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I went to opening night for Midsummer and the theater was packed. The production was fabulous. So funny, tender and magical. Puck and Bottom were my favorites and the dancing numbers (yes, there's dancing) are a total kick. Bring your friends and family (great intro to Shakespeare for kids) and you'll leave the theater smiling. I guarantee it.- Jean
what a great time! this production of Dream is fresh and new. I loved it!!!!- Sally
It's always wondrous to see "A Midsummer Night's Dream" amidst the ideal setting of the Festival Glen. While "Dream" updates several aspects of the show to modern times, the core of the show remains faithful to Shakespeare. Athletically performed, beautifully staged, lovingly directed, and completely entertaining, this show captivates the audiences and creates magic within the redwoods. Don't miss it!- Daniel G.
We saw the preview last Thursday and while we found the production entertaining and innovative, the sound was so poor that we couldn't hear most of the dialog - and we we're that far back. I've seen MSND several times but this was the first time for my friend and she was most disappointed. I really hope this has been corrected because it was very well acted and directed. - judy erlandson
I have seen several Midsummer Night's Dream productions, this was by far the most fun. Loved it!- Allison
Scott Wentworth rocks!- Meg Kaminski
A truly enjoyable experience. My kids grew up on SSC, and I recommend this one as a good first play for the whole family. This production was carried well by an acrobatic Puck, flying around the stage and doing backflips, and the expert shenanigans of Bottom. As an added bonus, a wonderful chemistry developed between Hermia and Helena during their bickering scenes. It really made the characters come alive for me. Go for it!- Jeof
My family saw MND last weekend at a Saturday matinee, and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. Strong performances from all of the leads gave the performance energy, but we found Lenne Klingaman as Hermia, J. Todd Adams as Puck, and Scott Wentworth as Bottom especially sparkling. I recommend locals not to miss it!- Sonya
This was the BEST performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream I've ever experienced. BRAVO!!!- Sheri D.
Even though I have seen this play many times, this is a fresh adaptation, funny and absolutely wonderful. The play within a play is brilliant.
- Liz Sandoval
We attended the opening night performance and it was fantastic! My husband and I have attended many past performances together, but this was the first time we came as a family with our 2 girls, ages 8 & 11. My 11-year-old daughter has been reading abridged versions of Shakespeare's plays with me and really enjoyed Midsummer Night's Dream, so she just loved seeing it on stage. My younger daughter was absolutely mesmerized! And she's not one to sit still for anything! Bravo!- Jennifer
Wow, just wow. Fantastic performances, great location, loved it !- Mark H
The best, funniest MSND I've ever seen. You get so much more out of Shakespeare when the players speak their lines clearly, and in the right direction. And when the players know what's supposed to be funny so that they deliver the punch lines as punch lines, knowing where the emphasis goes. It all comes down to the directing, and they've got it right with this one.- Rick Scott Garrett
Absolutely wondrous. With laughter to be had by all. A wonderfully fresh production with superb costuming. A completely enjoyable evening.- Linda Govednik
What's impressive here is that there really isn't even a single weakness in the cast. Everyone is somewhere between really good and sensational. Hilarity and youth abound. A celebration of what is most human, like theater, love, and the imagination.- Ken
The best, most original production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' I've ever seen. Loved it from beginning to its sensational end and recommend it wholeheartedly!- Jake
Lesley, my 47 year old son, Mark and I attended your recent production of MSND and it was the most imaginative production of this great play we have seen thus far and we've seen several productions. I thought the way Titiania was played lacked some of the voluptuousness we are used to in other productions. she is a fine actress, however. Somehow, I thought the role should be played with more poise as the queen of the fairies. - Michael Tierra
My husband and I both commented on how much fun we had. The play was thoroughly enjoyable and had lots of laugh-out-loud moments. We love the casual atmosphere and the beautiful redwoods setting. First rate production!
- Donna C.
My husband and I just had our first experience at Santa Cruz Shakes. The setting was incredible and the show was fabulous. The actors melded into the trees and deftly transformed the forest into a vibrant and colorful Shakespearean dream. We thoroughly enjoyed the performance and were amazed at the skilled and engaging actors, especially Scott Wentworth as “Bottom” and Evans Eden Jarnefeldt as “Demetrius”. We look forward to attending more wonderful theater at Santa Cruz Shakes. And, yes, we will bring our friends! - Anne H.
