Also this issue: God Is in the Details “Pure,” at the Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art, examines spirituality and abstraction. -Susan Hagen Black Power Players -Meredith Broussard Munakata Shiko -Ashlea Halpern Turning Point -Karen Williams Send in the Clowns Memories of television's bygone kids' show hosts. -Frank Halperin

July 25-31, 2002

artpicks

REV Revival

by Andrew Parks

Shakespeare must never get a good night's sleep, what with the constant butchering of his work in so-called "reinterpretations." Take last year's hellish O, a poor teen movie that shares little in common with Othello but the characters' names and loosely borrowed plot points. Fine-tuning the Bard's impenetrable words for the modern-day viewer is one thing (check Baz Luhrmann's mesmerizing guns 'n' gangs spin on Romeo and Juliet), but all too often Will's main ideas are lost in dilution. The REV Theatre Co.'s acclaimed production of A Midsummer Night's Dream does what an adaptation should: give the original text contemporary relevance. The fairies flaunt fluorescent wigs. Puck -- the winged one, not the snot-nosed Real World loser -- flashes glam rock gear and spiky hair. And the low-budget set is bursting with color: kiddie pools for magical fountains, forests of ladders and an inflatable, heart-shaped, red velvet chair for a fairy enclave. Pop music interjections such as "Mr. Sandman" and "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" also help conceptualize the comedy in a lively, progressive manner. The words of Shakespeare's popular comedy are emphasized through REV's potent physical style, which favors vivid acting over exuberant props. Founded in 1999, the nonprofit theater company takes its name from its mission to "rev up" classical theater by dismembering and reconstructing it. The troupe last tore through Philadelphia in spring 2001, when it performed the 17th-century play The Witch of Edmonton at the Brick Playhouse. Fairmount Park will host A Midsummer Night's Dream for just two nights, this Saturday and Sunday. The performances are free, so all you need is a blanket to plop down on and an open mind. William would be proud.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sat.-Sun., July 27-28, 6 p.m., free, on the western steps of the Art Museum, 26th St. and the Parkway, 215-985-1363.