Winner of The Helen Hayes Award for Best New Play of the Year in 2004, "Shakespeare on Hollywood" is currently at Stagecrafters until June 25. Ticket info: 215-247-8881 or www.thestagecrafters.org Seen here are Jim Broyles and Nina Boyle. (Photo by Sara Stewart)

By Hugh Hunter

Stagecrafters winds up its season with an eye-popping version of “Shakespeare in Hollywood” (2003) by noted farceur, Ken Ludwig. It blends Ludwig’s love of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” with an homage to Hollywood screwball comedy of the 1930s.

From the start, Director Yaga Brady is determined to keep a light-hearted tone. You see Groucho Marx cross the stage with his signature shuffling strut, never to be seen again. And anytime an incident threatens to turn the mood serious, some inane antic dashes it from your mind.

“Shakespeare in Hollywood” is based on an actual event. In 1934, Austrian expatriate Max Reinhardt (played by Joe Tranchitella in this play) approached Warner Brothers about filming “Midsummer.” Surprisingly, they agreed. (It turned out to be a critical success but a box-office bomb.)

As the play opens, movie mogul Jack Warner (T.J. Deluca) does not want any part of filming “Midsummer.” But Ludwig’s script imagines that his sexy squeeze, Lydia (Anna Pysher), pushes him into doing it, even as Jack ignores the comical wrath of his brothers, booming over the intercom.

Then Ludwig throws a curveball: The real Oberon, king of the fairies (Jim Broyles), and his devilish sidekick, Puck (Joshua Keiter), misread a sign “a wood outside Athens” and enter Reinhardt’s set, where they jokingly audition.

An able cast play the film’s actual stars: Dick Powell (Geremy Webne-Behrman), James Cagney (R.O. Scott), Joe E. Brown (Patrick Cathcart) and Olivia de Havilland (Neena Boyle). But sometimes, roguish outliers like gossip queen, Louella Parsons (Rhonda Goldstein), and movie censor, Will Hays (Jeff Ragan), grab your attention.

The Stagecrafters production is splashy. Two differently colored curtains and glittery backdrops enhance scene changes. Costumes by Jennifer Allegra and Janet Gilmore are as madcap as the action. Silly romantic pop numbers from the 1920-‘30s feel like just the right touch (sound design, Steve Brady, Bill Bansbach).

Pace speeds up in Act II when Oberon loses control of his magic flower. There is so much mayhem you are thrown into a state of child-like wonderment. Of all the fruit loops who fall in love at first sight, the most hilarious is crank censor Will Hays after he sees himself in a mirror.

As king of a fairy kingdom, Oberon should be used to fantasy. But as in the case of Reinhardt, Hollywood befuddles him. He falls in love with Olivia and mixes up his Shakespeare lines; malapropisms slip in. Speaking of the movies, he says, “Nothing lasts forever. We are all fleeting shadows, mere images on the spleen.”

The show ends affectingly with a solo spotlight on Oberon. He half-turns towards the audience and stands motionless. In this fleeting, contemplative moment, it is as though you yourself were being invited to reflect on what Hollywood really means.

Stagecrafters is located at 8130 Germantown Ave. “Shakespeare in Hollywood” will run through June 25. Reservations at 215-247-8881 or stagecrafters.org