We've come to Shakespeare Santa Cruz for many, many seasons. Midsummer's Night Dream was definitely one of the best performances. Not to be missed!- Vern from Eugene
This adaption is so, so, SO funny! Like others, I've seen "A Midsummer Night's Dream" many times (including Soquel High's production in 1998 or 1998 - which was fantastic and had a great Puck and a beautiful Hippolyta), but this SSC production made me laugh until I cried. I wanted to come back and see every performance--especially at night. Timing was excellent. Dialog was easily understood. The modern references were enjoyable (i.e. the cell phone going off during the "play".) And even though this was written so many centuries ago, the difficulties between men/women and communication are still the same! LOVED the fairies. Absolutely adored Oberon. Well, there isn't anyone I didn't just love. The Glen is beautiful. I'm still smiling today, a week later. Everyone, go see it!!- Rachell
Every year, Santa Cruz Shakespeare Festival is a have to venue. It takes a hold of you and brings you on a wonderful whirlwind ride to wonderful and exciting places. Thank you, please keep this marvelous event around for years to come.- Barbara luedtke
I've seen many different performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream done by a variety of groups. Of all of them, this one has definitely been my favorite. I usually am not a fan of modernizing Shakespeare, but this modern look stays true to Shakespeare while providing a comedic look at some of our current pop culture. The actors make the characters come alive while forest surrounding the stage lures you into a magical world where fairies exist and magic does happen. Overall, one of the best performances I have ever seen at Shakespeare Santa Cruz.- L. C.
Absolutely the best production of MSND I have ever seen. J.Todd Adams was fantastic and the music and costumes were pitch perfect. The audience was mesmerized and well aware they had seen something special.- KR
Saw the matinee performance a couple Saturdays ago...what magic! Some of the best stage movement I've ever seen. Great acting and clear delivery, wonderful costuming, and what a setting under the redwoods! I will never again be satisfied with a MSND performed indoors or with less creativity.- Ken White
Puck! absolutely wonderful- rose
I really enjoyed the characters Bottom and Puck. They stole the show.- Kimberly
We've been coming to Shakespeare Santa Cruz for years and this was easily one of the best. Kudos to a great cast.- Tom S.
I can't believe that I have lived in this county for so many years and waited this long to go to Shakespeare Santa Cruz! It was so much fun! It has quickly become a new tradition for us! We look forward to next year in the Glen!- Denise & Siamak
Oberon and Puck were the favorites for my nine year old daughter. We loved the costumes and the dance scenes.- Lorien
MY first MSND was in 1970 at Stratford in England. I have seen about 8 live productions since then plus the various movies and videos. This is by far the best production that I have seen for originality, intelligent acting, imaginative staging and overall appeal. When are you going to take it to New York?- Bruce
We brought our grandchildren ages 7, 9, 11 for their first Shakespeare experience. I couldn't have been more pleased. They laughed as much as we did and were completely enthralled. Great job and best Shakespeare I've seen so far.- Kylea
Oh my!!! That was transformative experience!!!! And I didn't even have to turn into an ass myself to see how wonderful a production SSC has put together!!! Such amazing actors, and directing, and interpretive work SSC has done!!!! May the fairies always love you; no doubt in my mind that they always will! Your brought magic to the forest and to my summer! Thank you!- Rachael Fields
I ADORED Midsummer Night's Dream. I was laughing out loud the whole production. It is a wonderful show for all ages. Strong work cast and crew. Keep up the great work.- ruth s
This was so amazing and magical and perfect I cannot find the words. Let me just say that I saw Wicked in SF a few months ago and in terms of a satisfying and fulfilling theatre experience, MND delivered equally and with the added bonus of being in the beautiful Glenn. We were full up when we left, and I'm still telling my friends and coworkers about it.My favorite one I've seen and I've been a SCSF fan for many years.- cr
Wonderful for all ages. My 5 year old could not stop laughing at the end. Excellent acting, love Puck and the donkey! Pronunciations were easy to understand for the kids, acting easy to follow, love the interpretations of the lines by the actors. - April Sembrat, Santa Cruz
This play was absolutely fantastic. This was Shakespeare comedy at its best. You will laugh constantly, and be glued to the story. I wouldn't miss this production, it was a joy to watch. - Bob B
I think that this was the most interesting and entertaining production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I have ever seen.- DLF
Last night, I got to do something I have been waiting 9 years for, take my nine-year-old boys (both of them) to Shakespeare Santa Cruz. They were, as I have been for over 20 years, enchanted. We groundlings sat in the front row and not only did they see first class theater, but got to interact (even be picked up) by actors --Thanks Oberon and Puck. As we left, they asked me, "Mom, what will they be putting on next week. We want to see all the shows!" Thank you, Shakespeare Santa Cruz for letting me pass on my love for great theater. I only hope that the rest of their theater-going lives will measure up!- Andrea Y.
