Not your usual 'Dream'

By Meredith Deliso

Yes, everyone stages “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” — all the time — but don’t let that persuade you from checking out the version by the hip Aquila Theatre at Brooklyn Center this Sunday.

This stage version amps up the best part of the play — the humor — for an enjoyable, two-hour production that’s entertaining for adults and tweens alike.

“The company is very much about presenting classics in a way that is very accessible to today’s audience,” said Rick Berube of Brooklyn Center. “These aren’t stuffy, cobwebbed filled antiquities. It’s a very high energy, vibrant, colorful performance.”

Set against a classical Athenian backdrop, Aqulia’s interpretation sticks to the plot — the trials of two sets of lovers and the forest of fairies whose magic results in misunderstandings, misplaced passions, mistaken identity and a man turned into a donkey. 

The company employs its own theatrical magic through inventive staging, an amiable cast and a mesmerizing set — involving the use of dozens of umbrellas — with the humor front and center. The fast-moving production should delight both those familiar or new to the classic comedy.

“If you’ve stayed away from Shakespeare in the past because of preconceptions, this is the performance you should try,” said Berube. “Shakespeare isn’t a lot of work. It’s a lot of fun.” 

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College [2900 Campus Rd. at Hillel Road in Flatbush, (718) 951-4500], Oct. 17 at 3 pm. Tickets $27 ($30 at the door). For more info, visit www.brooklyncenteronline.org.