|
|
|
|
|
|
Stars explained: * A production of no real merit
with failings in all areas. ** A production showing evidence of not
enough time or effort, or even talent, and which never breathes any real
life into the piece – or a show lumbered with a terrible script. *** A
good enjoyable show which might have some small flaws but has largely
achieved what it set out to do.**** An excellent show which shows a
great deal of work and stage craft with no noticeable or major
flaws.***** A four star show which has found that extra bit of magic
which lifts theatre to another plane. |
|
|
Joel Fleming as Lysander and Evie Mumford as
Hermia A Midsummer Night’s Dream Stage2 The Crescent Theatre ***** Shakespeare is a bit of a tradition with Stage2, in recent years we have covered excellent productions of Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet and The Tempest and now, on a balmy evening in midsummer, we have some dream performances in what is regarded as the Bard’s greatest comedy. We had laughs a plenty, a surfeit of love stories, four in all – five if you count the amorous ass - magical mischief by fairies who are invisible, at least to humans, with chief mischief maker being Puck, whose reliability for getting things right is questionable. Although to be fair Moriah Potter got the troublesome sprite spot on – she got that more than right. Meanwhile the pièce de resistance is a play within this play of fairies and lovers, a dramatic portrayal of Ovid’s tragic tale of Pyramus and Thisbe, the like of which Ovid himself would struggle to recognise. The Rude Mechanicals Amateur Dramatic Society are no RSC, - they even give bad a bad name . . . mind you, despite their Thespian failings, they are gloriously, laugh out loud, funny. But back to the dream and this being Stage2 the 24 characters listed in Shakespeare’s first folios is doubled to 47 with some twists to the original plot, all explained in detail in the programme. To be honest a new interpretation and emphasis of the storyline might have been intended but, if we are honest, it was not, in the main, really apparent on stage, not that that mattered, the original romcom has 430 years of entertainment behind it, so has more than stood the test of time. The one change that was apparent was in the character of Helena, traditionally madly in love with Demetrius, a longing unchanged even when she becomes he and Helenus.
Rudy Hudson as Helenus and Casey-James Connolly-Guy as Demetrius Artistic director Rosie Nisbet, in her final production in her successful spell in the role, said it was to emphasis the dilemma faced by Demetrius of either following his head and convention and marrying a wife, Hermia or following his heart and going with Helenus. Whether that predicament was apparent might be debateable but what could not be denied was that our love quadrangle produced some wonderful comedy. It all starts with Theseus, the Duke of Athens, played by Krrish Mehta and Hippolyta played by Nora Bownes, arranging their impending wedding when up pops Egea, played by Phoebe Preston, who is Hermia’s mum. It was Egeus, her father in the original, emphasising an ancient Athenian law that a daughter had to marry who her father chose or face either becoming a nun, or, as a more permanent solution, death. Egea claims the same law and pleads for satisfaction from the duke. She wants Hermia to marry Demetrious while Hermia is in love with Lysander, who in turn loves her. The duke bottles it and gives them 24 hours to sort it out. So, Lysander and Hermia plan an elopement, Helenus gets involved and spills the beans to Demetrius to curry favour, and the forest they pass through is awash with fairies under their king and queen Oberon and Titania – keeping up so far? Our main quartet of lovers are simply a delight. Evie Mumford’s Hermia is the sort of girl any red bloodied Athenian boy would fall for, pretty, spirited, and, with excellent diction as far as the audience are concerned.
