STAGE REVIEW : ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at Low Tide

They call it Shakespeare by the Sea. And that is no lie. The sound of the breakers and the smell of the salt air play a starring role in the production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” currently being staged in Bluff Park at Salt Creek Beach by the South Orange County Community Theatre.

However, with all due respect to the amateur zest of the performers in the human cast, this alfresco midsummer production might be more accurately called Kindergarten Shakespeare by the Sea. If not for the diversion of watching the dusk turn to night and the towering clouds roll into shore, there would be little pleasure in the evening’s entertainment.

This is not to say that the production itself wholly lacks virtue. In fact, you can’t help noticing that the earnest, childlike failings of a cast unquestionably performing its collective little heart out have an undeniable charm. Also, considerable effort has gone into technical details, such as disguising the basketball court that serves as a stage (effective), the sound projection (disembodied), the fairy-tale costumes (peculiar), the spare set (cartoonlike) and the live Elizabethan music (congenial).

Food and nonalcoholic drinks can be purchased at makeshift concession stands set up near the grassy hillside overlooking the stage (picnic baskets can be pre-ordered). Blankets to sit on or sand chairs are advised (lawn chairs are discouraged), as are jackets in case it gets chilly.

Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” continues Saturdays and Sundays at 7:30 p.m. through Aug. 12 in Bluff Park at Salt Creek Beach, off Coast Highway in Dana Point (next to the Ritz-Carlton hotel). Tickets: $10, $5 for seniors and students. Information: (714) 248-0808. ‘A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM’

A production of the South Orange County Community Theatre. Directed by B.J. Scott. Assistant director Edith Schwartz. Costumes by Diane Green and MaryBeth Muniz. Lights and sound by Tom Downs. With Greg Izay, B. Aaron Cogan, Randy W. Horton, Chris Buccambuso, Cynthia Walker, Jane Hebson, Carrie Polhammer, Jeff Venanzi, Roger B. Manning, Maggie Riley, Malcolm Silver, George Bolta, Glynna Goff, Jeff Doleman, Tom Scott, Sean J. O’Neil, Jessica Holley, Jennifer Pryde and Gemma Hebson.