An energetic cast augmented with masks, a puppet and an assortment of other props proves a winning combination in Honolulu Theatre for Youth's ambitious production of “;A Midsummer Night's Dream.”;

Artistic Director Eric Johnson takes a calculated gamble in cutting one of Shakespeare's best known comedies to the length required for HTY's weekday performances—50 minutes, give or take a few tick-tocks—and it pays off. The result makes the magic of Shakespeare accessible to youngsters 8 and older, without dumbing down the language or “;localizing”; it in other ways.

And, although kids are HTY's target audience, director Joe Sturgeon (also the show's sound designer) develops the three primary plotlines in sufficient detail and quality to make the play entertaining for seasoned Shakespeare fans as well:

» Oberon, all-powerful king of the fairies, punishes his disobedient queen, Titania, by bewitching her with an embarrassing infatuation.

» Four young mortals—Hermia, Demetrius, Helena and Lysander—resolve the conflicts created by a problematic arranged marriage and a romantic triangle.

» A group of blue-collar workers who aspire to be actors rehearse and then perform their version of a romantic tragedy, “;Pyramus and Thisbe,”; with appalling, albeit hilarious, ineptness.

Johnson's edited “;Dream”; opens the show with the cast in character as the would-be actors, aka “;the rude mechanicals,”; dressed in early 20th-century attire and heatedly discussing their plans to do “;Pyramus and Thisbe.”; The group departs to rehearse in the forest and Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia and her father, Egeus, appear moments later to set the second story in motion.

  Egeus asks Duke Theseus of Athens to allow him to exercise a father's right under Athenian law: To kill his daughter if she refuses to marry the man selected for her. Theseus gives Hermia time to consider her options, thus enabling her to escape to the forest with Lysander.

The cast works nonstop for the rest of the hour. Emily Hare plays Egeus, Helena and Snug/The Lion. Kimo Kaona is Demetrius and Quince. Pomai Lopez trades off the roles of Hermia and Nick Bottom/Pyramus and Nathan Mark makes his return to the local stage a memorable one with his portrayals of Lysander and Flute/Thisbe.

Oberon, represented by a large golden mask and a long swatch of white netting, is voiced and animated by Kaona in some scenes and by Mark in others. Hare and Lopez share the task of voicing and animating Titania, and all four players take turns animating the gibbon-sized figure of Puck.

Mark Halpin's set is little more than a sheet supported by a frame, but two large holes near the top of this simple backdrop allow Oberon and Puck to spy on the others, and a well-placed slit in the fabric allows characters to “;disappear”; from center-stage.

The evening ends on an expectedly comic high with an “;encore”; that presents a public service announcement about water pollution as Shakespearean parody. Haddock, “;noble fish of Denmark,”; is looking for the source of the lawn runoff that killed his father. Confronted by his father's ghost—a fish skeleton hanging from a fishing pole—Haddock notes that “;something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”;

To which Dad replies: “;I am a dead fish!”;