bright energy.

It's almost as if, in his slyly defiant way, Moriarty has re-announced himself to the Dallas theater scene and proudly proclaimed "We're here! We're not austere! Get used to it!"

On another note, it's necessary to talk about the new theater itself. The best thing about it is that the acoustics are sublime. Every word was clear and crisp. On the downside, the chartreuse seats aren't as comfy as they look, and exiting the theater—especially if you're seated in the middle of a long row—is not easy. There's a bottleneck effect that's worse than the situation in the company's former home at the Kalita Humphreys Theater. Considering that the audience has to go downstairs for bathrooms and concessions, intermissions will probably have to be 30 minutes. Good thing Moriarty is already establishing the atmosphere as conducive to socializing.

You can hear an audio version of this review in the Nov. 4 episode of This Week in the Arts.