Mauckingbird Theatre Company, which has carved out a niche for itself by injecting gay and lesbian characters into theater classics, is at it again.
This time the company is turning one of Shakespeare’s most popular classics, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” into a cyberpunk comedy full of same-sex intrigue.
In the original, Oberon, king of the fairies, sends the trickster Puck into the woodlands with magical juice (we’re guessing vodka) to manipulate the affections of four young Athenian lovers — Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius and Helena — to his advantage. Things don’t go as planned, as both Lysander and Demetrius end up falling for Helena. Wacky Shakespearian hijinks ensue.
Mauckingbird’s take on the comedy sets the action at an elite boarding school and switches the genders of Lysander and Helena, who end up really wanting to get into the pants of Hermia and Demetrius, respectively.
Patrick Joyce, 25, was eager to perform for Mauckingbird again, having previously appeared in the production of “The Misanthrope.”
“They’re doing different theater that anyone else in the Philly area does with gay and lesbian themes,” Joyce said. “That attracted me right away just because it’s something different. Then audiences loved ‘The Misanthrope’ and they were so open to it, so I knew that something like this was going to be the same thing.”
Joyce said he was hoping to land any role in “Midsummer,” no matter how small. But he was cast as one of the main characters.
“When I received the role of Helena, I was surprised and excited and nervous because it’s such a prominent role in all of Shakespeare’s works,” he said. “Being a male playing a role that is normally played by a female is going to be something that is different, interesting and funny. It adds a whole new twist. You can play around with the role so much. As an actor, you pray to land a role like this where you can have fun and learn about yourself.”
Emily Letts, 22, plays the other switched-gender character in the production. She said that changing Lysander to a female doesn’t switch the character as much as it alters the context of that character’s struggle.
“Lysander is a character who is fighting for what he wants despite everyone telling him that he can’t have it,” she said. “He’s fighting against a lot of oppression around him. Changing him into a woman, it kind of augments the oppression. It’s the same adversity but it adds a lot more of a modern context. For me, it makes the obstacles much stronger and my fight to get over them even stronger.”
Both Joyce and Letts said the addition of the modern, cyberpunk aesthetic further distinguishes this version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” from the more traditional versions of the play that most audiences are used to.
“It makes it more modern,” Joyce said. “We communicate through text messages and Facebook. Every type of communication has gone online or through telephone. It is so relevant and it will make the story so much funnier to the audience because they will be able to relate to that.”
“I think that this will be a bit of a shock to people who have seen a lot of versions of it,” Letts added. “Not only are we doing the gender-bend, but the styling of the show is very out there. In no way, shape or form is it traditional. I think [audiences] have to have an open mind when they come and see it. There are hundreds of productions of ‘Midsummer’ out there that are traditional and don’t take leaps. I’m in full support of that and I love it, but I think it’s important to push the boundaries every once in a while to see what we have, whether it’s successful or not. People are just going to have to go along with the ride with us.”
Mauckingbird Theatre Company presents “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” through Sept. 12 at Randall Theater at Temple University, 2020 N. 13th St. For more information or tickets, visit www.mauckingbirdtheatreco.orgor call (215) 923-8909.
Larry Nichols can be reached at [email protected].