A Midsummer Night's Dream (Smith Street Stage)

See it if you would like to see a clear, sometimes slapstick rendering of Shakespeare's (perhaps) best-loved play, a totally brilliant confection.

Don't see it if you find outdoor theater too challenging with its bugs, air traffic, road traffic, foot traffic, threat of rain, hard seats...

Also I sat in the front row at Carroll Park to see “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” all the way to the left so people could see past my big head. I was the only adult in the row, & the only male. (Parents sat right behind us.) I’d judge the girls were between 5 & 9. They were pretty engrossed in the production all night, unafraid to shout their glee when the Rude Mechanicals or Puck were clowning around. But they were also totally involved in the long, easily confusing scene with the 4 young lovers & suddenly both guys are in love with the previously outcast Helena. Why were these girls squealing? Smith Street Stage had discovered the slapstick core to that funny, heartbreaking, tangled love scene, & a gaggle of young Brooklyn girls in the summer of 2018 was responding. Thanks to the girls for teaching me something about a play I have seen more often than I have spent years on this earth. And hats off to the performers & creative team for successfully mining this classic yet again.... Read more Read less

See it if free Shakespeare in an outdoor urban setting, young actors out to prove their abilities, are reasons 2 spend a Brooklyn evening in the park

Don't see it if city noise, need 2 pay 2 enjoy, outdoors setting, some difficulties hearing everything, folding chairs are obstacles to your enjoyment