Kousha Navidar: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Kousha Navidar in for Alison Stewart, and I want to start the next segment with one of my favorite parts of dialogue from any Shakespeare play. I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream past the wit of man to say what dream it was. Man is but an ass if he go about to expound this dream.

Nick Bottom says these lines towards the end of a Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare. He tries to reflect on his profound, fantastical journey just to realize he doesn't have the words. But there are plenty of words to describe the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that's going on right now by the Classical Theater of Harlem's Uptown Shakespeare In The Park. Some of those words include fun, vibrant, joyful, communal, and reimagined. That's because this production of Midsummer transports us to the height of the Harlem Renaissance.

We see many mischievous fairies, four young lovers, and one mystical forest amidst the backdrop of a dazzling era of Harlem, right where the performance takes place. The cast includes Russell Peters starring in the role of Nick Bottom, and you can go see a performance for free now through July 28 in Marcus Garvey Park. But you have to reserve tickets online, and heads up, they're going fast.

With us right now, and to help me describe this Midsummer Night's Dream without making an ass of myself, is the director of the show, an associate artistic director of the Classical Theater of Harlem, Carl Caulfield. Hi, Carl. Welcome to the show.

Carl Caulfield: Thank you so much for the invitation. It's a great joy to be here.

Kousha Navidar: It's wonderful to have you. This year is the Classical Theater of Harlem's 25th birthday. Why choose a Midsummer Night's Dream as the play this year?

Carl Caulfield: You know that's a great question. When we began thinking about the season, two things were our northern star. We had a Board Member, Andre Brouwer, who many of your listeners will probably remember as an incredible actor, passed away. We decided to dedicate this season to the memory of Andre Brower and one of those things was Andre was a joy. He was a delight in any room that he walked in. He had that ability to transform the thermostat just by being in a room, which is something that we wanted to pay homage to, and to give you your flowers and to give you yours flowers.

I'm so glad you pulled that quote, because sometimes the world we're living in, one doesn't know if we're dreaming, if it's a nightmare, or we find it hard to find the words to describe what is actually going on. Those were two of the factors that played into us choosing a Midsummer Night's Dream. For me, I wanted to make sure that this was a love letter to Harlem. The Marcus Garvey amphitheater is out in the woods, so it almost is a meta moment that as the play is happening around you, you are surrounded by the woods of Harlem, and it felt right.

I've always been a fan of the Harlem Renaissance, and it's easy to sort of romanticize the Harlem Renaissance with these beautiful black and white photos and sepia photos that I grew up looking at. But actually, putting it in context that artists were pivotal in the Harlem Renaissance, in moving important themes forward. That's something that we really prize ourselves at the Classical Theater of Harlem to do, to spark courageous conversations through art.

Those were the two things that really led or where my northern star, is thinking about what I wanted this production to do.

Kousha Navidar: Was there anything you found especially fun about thinking about how to adapt this story to the Harlem Renaissance?

Carl Caulfield: In my research, we found out that back in 1939, there was a production called Swingin' the Dream, and Swingin' the Dream had Louis Armstrong playing bottom, and it had some amazing comedians of the time, Moms Mabley playing Puck. I knew that this wasn't something that couldn't have been thought of before, so that excited me. What I really leaned into is the collaboration with the creative team to say, "Hey, I want it to sound like the music of the time. I want us to have a vocabulary, a dance vocabulary of the time." If your listeners come, you're going to see swing, you're going to see tap, you're going to see music and dance that is really authentic to the time period and pay homage to the people who made these staples in the American lexicon.

Kousha Navidar: Listeners, has there been an adaptation of Shakespeare that's meant a lot to you, or have you been one of the first people to see this production of a Midsummer Night's Dream? What did you think of it? We'd love to hear from people who've either seen it or who have seen another adaptation of Shakespeare that really made a difference in their life. Give us a call, send us a text. We're at 212-433-9692 that's 212433WNYC. You know what? I'd be especially interested in someone out there who kind of did a 180 on Shakespeare. Shakespeare was not for them, and then they saw a specific adaptation that changed their minds. If that's for you, if that describes you, give us a call. 212-433-9692.

Carl, we've actually got a caller who has called on their own even before I gave that shout out. Let's go to Liz in Inwood. Liz, hey, welcome to the show.

Liz: Hey, thanks for taking my call, and thank you so much for a fabulous production. I did not think that anything could top Twelfth Night from a couple of years ago, and you did. You did that magic thing with Shakespeare where you update it to a new setting while still staying completely true to the original text. Anybody seeing this show is going to be absolutely delighted, and nobody is going to say, "Ugh, you know, it wasn't faithful. It wasn't Shakespeare."

