Midsummer ★★★★☆

Midsummer — Shakespeare Gets a Golden-Age Glow-Up ★★★★

Carnegie Mellon University’s Midsummer is a stunning, energetic reimagining of the Shakespearean classic, taking something centuries old and giving it a distinctly modern heartbeat.

Using Jeff Whitty’s modern translation and adaptation, CMU transports A Midsummer Night’s Dream into a golden-age Americana world. It’s stylish, playful and contemporary, with just the right amount of queer fairy dust sprinkled across proceedings.

What makes the production even more impressive is discovering that much of the cast are still studying to become professional actors, with some only in their first year of training. There is a confidence and polish here that punches well above what you might expect from a university production.

Then there’s the space.

Putting Midsummer inside a Spiegeltent could easily become a logistical nightmare, but the artistic team turns it into one of the production’s greatest strengths. The direction and blocking are exceptional. Actors weave through the audience as scenes unfold in front of you, beside you and behind you. Rather than simply watching Shakespeare, you’re dropped directly into the middle of his wonderfully chaotic world.

At around 90 minutes, there’s barely an opportunity to check the time and you won’t want to. The production moves with enormous energy, while Whitty’s adaptation allows the comedy to land with a freshness and accessibility that makes the work feel remarkably current.

This is Shakespeare without the museum glass around it: immersive, funny, beautifully staged and bursting with emerging talent.

Congratulations must go to the entire artistic team, particularly co-artistic directors Brannon Bowers and Rick Edinger, for creating such a polished and imaginative production.

A must-see addition to your Fringe programming, get thee to the Spiegeltent.

★★★★ 4 Stars