Word: hermia
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...fate of Anna Friel's character, Hermia, to get rather lost in so-so productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and sure enough, that's what happens in Michael Hoffman's adaptation, which oxymoronically manages to seem both leaden and hasty. Reset for no discernible reason from ancient Athens to 19th century Tuscany, it focuses on the fun stuff--the fairies who inhabit the damp but enchanted wood, the rude mechanicals (led by Kevin Kline's hammy but well-cured Bottom) and their awful-wonderful production of Pyramus and Thisbe...
...into the forest--is equally well-played by its four talented and entertaining actors. Tom Davidson '99 and Jeremy Salfen '00 are quite good as the hot-headed and hapless suitors Lysander and Demetrius and the more challenging women's roles are excellently filled by Monica Henderson '99 as Hermia and Elena Schneider '99 as Helena. If the men's roles are supposed to be almost interchangeable, then the women must play off each other's differences, and Henderson and Schneider work well together. Their portrayals of strong but lovelorn maidens, vacillating between sincerity and over-the-top silliness...
...both dancer and actor. Helena (Christina Elida Salerno) in particular does a spectacular job, her face and movements displaying the comical screams and melodramatic gasps that are not permitted to leave her lips as both Lysander (Alexander Srb) and Demetrius (Gino DiMarco) pursue her. Lysander and his true love, Hermia (Marjorie Grundvig), create a lovely image of passionate lovers fleeing from their confining world. The four "Rustics"--Bottom and his crew--deliver perfectly timed comic relief, and the royal couple of Titania (Natasha Akhmarova) and Oberon (Laszlo Berdo) take everyone's breath away with their emotional grace and dignified stage...
Myth #1: Ballet is boring. Here is the plot of A Midsummer Night's Dream: Hermia loves Lysander. Lysander loves Hermia. Demetrius loves Hermia. Helena loves Demetrius. Hermia's dad, Egeus, wants Hermia to marry Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander flee. Oberon, who is fighting with Titania for a child, orders Puck to use a magic flower to make Demetrius love Helena...
There is nothing diminutive about Heather Dyan Hughes' acting, despite the poignant jokes about her stature that the characters make. As Hermia, she is fluid throughout the play, and gives an especially effective performance as she prepares to elope but is then rejected by her lover Lysander...