Shakespeare in Hollywood

From a magic wood of Athens to a different magic wood of Holly, Shakespeare’s Oberon and Puck have somehow ended up in 1934, on the set of Max Reinhardt’s plagued film production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Their Elizabethan costumes and clipped English accents ensure they blend well with the extremes of those working within the Warner Brothers studio system at that time. With this Ken Ludwig re-telling of the making of the movie, stars Victor Jory and Mickey Rooney are absent, leaving a desperate director to re-cast Oberon and Puck as themselves.

The two residents of the other wood are thoroughly enjoying themselves as movie actors, until Oberon falls in love with an actress, Olivia Darnell. Unfortunately, the leading man and huge movie star Dick Powell has taken a shine to her as well, so the fairy king instructs Puck to find some of the magic flower that, when rubbed across the eyes, causes the person to fall instantly in love with the next living thing they see.

This is used to great comic effect in Ludwig’s farce – though the plot’s repeated reliance on it is perhaps its greatest weakness. Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, it premiered in Washington, D.C. in 2004 and won The Helen Hayes Award for Best New Play. Ludwig mashes Shakespearean quotes into 1930s movie-talk and most of the time, it works wonderfully well – with those hearing the Bard’s words either bewildered or enchanted, much as it can be today. The appropriation and relocation of some of Shakespeare’s famous lines ensures most in the audience are reassured with familiarity, but there is lesser-known prose and poetry for the Bard’s fans to enjoy with knowing chuckles.

For this Adelaide Rep production, director Jude Hines is smart enough to make sure that audiences will have a good time whatever their appreciation of Shakespeare. Her good cast devour the dialogue and inhabit their larger-than-life characters, whether they’re a leading role or a momentary cameo.

Stephen Bills is an excellent Oberon, dancing effortlessly between the fairy king’s cheekiness and rage, with a smattering of love in between. He has a look of Victory Jory, who played this role in the real Reinhardt movie, and his twinkling crown is well-deserving of its own credit in the program (designed by John Duval and Ushmo Prem). He also has great chemistry with his co-stars – primarily Emily Burns’ Puck, who is wonderful in her own right as the mischievous fairy, bouncing around the stage with overflowing glee and having the most fabulous costumes (all in this production designed by Sandy Whitelaw).

Sam Wiseman is also having a great time as the Austrian director Max Reinhardt, and his occasional reminder of why he’s in America a gentle but firm nudge to the seriousness of political extremism. Even as a comical version of the great man, Hines’ direction and Wiseman’s delivery balances the darkness and light, which Hines sustains well through the less cheery themes of censorship – and how ‘we are time’s subjects, and time bids us gone’.

Ben Todd is brilliantly cast as Jack Warner, one of the brothers who really doesn’t want to make the movie yet does so for the love of his young star, Lydia Lansing, played with so much energy by Jasmine Duggan. Lydia has to play the game with the patriarchal decision-makers, but has enough street-smarts to outwit her studio-head boyfriend when required – Duggan hams up the dialogue so well, and strives to give her character depth beyond the sass.

Leah Lowe is a wonderful Olivia Darnell, a new actress, adept at falling in love with the romantic lead, the studio canteen, and every other aspect of the supposed dream factory of Hollywood. Her chemistry with Bills’ Oberon is strong, and this pairing have a significant number of critical moments in this play, which they navigate well.

All the cast are great, but special mention to the hilarious Malcolm Walton, who never fails to make us laugh even as he plays numerous characters that barely crack a smile.

The sets for Hines’ plays are always impressive and designer Gary Anderson has again achieved a collective ‘wow’ for the enormous tree that dominates the Arts Theatre stage. It’s beautifully lit by Ian Barge – the tree and the whole production – with stark white downlights for the studio bosses and bold primary colours for the wood. It’s wonderful to see the lighting design be as much a player as the performers on stage.

Ludwig’s plays are perfect for the Adelaide Rep, and the company creates a decent production of this clever mash-up of big-time, old-time Hollywood with one of Shakespeare’s best-known plays. It has plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, but it’s also not afraid to make you pause and consider something more serious, for just a few moments, before another character makes an ‘ass’ of themselves.

Review by Mark Wickett

Photographer: Richard Parkhill