"Leading Ladies"

Theatre review
"Leading Ladies" at Cortland Repertory Theatre
The Ithaca Journal
June 12, 2008
564 words
"Cortland Rep's 'Leading Ladies' offers plenty of laughs"

full text here

Cortland Rep's ‘Leading Ladies' offers plenty of laughs

By Mark Tedeschi • Special to The Journal • June 26, 2008

Since the dawn of first names with ambiguous gender attachment, cross-dressing has been a staple motif for comedic performance. But when Billy Wilder's “Some Like it Hot” hospitalized filmgoers with uncontrollable laughter in 1934, stories involving men wearing ladies clothing had a new par for the course. (I made up the hospitalization thing, but it could be true — after all, the American Film Institute did name “Some Like it Hot” the funniest movie of all time.)
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In that film, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis played two guys who pose as women temporarily only to find themselves stuck in their roles — just like Marc Goldhaber and Dominick Varney in Cortland Repertory Theatre's latest chucklefest, “Leading Ladies.”

Goldhaber and Varney respectively play Leo Clark and Jack Gable; they are two down-on-their-luck Shakespeare-trained actors who stumble upon a news article about a woman (Florence Snider, played by Robbeye Lewis) searching for her kin (“Max” and “Steve”), whom she hasn't seen in years, so she can include them in her will. Eventually, Clark and Gable (get it?) discover that Max and Steve are Maxine and Stephanie, but decide to go ahead with the scam anyway; after all, it's a chance for them to exercise their craft in greater depth than ever before.

“Ladies” was written by Ken Ludwig, best known for the Tony Award-winning “Lend Me a Tenor” and directed by Tony Capone, who directed “Ten Little Indians” at CRT last summer. Other cast members include Morgan Reis (Meg Snider, Florence's other niece), Adam Bevlo (Duncan Wooley, Meg's pastor husband), Mark Bader (Doc Myers, Meg's best friend), Kyle Hines (Butch, Doc's son), and Erin Balsar (Audrey, Butch's girlfriend).

The story, set in 1950s York, Pa., contains all the elements you'd expect from a farce with a men-posing-as-women backbone: the con men fall for the women they're fooling, fooled men fall for the “women” they meet, and all hell breaks loose halfway through the second act when everything comes to a head.

The loony story would be less credible if CRT didn't have such sound actors. The lead males exhibit full commitment to their roles, which demand on-the-fly switching in body language, attitude, and voice. Goldhaber, the Curtis to Varney's Lemmon, smooth-talks his way in and, less often, out of sticky situations; director Ludwig has Varney spending a lot of time working the audience (successfully, mind you) by bulging his eyes and squirming — a shame, since his performance during the hilarious “Scenes from Shakespeare” portion confirms his capability for better depth. Reis also deserves mention for her confused but passionate Snider. But the biggest laughs come from Bevlo, whose Pastor Wooley, admitted foreigner to the words “living,” “sex,” and “humor,” frantically frets over being chastised for his skepticism.

To amplify the absurdity, “Ladies” features a great number of elaborate costumes courtesy of Wendy Zea; Clark and Gable make their first disguised appearance after digging into their suitcase of Shakespeare garb and pulling out costumes of Cleopatra and Titania (possibly the most ridiculous choices they could have made, but their hosts are calmed by the age-old device of “They're not weird, they're English.”).

The crafty scenic design (Brian Howard) proves useful, as the pristine Snider mansion turns almost instantly into a stage for Shakespeare plays when needed. And Todd Proffitt's subtle lighting design (watch for the stained glass window reflection), along with Andrew Modansky's sound, help along those transitions.

The dialogue in “Ladies” hits and misses; there are many obligatory jokes, usually tee-hee procreative one-liners (“Is that a chopstick in your pocket?”) and Freudian slips (“I wanted your bust—I mean, your trust”), but there are just as many snippets that embrace the silliness (“He put a telegram in my hand— maybe for a minister, that's foreplay!”).

“Ladies” has its superior moments (Duncan's color coming through during the show's plenty of theatre meta-jokes) and its humdrum ones (What's with that tango scene?), but through it all, it's a crowd-pleaser. There are surprises in the end, to be sure, but the marvelous final few lightning-round scenes are less a twist than a treat, one that gives “Well, nobody's perfect!” a run for its money.

