(Charles Spencer’s article appeared in the Telegraph, 8/5.)
For the first few minutes, I feared Nancy Meckler’s new production of Shakespeare’s comedy was going to prove a bummer in the summer. Theseus’s palace resembles a bleak warehouse transformed into a modish club, with hookers hanging around the entrance. Meanwhile, the rude mechanicals are evidently members of the maintenance department, making their first appearance emerging through a trap-door after dealing with a temperamental boiler .
When Hippolyta actually spits at Theseus to express her disapproval of his treatment of the young lovers, one anticipates a modishly dark production.