Midsummer was FANTASTIC. I loved the humor, the costumes, and the quality of every actor's performance. I saw friends there who were taking their kids to see it a second time. I can understand why. It was magical.- Debby
A fun romp - very well done. Well paced, with actors delivering their lines in a clear and easy to understand way. Highlights are Bottom and Thisby. Lysander was great, a very gifted and intuitive actor. So was Hermia. Unfortunately nothing at all was done with the part of the Duke, who did every line as though narrating a play without being in it. Worst miscasting of all were Oberon and Titania. They had good stage presence but virtually no nuance - every line was delivered with exactly the same inflection. Good energy, but no connection to what was actually being said. There is too much American acting that involves picking an emotion and going with it, and not enough 'listening'. This was a great example of that. But all in all a well done show and very worth seeing. I'm sooooo glad ssc is finally moving away from the 'gimmicky' crowd-pleasing, crotch-thrusting vein it was stuck in for so long. If future productions are this good, I'll start going again.- jeff
One of the best, if not the best, production of Midsummer that I have seen, and I have seem many. It was hilarious and the music made a wonderful addition. - Sanda
This was by far the funniest version of MSND that we have ever seen. It was wonderful! We couldn't stop talking about it. Loved it! Recommend it to everyone!- shanrahan
Fantastic! The best Midsummer Night's Dream production I have seen. Cleverly done. We were completely absorbed and forgot that they were speaking in Shaekspearean rhyme!- Robin
This is my all-time favorite experience of SSC. We had no need to be convinced of the company's right to "go on," but now we have evidence that shows like this must. Please, everybody lend me your ears and your bucks. SSC deserves your attendance at this show and your additional contributions.
- Rev. Dr. T. C. Marshall
I loved the play. Last summer my husband saw it while in Santa Cruz on business. He came home raving about the production and this year I went with him and experienced the same magic. It is the best version I've ever seen. We once lived in Oxford, England and often went to the plays that were held in the college gardens. I couldn't imagine a better setting. The forest grove trumps all. The staging was amazing and the modern touches were so fun and brought the play such a freshness. Shakespeare would have been delighted.
The cast was stellar. It's hard to choose a favorite actor but it is clear that Bottom and Puck were outstanding. It was better than a Broadway play. The evening was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. Keep up the great work. More than ever, we need to have events that enable us to laugh and escape the stresses of modern life. I wish you all continued success. If I'm ever in Santa Cruz, I will be sure to get tickets to another play. Keep shining brightly!!- Caroline
It was a great show! I really enjoyed it. The performers were all so good! A very fun afternoon with my grandson! - Lyn
This was either the third or fourth MSND that I have seen. I think Scott Wentworth was certainly the best Nick Bottom; better than I could have imagined. Overall, one of the best ensemble performances also. All the other actors seem to be been carefully chosen for their parts, which they did exceeding well. Magical. - Eleanor from Sunnyvale
This production of Midsummer was fabulous! The cast was superb and the adaptation was very creative and fun. It was engaging for both kids and adults. A thoroughly enjoyable evening. Please have this production return again next year. I don't think I would ever tire of frolicking in the redwoods with the fairies.- Barbara
Well, I can't believe you're offering this opportunity to me to write a short review of Shakespeare Santa Cruz's recent production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. I can't believe either that you actually want to know my thoughts about the show. I'm guessing you probably don't really want that, that you're rather more interested in having a page on your website listing the bubbly encomiums collected from your dazzled and delighted audiences. Let me say at the outset that I think Shakespeare Santa Cruz is one of the truly important gems of the artistic community on the Central Coast of California. During your recent financial crisis, I contributed and I'm very glad I did. I praise you most sincerely for what you are undertaking. However, I did have some issues with Midsummer. Number One: American productions of Shakespeare's comedies seem to rely heavily on physical comedy. This has become rather a tradition. No doubt because the language is difficult for untutored audiences, someone falling down or pulling out a cell phone in the middle of a forest provides the compensation of a laugh for the confusion created by trying to decipher difficult lines. The tendency in Midsummer, especially, in most productions, is to throw in everything but the kitchen sink to get a laugh. And I have seen some productions of this beautiful play in which the kitchen sink did indeed make an appearance. Thankfully, yours was not one of those, though you were working pretty hard to keep the chuckles going. By taking that approach, the director, or whoever pushes the director around, missed a lot of the poetry in the play. I think the fairies bring magic to the proceedings. To make them into energetic, almost spastic, clowns is to rob them, and the audiences as well, of a sparkling metaphysical world that Shakespeare hints is floating just beyond the everyday, floating perhaps in the imaginations of the most ardent characters--in Bottom, who is not afraid to dream, and in Hermia, who is willing to throw her life on the fire in the pursuit of her dream of love. Anyway, the fairies must be magical. They have their domestic squabbles to be sure, but as their final speeches proclaim, they represent something rather more than the difficulties of family life--they represent hope as they bless the future issue of the lovers and promise those children unblighted births and auspicious prospects. Oberon's prayer or incantation is the healthy hope of every mother and of every father. Number Two: The fellow who played Bottom was simply too old. I suppose he must have wonderful credits as an actor, but he is not now an effective Bottom. Or perhaps it was just in this production that he was not effective. The cast were so young and bright and energetic and here was this grandpa figure stumbling around and trying to fake youthful gaiety. Bottom, if nothing else, is pure energy. His energy drives so much of the play--his excitement, his joy, his personal magnetism. Titania is drawn not just by a spell, but by the masculine energy radiating from our chief clown. Number Three: Separate more distinctly the different social groups in the play. Positive Notes: On the positive side, I thought the young lady who acted the role of Hermia was quite excellent--wonderful energy and clarity and realism in the way she spoke the lines. Nice full voice. Talented girl. The fellow who did Flute was also excellent. His Thisbe in the pink dress was sincerely one of the finest Thisbes I've ever seen. And I thought the young man who played Lysander was just first rate. Fine young actor. I liked Puck's acrobatics and the tool music at the beginning and the lightning and some of the magic effects were very nice. It needed more shape, I guess; seemed like the whole thing was trying to run itself into a big pile of chuckles, to become a Saturday morning cartoon--and, really, Shakespeare is so much more than that.