“Leading Ladies” runs at CRT through Saturday, June 28. Visit www.cortlandrep.org for more information.

"No Child..."

Theatre review
"No Child..." at the Hangar Theatre
Ithaca Times
June 25, 2008
727 words
"Stands, and delivers"

full text here

Stands, and delivers
By: Mark Tedeschi
06/25/2008

"No Child..." by Nilaja Sun. Directed by Wendy Dann. Starring Rachael Holmes. Scenic design by Kathryn Kawecki, costume design by Jennifer Caprio, lighting by Daniel Meeker, sound by Sarah Pickett.

Anyone who either teaches children or watches television knows by now that the No Child Left Behind Act has, in its current application, serious problems. Opponents of the act maintain that inner-city schools in particular face hurdles that only a restructuring or extensive reconsidering of the current education policy could address.

Until someone in the higher echelons takes action for change, all the rest can do is speculate and, for those more daring, gamble. In the Hangar Theatre's latest one-woman production, No Child..., the main character (Sun, named after the original award-winning Off Broadway show's writer and performer) takes a risk and tries a new technique to engage a diverse Bronx classroom of 10th grade students. While her efforts are commendable (and star Rachel Holmes's performance expert), the air of the show leaves behind a few important considerations.

Rachael Holmes fluidly bounces without a beat in and out of all of the show's 16 characters, including Janitor Baron (the play's de facto narrator), an uneasy Asian schoolteacher (Ms. Tam), a Jamaican security guard, the typical education-standards-concerned principal (Mrs. Kennedy), eight different students of various ethnic and social backgrounds, and Sun, the thirtysomething teaching artist who's brought in by Mrs. Kennedy to introduce the kids to theatre.

Sun chooses Our Country's Good, a 1988 play by Timberlake Wertenbaker, for its theme of theatre as a tool of motivation and elevation. As expected, the students act with defensive hesitation at first. Sun shows patience with assertion, and her presence and ideas seem all it takes to metamorphose the classroom - for example, she politely insists they refrain from using swear words; they comply, and if they slip, they instantly apologize.

The kids take to the new material. Their enthusiasm and participation build until the class gets a sudden replacement teacher whose strictness reawakens their antagonism. They lose interest and the frustrated Sun quits. Later, Janitor Baron dies in the story but continues narrating, ostensibly so the students and Sun can recommit and dedicate the play's performance to him (and writer Sun can make an Arthur Miller reference).

Holmes demonstrates a vast range of capability with her unassuming, consistent performance. Each of her characters has a physical tic (arms locked at the elbows, a tummy rub, a collar pull) and embodies a realistic vibe of youthful attitude.

Unfortunately, real kids aren't always that funny; repeatedly they jab at the similarity between "thespian" and "lesbian" and joyfully sing a Justin Timberlake tune when they hear the name of the guy who wrote the play they're to study. Holmes's most emotionally charged moment, though, comes in a conversation between Sun and Mrs. Kennedy regarding standards and the students' potential.

No Child... looks and sounds excellent, and at under 80 minutes, stays enjoyable and concise throughout. The lighting stands out in the show's bookending slow crawls and a montage-style sequence when the students perform the play (-within-a-play-within-a-play). The sparse, smart set contains a few of the grungy elements you'd expect to see in a city school: a scuffed floor, beat-up lockers, an old drinking fountain. And the quiet hum of kids' chattering between metal-detector squeals and school-bus rumbles keeps the focus on Holmes's acting.

Though it's engaging, No Child... is not without problems. It creates for itself a duplicitous identity crisis: the narrator suggests that change couldn't possibly come from one starry-eyed educator's influence, but without exaggeration, that's exactly what Sun supposedly accomplishes.

In the end, the idealism seems almost too optimistic, since the hasty epilogue (which includes a confusing joke about renaming the high school) itemizes the varied futures of several students without any further mention of their educational upbringing.

Were No Child... longer, it almost certainly would have benefited from more actors and fleshier parts for some of the characters who had to be reduced to a slurred lisp or bucked teeth. The issues plead for a deeper dig than such a short (if well-intentioned), one-person performance can realistically achieve. (HBO's "The Wire" spent an entire season on the difficulties of testing new methods in a city school.)

The strongest suggestion No Child... does make is that there are potentially effective alternatives - especially found in the arts - to standardization. Experimentation should be encouraged, albeit scrupulously. As Janitor Baron says, "Teaching is the hardest job in the whole wide world...they're underpaid, underappreciated, and underpaid." I can't help but agree with him there.


