A Midsummer Night's Dream presented by Polarity Ensemble Theatre at The Greenhouse Theater Center

Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended

"...The strangeness and magic of Midsummer leave it vulnerable to aggressive adaptations-and adapter-director Ann Keen's has tried to make this Polarity Ensemble Theatre production relatable by adding unnecessary songs and barely funny sight gags, shenanigans that undermine the poetry, comedy, and gravity of the play itself."

Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended

"...He’s going strong for a guy who died 400 years ago today. This, of course, is easily William Shakespeare’s most popular comedy, if only because it delivers some magical goods: There’s an epiphany near the end of A Midsummer Night’s Dream when the mixed-up quartet of wayward lovers who’ve been confoundedly mashed up over the course of a long July night discover they’re awake! They jump for joy over the deliverance. It’s an absolutely natural response to the very complex “dream” from which they escape—and it confirms Polarity Ensemble Theatre’s interesting invocation of 1960s’ doo-wop hit singles, so much feckless fun."

Chicago Stage and Screen - Somewhat Recommended

"...I know I have a lot of grievances with this production. But I actually didn't mind the production. So many productions of Shakespeare can't seem to do the simple task of telling the story in a clear way and this production does. The fairy world in particular is wonderfully created and the incorporation of music was a fantastic idea. I'm also a big fan of Buck Blue's set design that I have to imagine was born out of necessity to hide that obnoxious pole in the middle of the Greenhouse space: three-sided panels that could rotate to either show the stone wall of the city or the trees of the forest. Simple and very effective. Unfortunately those words couldn't describe the show as a whole."

Around The Town Chicago - Recommended

"...Midsummer is one of the most commonly performed of Shakespeare's plays, for its amusing juxtaposition of words, communities, and high and lowbrow tastes, too. In this production, Shakespeare's world gets the (early) 60s treatment. Keeping faithful to the language of the bard, this addition affects the costumes and the music, mainly. The 60s are delightfully on point in the latter case, with interludes of angel-voiced faery attendants singing pop and doo-wop hits punctuating the scenes and set changes."