A Midsummer Night's Dream

Aug. 20-Sept. 12, $20, Randall Theater, Temple University, 2020 N. 13th St., 215-923-8909, mauckingbirdtheatreco.org.

by Mark Cofta

Jill McCorkel

theater

If the prospect of another production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream seems less than thrilling, consider Mauckingbird Theatre Co.'s unique "queer aesthetic" take on the magical romantic comedy. "Two of the lovers' genders are switched," explains director Peter Reynolds, collaborating with Temple University director Lynne Innerst and a mix of professional and student actors. "Helena is played by a male and Lysander by a female. This results" — after some hilarious love potion snafus by mischievous fairy Puck — "in final pairings of a gay couple and a lesbian couple." As with other Mauckingbird classics interpretations — the spectacular all-male Misanthrope, the intriguing lesbian affair Ibsen never intended in Hedda Gabler — "it's thrilling to witness the gender-bending allow the text to come to life in new and intriguing ways."