©Ithaca Times 2008

"8-Track: The Sounds of the 70's"

Theatre review
"8-Track: The Sounds of the 70s" at Cortland Repertory Theatre
The Ithaca Journal
June 12, 2008
564 words
"Cortland Repertory Theatre gets back to the 1970s with energetic ‘8-Track'"

full text here

Cortland Repertory Theatre gets back to the 1970s with energetic ‘8-Track'

By Mark Tedeschi • Special to The Journal • June 12, 2008


Cortland Repertory Theatre's latest production, “8-Track: The Sounds of the 70's,” makes one wonder what musical acts from this decade will be looked at as representative of the era. I'm probably not alone in hoping that my favorite bands will stand the test of time, but that's unlikely. Popular music is engineered to claw its way to the top, and it inevitably will reflect the culture of our decade 30 years from now.

“8-Track,” conceived by Rick Seeber, is a poster-sized snapshot of popular music from the 1970s. Michael Gribbin's arrangement is essentially a two-hour medley of about 50 1970s songs of varying reputability--though the cast delivers them all with equal vigor. The instrumental tracks are pre-recorded, but the vocal performances are live and impassioned. Some songs get spotlighted; others are acknowledged with just a snippet.

Gribbin draws from many musical genres (rock, funk, soul, country, and yes, disco), and there's no story in “8-track,” so the pacing is sometimes shaky. It begins with “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree,” a song that doesn't have quite the same energy as the show's later numbers like “You Light Up My Life” or “Takin' It to the Streets.” The four cast members (Gabriel Mudd, Crystal Rona Peterson, Katherine Proctor, and Leigh Wakeford) each shout a phrase that supposedly encapsulate the 70s (“Feminism,” “Hedonism,” “What's your sign?” and “Disco!”), announce that a CD of the show is for sale outside, and launch headfirst into the vibrant performance.

Daniel B. Hess directs and choreographs the players in a fast-paced song-and-dance challenge that spans from “We've Only Just Begun” all the way to “Lady Marmalade.” While any audience member is bound to prefer some songs over others, most of the tunes are vocally demanding, and the four talented stars tackle them with zeal. They shine during their solo performances, of which there are several; Mudd's powerful rendition of “My Baby She Wrote Me a Letter” is one of several standouts. Occasionally, vocal effects are added (Don Tindall, sound designer) to enhance the songs' delivery.

Hess and company execute entertaining choreography without being too flashy. “Brick House” brings some stellar energetic dancing, and all the movements in the second-act opener, “One Toke Over the Line,” are performed sitting down.

The set, designed by Sarah Martin and lit by Todd Proffitt, evokes a skating rink (and it is cleverly used as such briefly in the show) with its rainbow-color patterns, rope lights, and glitter. It matches Wendi Zea's many excellent costumes: denim suits, bell-bottoms, huge collars, and plenty of vests.

The amped-up disco-medley portion is saved for the end of the show. The cast barrels nonstop through “I Will Survive,” “Shake Your Booty,” “Get Down Tonight,” “Stayin' Alive,” “YMCA,” and a handful of other standards.

The people who will enjoy “8-Track” the most will almost certainly be those who lived through the era and can relish the barrage of nostalgia. The same people who love to make fun of disco, I'll bet, aren't able to stop themselves from singing along whenever it comes on.

Even though what is popular may not be what is best (Where is the Led Zeppelin? The Pink Floyd? The Who?), it's worth inspecting to remember what the fuss was all about. If Qiana shirts and pet rocks still make you chuckle, then you'll love “8-Track.”

“8-Track: The Sounds of the 70's” will run at the Cortland Repertory Theatre through Saturday, June 14. Visit www.cortlandrep.org or call (800) 427-6160 for tickets or more information.

"Souvenir"

Theatre review
"Soluvenir" at the Kitchen Theatre
Ithaca Times
June 11, 2008
727 words
"Sounding Good"

full text here

Sounding Good
By: Mark Tedeschi
06/11/2008

Souvenir by Stephen Temperley. Directed by Sara Lampert Hoover. Starring David Beach and Patricia Dell. Music direction by Thom Baker, scenic design by Ali Golden, lighting design by E.D. Intemann, costume design by Terésa Sears, sound design by Nate Richardson (REP Studio).

