When we think of summer theater in Spring Green, most of us think of Shakespeare. American Players Theatre started in 1980 producing only Shakespeare for four years, then added a dose of Chekov to plays by the Bard for the next four. Since then, other playwrights have entered the chat, but Shakespeare remains the O.G., with at least one of his classics performed at APT every year of its 45-year run. The very first play ever performed on the Hill at APT was A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It’s a perfect starter course: deliciously funny, a bit bawdy, full of magic and mayhem. Plots intertwine as three groups engage in intrigue: marriage-minded Athenian royalty, amateur theater-loving tradespeople, and manipulative fairies cross paths in the woods; hilarity ensues.

APT stages A Midsummer Night’s Dream again this summer, with pared-down minimalism. As the audience enters the theater, only an iron-wrapped staircase appears on stage. The dark-painted timbers of APT’s skeletal backdrops and lighting towers make the stage a virtual black box. The actors are front and center in this production. And they are more than up to the task. Jim DeVita as Oberon is imperious and a bit desperate to regain the love of Elizabeth Ledo’s Titania, reveling in her powers. The characters who might think that they are the central focus of the play — the Athenian royalty, are all lovely. Samantha Newcomb as Hermia and Maggie Cramer as Helena stand out. Their ability to turn Shakespearean English into something understandable to modern audiences is astonishing. It’s like watching Olympics-level water ballet — breathtakingly beautiful athleticism.

The role of Puck is creatively cast, with two actors playing one part. Joshua M. Castille and Casey Hoekstra as Puck seemed like one person, split in two. Like the voice inside your head and the things you say out loud, sometimes two characters coexist in the same body. Castille and Hoekstra embrace and dance, sometimes speaking lines together, sometimes one at a time, like a woven tapestry. Castille is a Deaf actor who uses ASL, and both actors use their hands as well as their voices, adding richness and artistry to every line. 

But the heart of this production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the play-within-the-play. The amateur troupe of actors who are preparing this mini-production are identified both by their silly names (Bottom, Snout, Flute) and their day job trades: carpenter, tailor, weaver, etc. They are workaday folks, but acting is their passion. This basket of deplorables is the true heart of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. They have the funniest lines; their antics drive the plot. They come out as winners at the end. It’s clear that Shakespeare knew his audience at the Globe Theater. 

Sam Luis Massaro as Bottom channels Nathan Lane in his dynamically wacky physicality. There is a note of Bobby Moynihan’s Saturday Night Live character Drunk Uncle as well. Sun Mee Chomet is delightful as Quince, and the entire theater troupe, who receive a significant portion of time in Act V to perform their play for the king, rise to the occasion in fine form. If you’ve ever seen Ariana Grande sing as an off-key bridesmaid in an SNL sketch, you know that for a fine actor to act badly takes a special skill. The audience laps it up.

Costumes, by Daniele Tyler Matthews, are spare but appropriate. Each group is easily identified by their clothing. The Athenians, pure white and buttoned-up when in the city limits but slightly touched with color when in the arms of the fairies’ forest, are easy for us to follow. The seven fairies, moth-like sprites, are dreamy night creatures in their fuzzy antennae and flowing capes. The equine head of enchanted-Bottom is amazingly expressive. Sound effects and lighting design are similarly restrained, striking that balance of supporting the actors without distraction.

This summer’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a loving tribute to charter APT member Jonathan Smoots, who passed away this spring. He spoke the first word of the first performance of this play, on stage at APT in 1980. Directed this time by David Daniel, this production’s ingredients are just right for a lovely summer evening in the woods. Performances continue at the Hill Theatre through Oct. 5.