Review: Stratford Festival's A Midsummer Night's Dream is an Unmissable Hit

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Stellar Performances and Stunning Design make for a Magical Production

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Opening Week at the Stratford Festival continues with an outstanding production of William Shakespeare ’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM at the Tom Patterson Theatre. With a phenomenal cast and inventive design, Director Graham Abbey ’s production is infused with such humour and vitality that the show itself feels like a living, breathing organism.

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A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM is a chaotic tale of love and misadventure. It follows an assortment of characters wandering through an enchanted forest: Four young Athenians who find themselves in a comedic romantic entanglement; Oberon, King of the Fairies, ( André Sills) and his wife Titania ( Sara Topham ), who are in an argument over the custody of a Changeling child (a role shared by Vivienne Abbey and Alexandra Krohn); an enthusiastic, yet mostly incompetent travelling troupe of amateur actors ... and then there is Puck ( Mike Nadajewski ), a mischievous sprite, whose magical deeds act as the catalyst for all intersecting storylines.

There is an enjoyable playfulness to this magical tale of mistaken identity, confused young lovers, jealous fairies, and bumbling thespians. As is often the case, some of the funniest characters are the ones who take themselves the most seriously. André Sills is a grand example of this. His hulking Oberon commands respect and is passionate in his love for his wife and in his desire for control. As such, one of the funniest moments in the play is when the mortal characters are about to cross his path and with a twirl, he very seriously and dramatically announces to the audience that he is invisible.

A fabulous Mike Nadajewski finds his Puck right in the middle of in the action - magically and mischievously interacting with the other characters (and to great effect, the audience). He brings a sense of silliness and delight that is simply contagious. Puck may be casting spells on young Athenians, but this is nothing compared to the spell Nadajewski casts on the Tom Patterson Theatre audience.

As the four passionate, yet confused young lovers, Vivien Endicott-Douglas , Jordin Hall, Thomas Duplessie, and Jessica B. Hill are all excellent and each have moments to shine. Endicott-Douglas, making her Festival debut, portrays Hermia as a strong young woman who knows what she wants in Lysander – so it is fun to watch her confidence and certainty unravel after Puck mistakenly casts a spell on Lysander, causing his affections to turn elsewhere. As Lysander, Jordin Hall transitions so well from charming love interest to lovesick boy after Puck’s potion causes him to fall for Helena. He confidently carries a ukulele as if it is the key to any woman’s heart and comedically performs with it in a cringeworthy fashion that perfectly represents young love. Thomas Duplessie is equally entertaining as Demetrius as his longing for Hermia shifts so suddenly and passionately to Helena – much to the confusion of everyone around him. The always fantastic Jessica B. Hill engages our heartstrings and funny bones in equal measure as the lovesick and insecure Helena. Her desperation to have Demetrius love her, only for her to rebuke him out of certainty that everyone is playing a prank on her, speaks to the very human self-doubt that we all experience from time to time.

The Athenians are not the only ‘victims’ of magic however. Oberon seeks revenge on Titania by having her fall for an ass, or rather, a self-important member of an acting troupe who Puck has magicked into a donkey. This, of course is Nick Bottom, played brilliantly by Michael Spencer -Davis . How fun it is to watch Sara Topham ’s elegant and ethereal Titania fall head over heels for an ass.

Spencer-Davis' Bottom and the rest of the ‘mechanicals’ bring much humour to the ‘play within the play’ that they are mounting. It never fails to amuse me that after all other storylines have resolved, the MIDSUMMER audience as well as the rest of the MIDSUMMER characters are forced (gladly!) to sit through the entirety of the Mechanicals’ performance of PYRAMUS AND THISBE. There is something so fun in watching incredibly talented artists intentionally act badly – Spencer-Davis, Sarah Dodd , Sara-Jeanne Hosie, Aaron Krohn , Michael Man, and Steven Hao absolutely nail it.

In addition to a stellar collection of performers, this production of MIDSUMMER boasts stunning Set Design by Lorenzo Savoini , Costume Design by Joshua Quinlan, Sound Design by Thomas Ryder Payne, and Lighting Design by Kevin Lamotte . The Projections and video by Normal Studio make great use of the gorgeous Tom Patterson Theatre stage. Together, this skilled Artistic Company help to transport the audience to the magical world of the play. It is becoming evident that the new Tom Patterson Theatre is one of the greatest spaces in the world when it comes to staging Shakespeare.

This writer has had the privilege of seeing many productions of MIDSUMMER over the years and although my instinct is to avoid comparisons, I must say that there is something about this particular production that resonates most with the sense of magic and playfulness I felt when I read this play for the first time as a teen. Everyone just seems to be having so much fun!

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM continues in repertory at the Tom Patterson Theatre until September 26th.

PHOTO CREDIT: David Hou

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/article/Review-A-MIDSUMMER-NIGHTS-DREAM-at-the-Stratford-Festival-Mustnt-be-Missed-20260528)._