It also did an incredible job of highlighting joy, while also highlighting the seriousness of the unintended consequences of our actions. The only other thing that I'll say is, yes, it's free, but when people go see the show, when you see it, bring a check or some cash.

Kousha Navidar: Liz, thank you so much for that call. Really appreciate some beautiful words there. Liz mentioned Twelfth Night, which was a couple of years ago. Carl, you directed that as well, right?

Carl Caulfield: Correct.

Kousha Navidar: This production is happening at the Richard Rogers Theater in Marcus Garvey Park, which is where Twelfth Night happened as well, so it's on the same stage. Did you have any lessons from that production from Twelfth Night that you wanted to carry over into this year's Midsummer Production?

Carl Caulfield: That's a great question. First of all, let me thank Liz for her kind words on that. Twelfth Night, I was extremely proud of. It starred Tony winning actress Kara Young. I've got to give you a little context. When I was in theater school, I was allergic to Shakespeare, quite honestly, so I didn't come to it enthusiastically, but I was always told that Shakespeare was elastic in its ability to absorb big ideas. You could put Shakespeare on the moon as long as you were dramaturgically sound. Being a precocious young man, I always wanted to put that into practice and see if I did, in fact, create a world that could inhabit both the Shakespeare and something else that I was interested in.

When we did Twelfth Night, it was an afrofuturistic production. I was so pleased with the turnout of it, that it deepened my appreciation not only for Shakespeare, but going back to those wise professors I had, that it can absorb and it can sustain, and it is robust enough. This beautiful language, if spoken truthfully, can thrive in whatever dramaturgically sound environment you put it in. I'm just tremendously grateful to the Classical Theater of Harlem for always championing that mission statement, and putting that into practice to make sure that arts are accessible for all of us. It's not a transactional relationship.

Kousha Navidar: That idea of accessibility makes me think of another word that I think is core to Shakespeare that you yourself have brought up in other interviews you've done, and that word is community. What really struck me is the importance of the word community when talking about the value of Shakespeare. Why is that word community so important in the context of producing Shakespeare for you?

carl Caulfield: For me, it is essential because it's the secret sauce, if you will. I tend to think of it as a civic responsibility, that we come together as a community to learn and have an experience together. Something that breaks the walls down, we live in a great city in New York where we're always interacting with people, whether it's by choice on the subway, you're bumping up next to people, but we experience things communally. To me, the art is so important and it's so powerful that we're in a seeing place. That's the actual etymology of the word theater, that we go to the seeing place to have this experience together.

To take it a step further, I believe in the Greeks. The Greeks format was, it was a civic responsibility that the general would sit next to the butcher, would sit next to the diplomat, because the art will make us all better and hopefully, spark conversations. That's what we try to really take to heart when we create productions.

Kousha Navidar: We're talking to Carl Caulfield, who's the director of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's being presented by the Classical Theater of Harlem for the Summer 2024, Uptown Shakespeare in the Park. Midsummer's playing through July 28 at Marcus Garvey Park.

Listeners, we're taking your calls and your texts. Is there an adaptation of Shakespeare that's meant a lot to you? We'd love to hear from people who, in fact, maybe, like Carl, kind of changed their mind. Sounds a little bit about Shakespeare? Maybe you weren't a fan until you saw some version and it spoke to you. Maybe it made it feel more accessible to you. What adaptation was that? Or have you seen this production of A Midsummer Night's Dream? What'd you think about it? Give us a call. Send us a text. We're at 212-433-9692, that's 212433WNYC.

Got a text that just came in. It says, a Japanese Butoh production of Macbeth, it was incredible. Thanks so much for that text. We've also got Sue in Manhattan. Hi, Sue. Welcome to the show.

Sue: Hello. Thank you for taking my call. My family and I have seen all three productions from Classical Theatre of Harlem, Twelfth Night, Malvolio and this current one, and we're always astonished that the newest production is as good, if not better, than the ones before. We were crazy about Twelfth Night. We actually know Kara Young personally and we know Christina Sajous, who is one of the leading ladies in Twelfth Night. The productions are just so professional and terrific.

The dancing is beautiful. The costumes in Midsummer are amazing, and we just loved it. We're going to try to go back and see it again.

Kousha Navidar: Sue, thank you so much for that call. Carl, one of my favorite parts of seeing a show out in the open air is how much more likely I am to clap or yell or just generally get into what's going on. I know it's early in your run, but have you seen audiences getting pumped up every night? How's that reaction been in the open air theater setting?

Carl Caulfield: That's a great thing. It's hard to capture in words for me, but it is so special, and it's something that you're right, it happens at an outdoor theater. I don't know if people feel more relaxed that you're not confined in an actual enclosed space, but there's such a freedom that helps propel the show, quite honestly. I think that's what separates an outdoor theater from reading A Midsummer Night's Dream in an English class. There's a sort of freedom that you can lean into that makes the production take wings and take flight.

