‘A Midsummer Night’ at Summer’s End

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Photo via Voices Found Repertory

Voices Found Repertory opens A Midsummer Night’s Dream with playfully informal music as the whole cast gradually assembles onstage singing classic pop tunes to acoustic guitar in character. Director Sarah Zapiain has fostered a deeply engaging emotional dynamic for the production, which flows through delicate comedic intricacies in a casually contemporary small stage atmosphere in West Allis. Zapiain works with a talented cast to develop an engagingly textured ensemble of characters. Comedic amplifications on the folly of love echo through the heart of a thoroughly enjoyable 90 intermission-less minutes.

Grace DeWolff and Haley Ebinal wield nuanced charm as Athenian lovers Lysander and Hermia. The playful palpability of their romance is firmly established in clever subtlety which serves the comedy well as things get crazy when they run away into the wilderness. Maya Danks irresistibly plays with irrepressible love in the role of Hermia’s good friend Helena. Her adoration for a man who is smitten with Hermia is intensely endearing in a way that perfectly sets-up the conflict that tumbles through the heart of the production. Kyle Conner conjures enjoyable magic in the role of the fairy Puck, who deeply entangles matters between the lovers.

The classic script feels pleasantly breezy without intermission. Even the crude mechanicals manage to tumble appealingly around the edges of the action in pursuit of their performance of Pyramus and Thisbe. Ben Yela cleverly articulates the hammy over-the-top ego of Nick Bottom. Yela’s exaggerated energy is matched by a variety of subtleties including a heartfelt performance by Jessica Trznadel as the actor playing Thisbe and cleverly subtle comedic bits by Hannah Kubiak in the role of director Peter Quince.

Voices Found Repertory’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream runs through Sept. 12 at Imagination Studios, 1500 S. 73rd St. For more information, visit the Voices Found Repertory website.