That's it, I guess. Keep plowing forward, you're doing noble work. - Larry
One of the best and most creatively staged MND I've seen - and I've seen many!
Our group included several "first timers" who were equally charmed.- Anne
FAB-U-LOUS! This is my favorite Shakespeare play next to the Tempest. I have seen it many times--Loved the Danny Scheie interpretation years back--and I loved this production for totally different reasons. This is the first time I have seen the play within a play take such importance. Bottom was wonderful--the costumes hilarious--especially the Spartan in Athens! Many thanks to the Director for imagining the triumph of the humble man.
- Mary Comfort
Wow! This was a wonderful presentation. MSND was well acted! In fact, it couldn't have been any better. Loved the costumes too. I laughed so hard and danced on way out. It is wonderful how SC Shakespeare puts its own spin on these plays too. Thank you for a wonderful evening.- Sandy H.
We had the pleasure to experience
your Midsummer Night's Dream perfomance in the third week in July this year. We had all seen this play before in other productions, and felt that this was the most entertaining and understandable version that we ever saw. We were delighted with the acting, professinalism, and sheer joy that the cast projected. We will make sure to stop by and see another UCSC Shakespeare whenever we are in the area. keep up the wonderful work. - Bruce Esposito
Perfect setting, of course. Loved the acrobatic Puck, and probably the best Bottom I have ever seen (though not the funniest Pyramus and Thisbe---OSF wins on that one). Altogether a very enjoyable production. Why there were so few weekend evening performances? Hard to imagine what 2pm would be like.- Peter
Great production--the venue also helps to remind us how lucky we are--to live among the redwoods and be able to see great Shakespeare- Peg Carlson-Bowen
Amazing! I think it was the best performance of this play I have ever seen! It was hilarious, well timed, well cast, well acted, well directed, well costumed. Hermia and Lysander were adorable. Helena was great. I could go on. Great!!!- Karen Potter
A Midsummer Night's dream:
Absolutely enchanting, brilliant! Thank you for a lovely afternoon of laughter/talent, nature, friends and food.- Michelle K.
MSND is my favorite Shakespeare comedy and I have seen it all over the country in many genres and styles. This was the best to date - unbelievable! WS would be proud for sure! Each actor "owned" his or her part and brought something unique to the character.
PLEASE SUPPORT SSC - they are in financial difficulties and need it now!
Puck - how was the brownie?
Ron- Ronald Winterlin
In common with many others here, I've seen numerous "Dream"s over the years. This was the most captivating and inspiring production I can remember -- I'm going to stick my neck out here, besting even the RSC (Stratford) version I saw a decade and a half ago. Many thanks to all who helped to create an absolutely superb show.- mmalc Crawford
It was by far the best production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I have seen. Very fun, just enough dancing and singing, without making it a musical. The dancing added sensuality to the dream portions. The actors were fabulous. It would be difficult to choose only 1 favorite character.
Thank you!- Mary Hinz
Midsummer Night's Dream 09' was a true delight. What better way to enjoy the Santa Cruz summer evenings then feasting and frolicking to fairies' delight!- michael seifert
I have been attending Shakespeare productions for 55 years, mostly at San Diego's Old Globe theatre. Midsummer Night's Dream is one of the BEST I have ever seen- so funny, I laughed out loud. It is magical in the Festival Glen. The play within the play was just hilarious. Each member of the cast was perfect. It's a performance I will long remember. Thank you all so much for a wonderful season and you just have to be back next year.- Betty Imlay
The absolute best production of Midsummer Night's that I've ever seen...and I've seen a lot.- Julia C.
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