A Midsummer Night's Dream

You can’t accuse Gary Griffin’s busy but entertaining production of Shakespeare’s comedy of being subtle. Indeed, the prologue begins with a giant projection of Sigmund Freud, gazing down at us patronizingly from the rear wall of the stage as Puck (Elizabeth Ledo in male drag) chomps a giant cigar. Griffin shuffles the script to elevate the importance of the rude mechanicals, giving Quince (Tim Kazurinsky), Bottom (Ron Orbach) and pals the opening scene; kicking off with the comic relief seems an odd choice. Once we enter the forest, Griffin’s production comes to lush life, with Mike Tutaj’s projections of magnified textures and swirling lights suggesting the magic at hand. If the production doesn’t exactly innovate, well, sometimes a Dream is just a Dream.