Studio 180 – Paul Dunn’s Offensive Shadows

Paula Citron

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Offensive Shadows
Studio 180
Written by Paul Dunn
Directed by Michael Shamata
Starring Andrew Kushnir, Mark McGrinder, Jessica Greenberg, Kimwun Perehinec and Jason Mitchell
At Tarragon Theatre Extra Space until Oct. 19
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Stratford Festival actor Paul Dunn’s Offensive Shadows is a clever sequel to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The first part is a lament by the present day Puck, wonderfully portrayed by Andrew Kushnir, who decries the loss of fairies and their magic from the mortal world. The second and third parts focus on the Athenian lovers, both on their strange Midsummer’s Night and their marriages five years later.

While the plot is predictable, the delight is how Dunn has woven Shakespearean text and colloquial speech together in Puck’s long monologue. The Athenian lovers are clearly vacuous Whatever Girls and Dudes.

Michael Shamata’s direction has a lot of energy supported by good acting. The high pitched voices of Helena and Hermia, played by Jessica Greenberg and Kimwun Perehinec respectively, are irritating over time, but the women, Mark McGrinder as Lysander, and Jason Mitchell as Demetrius give spirited performances.

Offensive Shadows continues at Tarragon Theatre Extra Space until Oct. 19.