To take on Shakespeare is a challenge; to make it fun for the audience and the players is even more of one, but the Vintage High School drama managed this with flair in their final production of the school year, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

At least, the students seemed to be having fun —  I know that sitting in the audience was an entirely agreeable experience.

Directed by Susan Davis, with Cieara Blue as stage manager and Victoria Bryant and Tim Bacon assisting with lights and sound, an energetic mix of students, from seniors to freshman, brought spirit and humor to the oft-produced play of love and magic.

Amanda Bennett brought an interesting twist to the play as she portrayed the Theseus, the duke of Athens, whose impending marriage to Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons,  (played by Janvier Orrante) sets in motion a celebration of love. This marriage is also inspiration for the comic sequence created by the would-be actors who go into the woods to rehearse a theatrical masterpiece to perform at the wedding, “The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe.” Zenia Rios, Olivia Salina, William Luippold, Lindsey Evans, Ashley Zaragoza and Sarah Villata, who took on the roles of the haphazard mechanicals,  mined their scenes for comedy, and were hilarious in their final sequence, when they present their story for the Duke and Hippolyta.

Rios, a freshman, shone in her role as Bottom the weaver, who becomes the victim of fairy magic —  and finds that not only does Bottom have an ass’ head affixed to his shoulders, but the queen of the fairies has fallen in love with him.

Jonie Delfin was a regal and elegant Titania, well matched with her consort Oberon, played by Kevin Hebenstreit. Delfin was supported by her charming group of fairy attendants: Sasha Hazelton as Mustardseed, Emily Fahey as Peaseblossom, Aylssa-Marie Moreno as Cobweb and Charlene Aoki as Mote. Forrest Blue, a first-grader, made his debut on the Vintage stage as the changeling who has caused a rift between the king and queen of the fairies. We look forward to seeing him on stage again — if not soon — at least in a few years.

Freshman Lizzi Jones was nothing short of wonderful as Robin Goodfellow, also known as Puck, the impish assistant to Oberson who is responsible for much of the romantic confusion on this one midsummer eve. Clearly at ease with the language of Shakespeare, Jones scampered through her lines with a charming delight. Jones and Rios are actors to keep an eye on in the next few years at Vintage.

At the heart, so to speak, of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” is the quartet of human lovers, who have fled into the woods. Hermia (Laura Brady) and Lysander (Jeremy Bomar) are in love, but her father Egeus (Jon Santana) opposes the match and wants her to marry Demetrius (Samuel Burch), who follows the lovers into the forest; and he, in turn, is pursued by his one-time love, Helena, (Gabriella Forster). Together they created an engaging tangle of love. The scene in which Forster and Brady square off was particularly effective.

Making their final bows on the Vintage stage were veteran actors Bennett, who is heading to UC Davis; Brady, moving on to San Francisco State, and Burch, who plans to keep on acting after graduation. Senior Nikelle Riggs, who portrayed Philostrate in the Athenian court, made the most of her first — and last — role. Santana, as Egeus, took on his role as part of a senior project. Also participating in his last Vintage production was Kyle Giambastiani, working behind the scenes. 

I understand, however, that those who did not see his performance as Daisy Bubbles in this year’s children’s production, missed a memorable show. As was “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”