Some may say that I couldn't sing, but no one can say that I didn't sing." So said Florence Foster Jenkins, possibly the world's most successful and popular publicly recognized terrible singer this side of William Shatner, on one of the few occasions that she acknowledged criticism. Jenkins always wanted a career in singing, but her wealthy parents forbade it. When they both had passed away, she was free to pursue her dream... at age 60.

The earnestness of her performance and dedication to the music, as well as her lavish self-designed costumes and perpetual confidence, baffled her audience into fascination. She was either putting everyone on or at least slightly mentally detached; exploration of that question is woven into the fabric of Souvenir, a touching and hilarious play written by Stephen Temperley and directed by Sara Lampert Hoover now showing at the Kitchen Theatre.

There are only two actors (and two characters) in Souvenir, and it's the perfect number. Florence's accompanist, Cosmé McMoon, narrates the story, apropos since he's probably the closest tool we have to deciphering her psyche. Cosmé is played by David Beach, an excellent actor, singer, and pianist who has had parts in several TV shows, including "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City." In Souvenir, Cosmé recounts how he got involved with Florence and the mental gymnastics he had to endure while he worked under her.

Patricia Dell, an accomplished opera singer and tap dancer, plays soprano socialite Florence with daring faithfulness. She contorts what is obviously a beautiful and well-trained singing voice into a precisely executed cacophony. Her consistent flats and sharps combine with arrhythmic liberties to wreak a sharp but still funny havoc on the eardrums.

Most of the story takes place in the room in which Florence rehearses. It looks cozy but refined: marbled floor, a few oriental rugs, a crisp-looking settee, etc. Cosmé and Florence discuss her career and her abilities between song rehearsals. There's a comforting mix of philosophical musings and comedic punches in the dialogue; Cosmé quotes Florence, "'Singing is a kind of dreaming in public,'" and adds, "But were we headed into a nightmare?"

At one point, Cosmé's frustration crosses a breaking point, but he apologizes as soon as he sees how much his outburst hurt her feelings. She says, "Nothing is wrong with my voice," and technically, she's right. She never claims to sing anything as it's written - instead, she says, "I'm known for my ear."

Florence's caterwauling recitals were less singing than performance art. Normally, she only performed once a year for a select audience, but her inexplicable climb in popularity eventually led to a sold-out show at Carnegie Hall that would become legendary. Much of Souvenir's second act consists of the story behind, and performance of, that show. The exceptional costume design during this portion includes a flamenco dress during "Clavelitos" and angelic wings-and-halo garb during "Ave Maria."

Also in this segment, the lighting design utilizes a hot spotlight to mimic a concert hall, and the sound design contains audience reaction noise. The sound is clever for most of Souvenir, but here is a bit too loud for how canned it sounds.

Both Cosmé and Florence seem genuinely excited about engaging in music throughout, and Florence's approach to performing makes Cosmé reconsider the preconceived notions of his livelihood. "Who made up the rules?" he wonders. He notes that those at her shows "seem to have a pretty good time," so why not embrace her singularity?

We experienced a modern Florence Foster Jenkins phenomenon a few years ago, albeit on a smaller scale and with an added element of racial controversy. William Hung, another historically awful singer, gained fame and a record deal for performing horribly in an opening round of "American Idol." The glaring difference between the two is that Hung went wherever the limelight took him, while Jenkins orchestrated her own career. But in each case, many people decided to abandon their conception of "good" music in order to shower attention on someone who was trying his or her best.

"Art may thrill the soul," Cosmé muses, "but its sole purpose is to teach." One thing we can learn from Souvenir (and, to a certain extent, Mr. Hung) is the capacity for widespread captivation by someone who persists at what they love no matter how ruthlessly he or she is criticized.

©Ithaca Times 2008

"The Fantasticks"

Theatre review
"The Fantasticks" at Syracuse Stage
Ithaca Times
May 7, 2008
775 words
"Fine and Familiar...Syracuse stage's production of long time favorite"

full text here

Fine and Familiar...Syracuse stage's production of long time favorite
By: Mark Tedeschi
05/07/2008

The Fantasticks, book and lyrics by Tom Jones, music by Harvey Schmidt, directed and choreographed by Peter Amster. With Charles Goad, Mark Goetzinger, Robert K. Johansen, William J. Norris, Alexa Silvaggio, David Studwell, Mackenzie Thomas, and Eric Van Tielen, and some singing by Lauren Nolan. Music direction by David Nelson, scenic design by Scott Bradley, costumes by Maria Marrero, lighting by Ann Wrightson, sound design by Todd Mack Reischman.

