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Opening night for Midsummer sent the crowd home dreaming

 

THE DEPARTMENTS OF THEATRE AND STAGECRAFT PRESEN

aes ae ay ;

     

Jay Schreiber

arts editor

s a famous performer once said, “The
A the theatre, what happened

to the theatre?” In the information
age of technology, fast cars and the onset of
the ADD generation, the theatre is having a
rough time finding its place.

During Shakespeare’s age the theatre
was the quintessential form of visual
entertainment, performed for the highest
aristocrats and the lowest peasants of society.
With shifts in entertainment, it is important to
find his creations relevant in today’s modern
world despite social, economical and cultural
changes.

The night was young, and the sun had
just set on a cold November Friday the 13"
in New Westminster. Patrons of the arts filed
into Douglas’s Muir Theatre to channel a
500-year-old art medium that still keeps us
satisfied.

The plot of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
is split between 3 stories that involve a fairy
queen, a troupe of actors performing at a
royal request, and a pair of lovers who find
themselves in tricky situations. The stories
mix and mingle as typical for Shakespeare,
but in case you fell asleep in Grade 9 English
class, everything works itself out in the end.

The set, an amalgamation of a jungle
gym and colourful Tetris blocks was well
constructed, and served perfectly as the
setting for a midsummer’s dream. It was
obvious that the actors enjoyed using the
background as a tool for their performance.

The very flexible and gymnastically
inclined Meghan Dube portrayed Puck, the
jester whose key ambition was to toy with the
lovers and alter fate. Meghan did a great job
crawling around the set and keeping a bird’s
eye view on the situations.

Puck’s master Oberon was portrayed

sensitive towards one another and shared the
most convincing kiss of the play.

Between the different scenes, the
Tetris Blocks were moved around the stage
by a crew of fairies composed of Anthony
Kearns, Cathrin Parkin, Krysten Neeson
and Stephanie Kong. These members of the
stagecraft department were amusing to watch
as they moved the scenery and altered the
environment.

Part of Shakespeare’s genius is that his
story of a commissioned group of actors puts
a play within a play as he commonly does
for comedic irony. The actors in the smaller
ensemble were great at pumping laughs
out of the nearly packed house at the Miur
Theatre.

Chris Lam did a great job as the hardy
director who took charge of the scenes and
had no problem commanding attention with
his witty style and comedic anecdotes. The
mighty Bottom was perfected by Spencer
Fisher, who perhaps had the most talented
death and was precise with or without a giant
ass on his head.

Funny man and wannabe tin soldier
Luke Johnson channelled the comedy styles
of Jacques Clouseau during his scenes and
had no issue playing several characters
with 30-second costume changes. Most of
the actors in the comedy troupe doubled as
Tatiana’s fairies that came out to sing an
entrancing lullaby to the crowd.

The mighty lion and Puck’s playmate
Tia Tolmie did a good job resembling a five
year old’s sense of mystery and wonder
during the dream. Kaitlyn Pederson kept
herself well composed and shined like the
moon she portrayed throughout the play.
The slapstick styles of Anthony Alves were
good for a few giggles and his job as a
woman rapidly losing clothes showed much
versatility.

Puck’s final soliloquy ended the show on
a high note, and the crowd’s standing ovation
let the actors know that it was well received.
The reception afterward was packed with

“The mighty Bottom was perfected by Spencer Fisher, who perhaps
had the most talented death and was precise with or without a giant
ass on his head.”

 

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by Carlen Escarraga who gave a powerful
performance, and dominated his scenes.
Carlen’s counter character was Katherine
Ince’s role as Tatiana, the fairy princess who
shared great chemistry and an entertaining
fair fight. Both actors doubled as Theseus and
Hippolyta, the royal figures of the play and
shifted characters seamlessly.

The love struck Hermia and her spiteful
Helena was played by Gabi Barradas
and Jesse Crabbe, who managed to keep
good intensity and realistic animosity
during quarrelling scenes. Both of their
performances were a great show of what
happened when the tables turn after Puck has
her way with them.

The ladies’ male counterparts, Demetrius
and Lysander, were played by the hilarious
slapstick styles of Paul Rowell and Cory
Lang as they both lusted over Helena in an
ironic twist. In addition to their fantastic
stooge style, the duo took no issue being

family, friends and alumni and other members
of the Douglas community. Many people who
worked on the production were mentioned
during a sincere speech by director Paul
Moniz de Sa including stage manager Megan
Lowrie and costume designer Christine
Reimer.

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men
and women are merely players,” William
Shakespeare once said. The men and women
in the cast of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
all played great roles and the no one in the
ensemble is without credit. The magic behind
William Shakespeare relies on the actor’s
portrayal of the characters he’s created.

In this way, Shakespeare will always be
relevant, and as the saying goes “Good art
stands up to the test of time.”

See Midsummer sometime this week
until Saturday November 21; because after
that, the dream goes back to sleep.

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