Review: THE BOTTOM SHOW at Quill Theatre

In case the summer return of outdoor Shakespeare to Agecroft Hall is not enough for theater-starved audiences, Quill Theatre is also offering "The Bottom Show," featuring the actors who alternate between this show and "Twelfth Night".

It's a real play from the 17th century--technically titled "The Merry Conceited Humours of Bottom the Weaver"--featuring the characters known as the rude mechanicals from the Bard's "A Midsummer Night's Dream": Bottom the weaver, Quince the carpenter, Snout the tinker, etc. In this excerpt, as in "Midsummer," they rehearse and present a play in honor of the wedding of Theseus, duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. Meanwhile Oberon, king of the fairies, enchants Titania, his queen, with a potion that makes her fall in love with Bottom, who's been turned into an ass by mischief-maker Puck.

Enough plot for you? It's not even that important. Here it's all about the laughs. Directed by James Ricks, Quill's artistic director, the production goes all out to be as silly and fun as possible, using the plentiful humor of the text plus contemporary jokes and music. The cast of nine, who are plenty amusing in "Twelfth Night," hold nothing back here, wringing every laugh out of the material.

Highlights are Erica Hughes' flat Midwest accent and controlling manner as Quince, shepherding the cast through their chosen play-within-the-play, "Pyramus and Thisbe"; cross-dressed Michael Blackwood as an unconventional Titania; Michelle Greensmith as the awkward character Moon; and agile Emily Berry as an acrobatic Puck. The show's music director, Levi Meerovich, who plays Snug, again astounds with his range, including an unforgettable accordion-accompanied version of "Bad Romance." Kurt Benjamin Smith stands out as well, this time as Bottom, that distinctly uncured ham. Lennon Hu expertly performs additional music, Nicole Morris-Anastasi provides hilarious choreography, BJ Wilkinson lights the show deftly, and Cora Delbridge designed the amusing costumes.

Ricks' direction has the fast pace the material needs and the tone to keep the audience rolling. He, Bo Wilson and Bradley Carter wrote the dialogue added to the show, all of which hits the mark, whether contemporary pandemic references or cornball jokes.

It's lowbrow humor, heavy on the slapstick, unless you're the kind of nerd who blisses out at a trochaic tetrameter reference. Truly, something for everyone.