Kousha Navidar: Around this time last year, we talked to Farah Karim-Cooper from the Shakespeare Globe Theater about a book she wrote. You probably know it's called The Great White Bard: How to Love Shakespeare While Talking About Race. One of her key takeaways from the book is about how if we kind of take Shakespeare off the pedestal that we so often place him on, that there's a lot that his text and stories can teach us about our own society within the scope of race, gender, and so much more. As a lover of Shakespeare, that's helped me think through why his writing is still worth celebrating today, but it also makes me wonder. Do people ever ask you why Shakespeare is still worth celebrating?

Carl Caulfield: All the time. As a Black man of a certain age, that's a question that I'm asked repeatedly, especially from younger theater makers or younger artists in general. They say, "Why Shakespeare?"

Kousha Navidar: What do you tell them?

Carl Caulfield: I tell them Shakespeare's one of the only playwrights I know that has forced riots in the United States. Wen we think about the Astor Place Riots, that was because of Shakespeare's work. I say that to say that there is, if you can remove that lens, that filter, to just give the work another look and try and have the imagination to say, well, what if I did it this way? That was the humble approach I took that I found very successful.

I was in scene study class many, many moons ago, and we were doing Hamlet soliloquy, and I resisted the urge to be allergic to it. But then I compared it to my favorite rap group, Public Enemy, Chuck D song, Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos, they're very similar. They're two men who are dealing with an existential crisis in their mind, going through all of the thought exercises. For me, that was the awakening.

Then from that moment on, I had permission to see myself in the work, to see humanity in a different light, and to really use that as my compass as I moved forward in my Shakespearean understanding and journey. The work we do at Classical Theatre of Harlem is to expand that table, expand the canon, to invite people in who traditionally might feel marginalized by the work, and present it in a light that, hopefully, welcomes them in, and hopefully, they leave saying, "My goodness, I didn't think it could be done that way. What else could be done that way?" That's how we approach the work.

Kousha Navidar: Wow. Let's go to- [crosstalk] Oh, sorry. "So that's how we approach the work," is the last thing. Your Zoom just froze up for a second, but that was very powerful. Like that idea of Shakespeare being a canvas and you finding so much within that.

There's a caller I want to go to who might be able to speak to that, an adaptation. I've got Deborah from New Jersey. Hey, Deborah. Welcome to the show.

Deborah: Hi. Thank you so much for taking my call. I'm very lucky to live right on the train line in a little town called Convent Station, which is next to St. Elizabeth's University, which has a very small, but still amazing little Greek amphitheater outdoors. I just want to shout out to the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. I'm also a professional actor. I saw As You Like It the other night in the dreaded heat, and there were children there and seniors, and it was absolutely wonderful. It brought it alive for me. The actors were co-mingling with people as we walked in, and they were still in character. The costumes were fabulous.

They also made the most of the planes flying over, because, unfortunately, we're on a plane route from a local airport. Despite the fact that their makeup was dripping off their faces, it was a wonderful evening and just brought it alive for me again, and I think for everyone there.

Kousha Navidar: Deborah, thank you so much for that call. We're going to have to pause it there, but shout out to Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey. Really appreciate your call. Really appreciate hearing where Shakespeare is all around our wonderful area.

looking at the clock, Carl, got about a minute left, but I want to end with this, got to ask, if you could sit down and have a meal with any character from Midsummer, or even just any character from Shakespeare play, in general. who's the first character that comes to mind that you'd like to sit down, have a meal with?

Carl Caulfield: Oh, boy, that's a great one. Let's go with Falstaff. If I can do my Mount Rushmore. Let's do Falstaff. Let's do Nick Bottom. Let's do Viola from Twelfth Night.

Kousha Navidar: Great.

Carl Caulfield: And just the angry person at the side who's complaining about everything, give me Coriolanus.

Kousha Navidar: Oh, no fool from Lear? That's interesting.

Carl Caulfield: Oh, oh, I have to amend that. I've got to have the the Fool in there.

Kousha Navidar: Got to have the fool. Nothing is complete without that amazing character. This interview is complete with another amazing character, Carl Caulfield, the Director of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's being presented by the Classical Theater of Harlem for the Summer, 2024, Uptown Shakespeare in the Park. It's playing now through July 28 at the Richard Rogers Theater in Marcus Garvey Park. Carl, thank you so much for hanging out with us.

Carl Caulfield: My pleasure. Thank you for the invitation.

[00:18:13] [END OF AUDIO]

Copyright © 2024 New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use at www.wnyc.org for further information.

New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of New York Public Radio’s programming is the audio record.