Midsummer Magic - A Great Time in the Park with Shakespeare!

It's the last week of the 25th Annual Freewill Shakespeare Festival but I think you are in for a good show whichever of the two plays you manage to get to. Earlier I wrote about Lear, which I liked so much I went to it twice.  I have to be completely candid here, I wasn't going to go to Midsummer.  I've been in it and have seen it many, many times and thought I had my fill of the play.  But this review by Liz Nichols in the Edmonton Journal and this Blog post by John Richardson and my reaction to Lear made me think that if I went, I would be seeing a 'new' Midsummer.  AM and I took in the Sunday matinee and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  The approach felt fresh and physical and sections that normally fail to draw me in (the lovers) were captivating and engaging.  This is a version that you can take kids to and you won't have to worry about them checking out.  I'm hoping to get back there this week with my kids as I think they would absolutely love it. Everything was delightfully topsy-turvy.  Kevin Corey's Puck mocks the traditional spry and acrobatic role, reinventing it. I loved the use of the dog for the changeling child. Best of all was the use of magic to control the action.  I have never seen the objectives played quite so well.  Why would Lysander keep talking to Hermia when he now loves Helena?  Because magic compels him to.  Brilliant! The physical contortions of Jesse Gervais and Sheldon Elter (Demetrius and Lysander) are hysterical.  And best of all, it is all even.  There is no waiting for your favorite parts because every one of the stories is fun and interesting.  Sorry, I gush, but I did really like it. So very glad I went!

Anyhow, whether it's King Lear or A Midsummer Night's Dream, I don't think you can go wrong this year in the park!

Midsummer Night's Dream: Watching with Oliver...

Last night I took my 10 year old son, Oliver, to see A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Citadel Theatre. He's almost 11 and is getting more mature and I felt that he was at a good age to expose him to Shakespeare.  I knew that he wasn't going to 'get it all' but hopefully he would 'get' some of it and from what I heard about this production it would be a great first exposure. 

The show was lovely, the actors were quite comfortable in dealing with the language and Tom Wood's production wisely approaches the play in a very physical way.  Everything looks beautiful and there is a bit of real magic evoked with the fairies.  Oliver loved Puck (Jonathan Purvis) for his leaping and tumbling and flying around the space.  He also loved the gorgeous swing that Titania and Bottom sail over the audience on. With the lovers in the woods, Oliver was a little bored by the kissing and arguing, however he was totally invested in the fight scene (which was excellently executed) and he loved the mischievous Puck's replacing and magicking swords as he led Lysander (Eric Morin) and Demetrius (Partick Lundeen) about the woods. Oliver's favorite part, however, was hands-down the Pyramus and Thisbe play within a play performed by the Mechanicals for the royal court.  On the ride home he recounted much of the silliness that ensued, listing Thisbe's butt, Thisbe's screaming, the missing sword and the Moon's dog as his favorite parts.  As a mother it is simply fabulous to sit next to your child hearing them laugh as they are truly engaged with something you love.  I was worried, because a 2 1/2 hour long Shakespearean piece is tough to sit through, and at the end of the first act I don't think he was convinced that this was for him.  However, the second act was full of physical comedy and that's what you need when you are 10.

For me, the stand out performances were Shannon Taylor as Helena (who was fiery and funny and who possesses an amazing physicality) and the Mechanicals as a group.  I thought the show, as a whole, was well-executed and in particular the second act. This production was especially strong with the physical aspects, but engagement dropped a bit whenever the language was not supported by action. Personally I would have cut the dancing at the end and shorted the dancing fairies bit, as the show is long enough without that and although fun and/or pretty, those bits did nothing to move it along.  Overall I enjoyed myself, but I was not blown out of the water.  It is a challenge to sell Shakespeare at Citadel prices when we in Edmonton have Freewill Players doing such high quality productions every summer.  With ticket prices 2-3 times higher at The Citadel I wanted the experience to be that much more incredible. It's hard to reach that when the bar is set so high already.

Busy weekend...

I am still tired from the weekend. I did Midsummer in Spruce Grove on Friday and on Saturday Mark and I went out with friends for his birthday (dinner and karaoke). On Sunday I had rehearsal in the afternoon, dinner at the Next Act and Walterdale Board Meeting in the evening. Then I stopped at the folks house to feed Harriet and check the house and shovel the walk (cooooooold). I am over 40 now. The three late nights in a row are hard to handle.

A Midwinter's trip to Midsummer...

Whew! The things I have to do to go out to see a friend in a play... Last night I went to A Midsummer Night's Dream in Spruce Grove put on by Horizon Players. The show started at 7:30 p.m. (What the? What ever happened to 8:00 starts?) but I had to start driving at 5:00 p.m. to get there on time. My sitter lives by Clareview so I left at 5 p.m. to get her, it was 6 p.m. by the time I got back to my house with the sitter and the kids. Then I headed off to pick up my friend Julie in Beaumaris. A couple of wrong turns meant that took me 20 minutes which was a bout 10 minutes longer than it should have (It was the one place I didn't mapquest! Doh!). Then we were off to get Wanda at the River Cree Casino in Enoch. Whoosh! Down 137th Avenue. Whoosh! Down Anthony Henday. Whoosh! Down the Whitemud? (I'm not sure I just went where Julie told me) Then we headed back up to the Yellowhead and off to the theatre. We rolled into the parking lot at about 7:20 p.m. We needn't have been stressed, the show didn't start until 7:45 due to latecomers. Really!

I was pleased overall with the show. Like most community shows you get a broad spectrum of skills and talents and you could see that, but the piece as a whole was complete and finished. Sure, there were things I didn't like, some of the actor's and director's choices were not the best, but at least choices were made. Everyone was giving their all. I was very pleased as well with my friend Anne Marie's performance. The director was wise to group people so that skill level was matched. However, what that did was make you wish for some story lines to come back and others to go away. What was clear with this production was that the actors were given room to be as good as they could be, so that the weaknesses of the show did not hold them back. Therefore, someone like my friend, could still have a meaningful theatre experience even though some of the other performers were not of the same calibre.

Oh, but a word... The audience etiquette was the worst I have seen in a theatre in I don't know how long. There were several people taking flash photography! What the?! There were people coming late (really late considering the show started 15 minutes late). There were people getting up and crossing in front of the stage during the show!!! With every flash I was taken out of the show. With every idiot standing up or talking to their friend I left the forest. I don't know if people realize the damage they do to a show and the insult they give to the actors onstage and the rest of the audience by doing these things. I could care less if you wear your hat or fall asleep or dress inappropriately, but don't screw around with the show by distracting me!