Anyone involved in the original 1960 production of the romantic comedy/musical The Fantasticks must be exhausted with pride by now. After an initial opening to mixed reviews, the show eventually became a statistical monster. It's both the world's longest-running musical (17,162 performances in 42 years off-Broadway) and the most frequently produced (11,000 productions in over 3,000 cities and towns) - not to mention that the original 44 investors have received a 19,465% return on their initial contribution.

Why has this particular show enjoyed such immense success? It's actually quite simple, and we have a fine production currently at Syracuse Stage to prove it. The core story is uncomplicated, tried, and familiar: Two neighbors, a girl (Luisa, played in this show by Thomas) and a boy (Matt, played by Van Tielen), fall in love against their fathers' (Bellomy, played by Goad, and Huklebee, by Goetzinger) wishes. Little did they know, their fathers wanted them to get together, but were subscribing to the ubiquitous notion that children always disobey their parents. When Luisa and Matt do find out the truth, they separate, and later, reconsider their feelings.

The magic of The Fantasticks blooms from its self-consciousness: There's a narrator, El Gallo (Studwell) who participates in the plot as a swashbuckling cosmopolite; two actors playing actors, Mortimer and Henry (Johansen and Norris), who literally appear from the stage itself; and a mime known only as The Mute (Silvaggio) who generates elements that are typically produced offstage, such as precipitation and sound effects. The Mute also acts as the wall between the neighbors' houses à la Pyramus and Thisbe - and that's just one of an uncountable number of literary and theatrical references in The Fantasticks, most of which are Shakespearean.

Other creative models are more contemporary; for example, dialogue in The Fantasticks was inspired by poetry of the Beat Generation. The play itself doesn't look particularly "Beat" - many good theatrical productions put their characters in states of disrepair - but there's the undeniable euphony of Beat in many portions, as in a snippet of a speech by El Gallo: "Try to see it - not with your eyes, for they are wise - but see it with your ears: the cool, green breathing of the leaves."

Syracuse Stage's production is composed of a treasury of talent. Amster's actors master his choreography during the "Abduction Ballet" scene, wherein El Gallo and his two cronies kidnap Luisa and feign defeat at Matt's hands. Emmy award-winner Norris commands attention as Henry, "The Old Actor," whenever he speaks. Studwell's baritone voice booms as El Gallo during the famous number "Try to Remember" and cooperates with Matt's equally capable singing during their duet, "I Can See It."

Marrero costumes the cast in excellent, eclectic garb. To name a few, El Gallo sports a swooshing cape, the fathers wear comfy-looking overalls and gardening gloves, Mortimer dresses as a pirate, and the Mute in her horizontal-stripe outfit looks like she came directly from an avenue in Paris.

Bradley's inspired set design also seems influenced by artistic references; in the beginning, El Gallo enters in front of a cloudy backdrop with a bowler hat and a green apple covering his face, much like the Magritte painting "The Son of Man." Later, when Luisa and Matt meet in the woods, The Mute "pulls" down another large backdrop of cubist-ish depictions of leaves. The wooden stage itself, though, remains true to the original Fantasticks - it looks flat and spare but is full of hidden openings for actors to scoot in and out of and to hold innovative props like musical instruments for the Mute to discreetly discover and sound off.

Behind that translucent backdrop of clouds, the musicians are visible. Nelson, also the show's conductor, plays the piano, and Deette Bunn plays the harp. Both manage to extract precisely the right emotion for the scenes through their playing, and together with the singers, they make the music in The Fantasticks downright touching. The story may be straightforward, but the message (or at least a simplified part of it) is significant: Evaluate your blessings with optimism.

There's also a horticulture motif throughout the story. Jones himself said of that device, "Whenever in doubt, I tried to put in something about vegetation and the seasons." Sounds a little like he's admitting it's a metaphor for the sake of metaphor, just as the mass of literary references seem to exist, at least partially, for the fun of it. But isn't that the point? Can't there be a show that's fun, through and through? Sure there can, and if its test-of-time success is any indication, The Fantasticks is it, and Syracuse Stage has captured the pleasure.