Moriah Potter as Puck and Jacob Lenton as Oberon Perhaps red bloodied is not the first thought when it comes to Demetrius and Lysander. To say they couldn’t fight their way out of a paper bag gives the bag credit it hardly deserves. We have Casey-James Connolly-Guy as Demetrius and Joel Fleming as Lysander as a pair of souls who seem somewhat bewildered by life and whose only claim in the romantic battle seems to be a yah boo my dogs bigger than your dog game of who loves Hermia more. Lysander adds a hint of schoolboy lust to his affections while Demetrius has the law as the ace card on his side, which is not much help if Hermia vanishes over the hills out of Athenian jurisdiction with her true love i.e. not him. If that love triangle was not enough, we muddy the waters even further with Helenus in the coiffured shape of Rudy Hudson. With our nerdy pair fighting to the . . . death is pushing it, Rudy gives us a gloriously camp Helenus, so taken by the audience that we even have sympathy for him when he fears his three companions have turned against him. So, that’s the human drama, so what about the fairies? Jacob Lenton as an athletic, forceful Oberon and Bella Bailey’s stand your ground Titania are having their own disagreement about first fairy Leena Patel with the Queen’s retinue of Peaseblossom (Rose Gilliam), Moth (Alice Heyes), Cobweb (Herbie Oldershaw) and Mustardseed (Kitty Bateman) and the rest following her around like shadows. Then there is Puck, tasked with dropping magic juice on Demetrius’s eyes to make him fall in love with the first creature he sees, Helenus being the target – except he gets it wrong and Lysander gets the drops . . . easy mistake, these ancient Greeks all look the same. Not only that, though, but the first person he sees is Helenus . . . oh dear. Meanwhile the rude mechanicals are rehearsing their play, written by Rita Quince, Peter in the original, played with wonderful perseverance and patience by Sofia Pietroni faced by the endless demands of the weaver Bottom, another gender switch with Lauren Brine in this key comedy role, and she carries it beautifully. Bottom wants to play every part in the play, star in every scene and her death scene as Pyramus in the final royal command performance lasts longer than the average lifetime. In that she is matched by Lewis Grego’s Flute, who in rehearsals has wits slow enough to come second to an arthritic snail but whose performance as Thisbe is a revelation – pure comedy gold with a bosomful of red hankies . . . sorry, blood.
Lauren Brine as Bottom Then we have Wall, showing some wonderful comic touches by Snout played Indigo Perrett and then there is the joiner, Snug, played by Keya Sharma, who depicts the lion, explaining to the ladies in the audience that it is really Snug and not a real lion to allay any fears. Shedding light on the whole performance we have Carrie Battersby’s Starveling who plays Moonshine, which involves holding a lantern and saying nowt with the rest of the Athenian artisans standing by. Bottom, or rather Lauren, incidentally, was also an assistant director. It’s the mechanicals’ rehearsals earlier where it all goes awry though, when Puck magics up an ass’s head on Bottom and as Oberon has dosed Titania’s eyes with the old fall in love with the first creature you see juice no prizes for what happens next. Luckily Oberon has a solution and sends Puck out to remove the ass’s head and administer the the antidote, and everyone awakes, as if from a dream, and can live happily ever after, we even get an epilogue from Puck apologising for any offence caused – as if. There are some wonderful moments such as when Oberon tries to sort it out and doses Demetrius and he awakes and the first person he sees is, you guessed it, Helenus, who now thinks everyone is talking the mickey out of him. So, while he and Hermia argue Demetrius and Lysander fight, sort of, not so much float like a butterfly sting like a bee as, well, float like a very nervous butterfly . . . and that’s it. Then we have some posing of manliness, a bit of stripping and a wrestle - its a lovely slapstick interlude. A mention too for the magnificent ass’s head created by Oberon, Jacob Lenton, a wire frame construction to allow the face to still be seen and with a network of LEDs. A very professional job indeed. An extra mention too for Joel Fleming who was not only another assistant director but composed and created all the excellent music for the show, no mean task. Director Rosie Nisbet controls a huge cast well with the stage never looking crowded and everyone on stage playing a part. Shakespeare is not the easiest to perform, the language beautiful but unfamiliar to modern ears, but this was a cast full of energy and enthisiasm that took it on board and brought it to sparkling life with some excellent performances all maintaining the legacy of Stage2 and the Bard. To 20-07-24. Roger Clarke 18-07-24 |
|
|
|
