A Tale of Two Dreams
Who loves getting to see shows for free? Everybody loves getting to see shows for free!
This week, last night to be exact, I went to Chicago Shakes to see A Midsummer Night's Dream. They only used the thrust part of the stage, and it was covered in the huge beautiful rug. The stage was lined with footlights (shelled - old school-looking, very cool aesthetic) and the floor was raised about a foot higher than where it usually sits. The back drop to all of this was a projection screen that was no wider than the thrust and stretched the full height of the proscenium. Up right corner there's an old victrola playing music of the early 20th century and on the screen projected from behind is a huge black and white portrait of Sigmund Freud.
At this point you're probably thinking to yourself, what does Sigmund Freud have to do with Shakespeare? Dreams of course! This is A Midsummer Night's Dream!
One must be careful about conceptualizing Shakespeare too much. And I have to say, this turned out to be a terrible concept. Not only that, it wasn't followed through full circle. When we left the court and went into the forest, the beautiful rug was lifted up by its four corners and hovered there over the proceedings. Did it come down when we cam back to court? No. The projections for the court were actual black and white photos - if I remember correctly from the program - of New Orleans. The projections for the forest were colorful and abstract and beautiful. Did we go back to the photos at the end? No. And I mean, part of me was okay with that because I didn't like the pictures and the concept they represented. But follow through with the concept, would you? Maybe bring the color in, because things have changed for everyone, but we're no longer in the actual forest anymore people. The thing that worked best about the concept is that Puck - at the beginning and at the end - was dressed as Freud. The problem was that they hung the whole concept on that, and the concept was too big to hinge it one character, even if it was Puck.
On a more specific/practical note - I get that Hermia and Lysander are running away, and I get that it's funny if they run away with a lot of luggage. At a certain point though, the burden of it out weighs the joke. And then you go from 5 suitcase to one from one scene to the next. I have the same problem with the clothing. The ladies lose their jackets in the woods early on. And that's the only dishevelment anyone suffers until Puck puts them all to sleep at the end of the night and steals their outer garments.
Before we get to the acting - and we will get to the acting - I would like to take a moment to wallow in my disappointment with the fight. It wasn't big enough. The moves were fine, they were executed well, but it lacked choreographical energy. It's like the fight director or maybe the director was more concerned with getting the language spoken in a way that an audience with an untrained ear could understand what's going on. I'm telling you, and all out fight in that scene conveys it just as well if not more. The important phrases can be easily and naturally highlighted and it makes the scene all the more delightful for a person who can follow the language. The people who are slower with the language would prefer the fight anyway.
Ok. Acting. I love my cast from Maine back in 2007. I love them dearly. And so comparisons in my mind are inevitable. I won't go though everyone - just some of the main characters:
Theseus/Oberon: This is a character in which the differences came from the directorial style. Oberon in Maine was more trickster like Puck than a mischievous ruler like he was at Shakes. In the end, I like both interpretations.
Hippolyta/TItania: Our actress in Maine was good, but young. At Shakes, she was the greatest actor on the stage.
Puck: Conceptually (and Freud aside), I liked the Shakes Puck better. Performancewise - no one take more delight in his mischtief than Mike Anthony.
Hermia: Jess Pohly wins.
Helena: Anna Soloway wins.
Lysander: Mike Pauley wins
Demetrius: Sorry Matt. You were great in As You Like It, but compared to the eyes of Will Harrell, your eyes are dead. Will Harrell wins.
Bottom: Two fabulous performers with two very different approaches. Both of which I loved.
Before I close, I must mention the play. It was done, almost exclusively as a song. This was fine to start out with, but after awhile it got pretty tedious. And although I liked the shared moment between Bottom and Hippolyta, but it lasted waaayyy too long.
My recommendation:
See the show, but at a discount.
This week, last night to be exact, I went to Chicago Shakes to see A Midsummer Night's Dream. They only used the thrust part of the stage, and it was covered in the huge beautiful rug. The stage was lined with footlights (shelled - old school-looking, very cool aesthetic) and the floor was raised about a foot higher than where it usually sits. The back drop to all of this was a projection screen that was no wider than the thrust and stretched the full height of the proscenium. Up right corner there's an old victrola playing music of the early 20th century and on the screen projected from behind is a huge black and white portrait of Sigmund Freud.
At this point you're probably thinking to yourself, what does Sigmund Freud have to do with Shakespeare? Dreams of course! This is A Midsummer Night's Dream!
One must be careful about conceptualizing Shakespeare too much. And I have to say, this turned out to be a terrible concept. Not only that, it wasn't followed through full circle. When we left the court and went into the forest, the beautiful rug was lifted up by its four corners and hovered there over the proceedings. Did it come down when we cam back to court? No. The projections for the court were actual black and white photos - if I remember correctly from the program - of New Orleans. The projections for the forest were colorful and abstract and beautiful. Did we go back to the photos at the end? No. And I mean, part of me was okay with that because I didn't like the pictures and the concept they represented. But follow through with the concept, would you? Maybe bring the color in, because things have changed for everyone, but we're no longer in the actual forest anymore people. The thing that worked best about the concept is that Puck - at the beginning and at the end - was dressed as Freud. The problem was that they hung the whole concept on that, and the concept was too big to hinge it one character, even if it was Puck.
On a more specific/practical note - I get that Hermia and Lysander are running away, and I get that it's funny if they run away with a lot of luggage. At a certain point though, the burden of it out weighs the joke. And then you go from 5 suitcase to one from one scene to the next. I have the same problem with the clothing. The ladies lose their jackets in the woods early on. And that's the only dishevelment anyone suffers until Puck puts them all to sleep at the end of the night and steals their outer garments.
Before we get to the acting - and we will get to the acting - I would like to take a moment to wallow in my disappointment with the fight. It wasn't big enough. The moves were fine, they were executed well, but it lacked choreographical energy. It's like the fight director or maybe the director was more concerned with getting the language spoken in a way that an audience with an untrained ear could understand what's going on. I'm telling you, and all out fight in that scene conveys it just as well if not more. The important phrases can be easily and naturally highlighted and it makes the scene all the more delightful for a person who can follow the language. The people who are slower with the language would prefer the fight anyway.
Ok. Acting. I love my cast from Maine back in 2007. I love them dearly. And so comparisons in my mind are inevitable. I won't go though everyone - just some of the main characters:
Theseus/Oberon: This is a character in which the differences came from the directorial style. Oberon in Maine was more trickster like Puck than a mischievous ruler like he was at Shakes. In the end, I like both interpretations.
Hippolyta/TItania: Our actress in Maine was good, but young. At Shakes, she was the greatest actor on the stage.
Puck: Conceptually (and Freud aside), I liked the Shakes Puck better. Performancewise - no one take more delight in his mischtief than Mike Anthony.
Hermia: Jess Pohly wins.
Helena: Anna Soloway wins.
Lysander: Mike Pauley wins
Demetrius: Sorry Matt. You were great in As You Like It, but compared to the eyes of Will Harrell, your eyes are dead. Will Harrell wins.
Bottom: Two fabulous performers with two very different approaches. Both of which I loved.
Before I close, I must mention the play. It was done, almost exclusively as a song. This was fine to start out with, but after awhile it got pretty tedious. And although I liked the shared moment between Bottom and Hippolyta, but it lasted waaayyy too long.
My recommendation:
See the show, but at a discount.