THEATRICUM'S WOODSY, MYSTICAL `DREAM'.

Byline: Daryl H. Miller Daily News Theater Critic

In one of those all-knowing Shakespearean lines, a character in ``A Midsummer Night's Dream'' observes that ``reason and love keep little company together nowadays.''

Amen, brother.

The proof plays out in a series of mixed-up romances, staged with an eye for madcap comedy and earthy mysticism in a ``Midsummer'' production at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum. Directed by Ellen Geer, this production has been presented for the past two seasons as a bonus production for family audiences. This year, it moves into a main production slot.

It's hard to imagine a backdrop better suited to Shakespeare's woodland frolic than the rustic hillsides of the Theatricum's outdoor amphitheater in Topanga Canyon. At night, the darkened hillside seems serene yet slightly foreboding, as befits the story. And there's an impromptu chorus of crickets to blend with the intended ethereal, slightly spooky instrumental accompaniment.

In keeping with its woodland charms, this production is strong on natural imagery. The fairies are swathed in what looks like moss, with garlands of vines and crowns of pixie-dust-sprinkled brambles. The duke of Athens and his betrothed, the queen of the Amazons, are an athletic, outdoorsy pair dressed in animal furs and armed with hunting bows.

It's imaginative packaging for Shakespeare's story about two young lovers who flee to the woods, pursued by the young lady's jealous would-be suitor and the woman who, in turn, loves him. There, the four stumble upon - and become unwittingly wrapped up in - the prank-playing of the resident fairies. When a magic love potion is used for mischievous purposes, the young people's affections suddenly switch to other individuals, while the queen of the fairies ends up making goo-goo eyes at a mutant man-donkey.

Shakespeare's purpose here is to show us love's many moods, as well as its fickleness - even when no fairies or magic potions are involved.

Geer plays up the humor, with a queen of the Amazons who triumphantly bests her betrothed in everything from archery to arm wrestling, and young lovers who look like refugees from ``Night of the Living Dead'' when the potion turns them into love zombies. As the young lover Lysander (who comes across here as a sweet-natured guy despite his outsiderish-looking long hair), Aaron Hendry gets some of the biggest laughs when, in his stupor, he puts his hand over his abandoned lover (Katie Dawson)'s face and callously pushes her away - as if she were a plate of unwanted leftovers.

In the equally amusing scenes involving a group of laborers preparing a play for the duke's wedding festivities, Thad Geer deliciously overacts as the stage-bitten braggart, Bottom.

And as Puck, the most playful of the fairies, Ricky Dean Wasson makes his entrance by swinging in, Tarzan-style, on a rope and then moving about the stage with the jerky, cocky moves of some exotic bird.

The true star of a recent performance, however, was an unbilled dachshund accompanying one of the laborers who, during the duke's festivities, growled like crazy at the actor in lion's garb and snatched off the fellow's rope tail when it flicked too near the dog's tiny jaws.

THE FACTS

The show: ``A Midsummer Night's Dream.''

Where: Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga.

When: 4 p.m. Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. Sundays; through Sept. 15.

Running time: Two hours, 35 minutes; one intermission.

Tickets: $15. No reservations needed. For information, call [phone].

Our rating: Three Stars.