Immersive, site specific theater is flourishing in New York City. One of the most accomplished troupes is Third Rail Projects. Co-produced with Food of Love Productions, this newest entry is an attempt to bring Shakespeare and dinner theater to Manhattan. Midsummer: A Banquet presents the Bard’s play while serving a multi-course meal and drinks for purchase.
My first encounter with Third Rail Projects was Then She Fell back in 2012. That phantasmagoria of Alice in Wonderland and its author Lewis Carroll is still running and worth seeking out. Subsequently I caught The Grand Paradise and Ghost Light which were both interesting, site specific tours in highly imaginative environments.
Café Fae is the location for this experience. This theater is the former Union Square home and studio of celebrated expressionist painter Willem de Kooning. The room has interesting old features. Tables are set up to suggest a bistro environment. The cast is flitting about chatting with guests and playing music. The audience is nibbling on tasty crudités and accompanying dips while sipping wine and eagerly anticipating the show.
Zach Morris and Victoria Rae Sook have adapted A Midsummer Night’s Dream for a cast of eight. Mr. Morris also directed and choreographed this production. The storytelling is clear and efficient. This comedic tale concerns events surrounding the impending marriage of Theseus, Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta, the former Queen of the Amazons. The intimate dinner theater idea feels like a smart and natural choice to revisit this comedy.
When the play begins, there is hardly any change to the lighting in the room. The setting never visually transports the audience to a magical forest filled with faeries up to no good. Courses of diminishing quality are served by the cast in a clunky manner during the presentation. The food distribution is uneven and sparkling wine for a toast is roughly poured into barely half-full glasses. (Partially empty bottles are quickly whisked away.) Everything comes across as awkwardly rushed service rather than an incorporation into the action. With a $200 top ticket price, promised refreshments and a producer named “Food of Love,” the dining execution is subpar.
The first act dragged on for me and I was bored. Thankfully, the second half was far stronger and the farcical elements of the plot were well-handled by an accomplished group of actors. The four young Athenian lovers are amusingly played by Caroline Amos (Hermia), Joshua Gonzales (Demetrius), Alex J. Gould (Lysander) and Adrienne Paquin (Helena). When the faeries (simply represented by lit Mason jars) bewitch them, the strongly staged chaos of realigned amorous yearnings is a smile-inducing delight.
Co-adapter Adrienne Rae Sook portrays both Titania and Hippolyta. Her partner is Ryan Wuestewald as Oberon and Theseus. Both deliver the required cunning performances. The star of this show, however, is unquestionably Charles Osborne. He deliciously overplays the pompous and self-adoring Bottom, the hammy actor who is part of the group preparing to perform a play during the wedding ceremonies.
The play within the play is finally performed for the newly married couple and the silliness is inspired. Midsummer: A Banquet is a evening spent with talented performers who are having some fun. In the view from my seat, the investment is too high for the intermittent rewards.