Yes, Shakespeare did know what he was doing. The actors probably did too. You can stop reading now, I guess.

Still here? Midsummer was probably the most fun I’ve ever had watching a play. I highly recommend it to anyone who can parse Shakespearic dialogue. That was definitely the first thing I noticed when I got there.

At first I had very little idea what anyone was saying because it was all using antiquated language and went by very quickly. I just watched the actors run around the stage which was moderately entertaining. After a few minutes, though, I figured out what they were saying and I started actually laughing at the jokes.

The first plot was mostly meaningless, with people constantly breaking up and getting back together in a confusing love square. It was like watching a soap opera where everyone mostly knew how to speak English but messed up at every instance of a 2nd person pronoun. I thought this was pretty funny but liked the other narrative better.

The other one was about a bunch of actors trying to put on a play. Every actor represented some random stereotype about people who act. It’s amusing that Shakespeare made these jokes for drama troops so long ago and they still apply to High School plays today. I guess drama kids never change.

Overall, I thought the play was good and it was performed really well. I was definitely impressed by how well it held up given it’s three centuries old. I recommend both Midsummer and the SJ Theater Department.