©Ithaca Times 2008

"A Midsummer Night's Dream"

Theatre review
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Ithaca College
The Ithaca Journal
April 24, 2008
656 words
"IC Theatre offers a fantastic ‘Midsummer Night's Dream'"

full text here

IC Theatre offers a fantastic ‘Midsummer Night's Dream'
By Mark Tedeschi • Special to The Journal • April 24, 2008

When Michael Hoffman's 1999 film version of William Shakespeare's “A Midsummer Night's Dream” was released, critic Russel Smith of the Austin Chronicle called the play “the most screwup-proof of the bard's works.” If his cryptically complimentary comment is true, it may simply mean that the play is a better candidate for experimentation than other Shakespeare texts.
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Director Norm Johnson, no stranger to challenging actors' physical capabilities (as he proved with his direction of “Alice in Wonderland” at Cornell this year) combined inspiration from the psychology of dreams, the music of indie bands Beirut and Gogol Bordello, the notion of Shakespeare as “fairytales for adults,” and the history of Roma gypsy culture to produce Ithaca College Theatre's fantastic production of “A Midsummer Night's Dream.”

The comedy's plot, composed of three interlaced storylines, is a bit much to digest when it's bunched up into a few paragraphs, but much easier (and more enjoyable) to follow on stage. Here goes: Duke Egeus (Michael Haller) commands his daughter Hermia (Eliza Silverman) to marry Demetrius (Jared Zirilli). She refuses, opting instead to steal into the woods to elope with her true love, Lysander (Ben Hart). Helena (Vicki Rodriguez), in love with Demetrius, reveals the plan to him and follows them all into the woods.

Fairies inhabit the forest; their king, Oberon (Andrew Krug) wants to teach his disobedient wife Titania (Celeste Sayles) a lesson, so he directs the scampish Puck (Corrinne Proctor) to secretly give her a type of love potion. He also tells Puck give the same potion to Demetrius, whom Oberon had seen in the woods earlier. Puck, mistaken, gives it to Lysander instead.

Meanwhile, a rough but energetic group of workers called the “Mechanicals,” led by Peter Quince (Brian Judkins), plan to put on a production of “Pyramus and Thisbe.” Prima donna Nick Bottom (Patrick Prudent) takes a lead role, but the production is hindered when Puck plants on him the head of a donkey and directs toward him the bewitched affections of Queen Titania.

Whew! The show runs nearly three hours, but there is never a dragging moment: you have Katie Delaney's elaborate, gorgeous costumes and Sarah Watson's clever, quick-changing set design under Sandra Podolsky's mystical lighting to gaze at; Jillian Marie Walker's sound design and fantastic fairy-wold musical compositions to listen to; and, of course, William Shakespeare's exquisite fountain of language to bathe in.

Only actors of appropriate caliber can bring out the integral beauty of Shakespeare's words, and I feel oddly confident saying that in this show, everyone qualifies. Not only do they speak their lines with conviction and clarity--Johnson also calls on them to navigate the stage with intense speed and grace, construct a lifelike mechanical donkey, learn new musical instruments, and compose compelling gypsy-style music for the play-within-a-play toward the end.

Johnson infuses two hooks into his version of the story: first, the opening revelation that the coming events are part of a child's dream; and second, the unique decision to place the events at (or near) a gypsy camp. The former seems almost unnecessary, since the latter boosts the dynamic enjoyment of the play--even though, as Johnson points out in the program notes, “Roma history...is a far cry from the romanticized image that many have of gypsy life.” The girl's inclusion (she also explores and occasionally participates in her dream) also slightly alters the meaning of the title “Dream” from the characters' interpretation of the night as too unlikely for reality to the concept that the entire play is a nocturnal vision. (And just as a curious side note, that makes “Pyramus and Thisbe” a play-within-a-dream-within-a-play.)

My miniature grouse should detract nothing from the sound achievement the cast and crew at IC have earned. Their version of “A Midsummer Night's Dream” might owe its engaging success to their embracing the sometimes daring experimentation that dedicated admirers of Shakespeare's oeuvre have proven conducive to his work time and time again.

The show runs at 8 p.m. today-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday in the Clark Theatre at Dillingham Center. Tickets are $4.50-$10. Call 274-3224 or (607) 273-4497 or visit www.ithacaevents.com. For more information, visit www.ithaca.edu/theatre.