21st June - Year 8 & 9 trip to Regent's Park Open Air Theatre to see Matthew Dunster’s interpretation of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'...
Under the shadow of the met office, tension built all day. 'To be or not to be?'
...on or off?
But the 'good ole' British weather seemed to be on our side for once...and we set off for Regent's Park Open Air theatre in trepidation and excitement with forty Year 8s and 9s clad mostly in macs and winter woolies for our midsummer sojourn into the world of the Bard.
'Athensfield' a gypsy encampment - The modern setting for the play, was a dream not yet built and unlikely to be finished, complete with crane and trailers and 'men at work' signs. It promised to be an exciting interpretation of magical mischief.
Rather like the set, the production got underway but was another unfinished dream. More than spritely charms fell from the skies. At first a teasing drizzle fell. As scenes of mayhem unfolded before us and we were led deeper into the woods and the complex world of love gone awry; of the comedy of the mechanicals (with a Rasta labourer portraying....Thisbe); and the setting up of Bottom by the fairies, we were left with a tangled web and all to resolve. The heavens opened and drowned us out.
The interval was filled with hot chocolate, plastic macs, screams, mad dashes to the loo and a grab for rugs. Despite the stoical determination not to be beaten by a bit of rain, the Mount girls returned to their seats to watch the final act and see balance restored to Athensfield.
It was not to be...
The plug was pulled; the theatre drained and a hastily recalled coach brought us back to school half an hour early, rather damp but still in high spirits.
Despite the alternative and abrupt ending to the play, a great evening was had...
Thanks to Mr Davies for organising.
"Rebecca Oldfield delivered a deliciously
ditsy, despairing drab as Helena."
"I liked the visual gags and puns
that appeared throughout."
"Bottom was a wonderful ass..."
http://openairtheatre.org/production/a-midsummer-nights-dream
Despite a rather abrupt and thus bathetic ending, the play showed the girls just how current Shakespeare's ideas are...
ReplyDeleteIf you get the chance, experience it for yourself...(take a mac!)
Year 8 have been working on their own fantasy productions and a sample of their midsummer magical creations are showcased above...
I enjoyed and loved how the mechanicals seemed to sprinkle the play with a bit of comedy. Sometimes we were laughing so hard we couldn't even notice the old English weather starting to pour down onto us; next thing we knew, we were soaking wet! I loved Bottom's character as he was quite confident and full of himself at times but he seemed to not notice he was a terrible actor when he wanted to play each part for Duke Theseus' wedding. I also feel that the setting for the play-'Athens field' was very creative, imaginative, and a funny alternative to the more magical atmosphere of the original setting.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful interpretation, but with a modern twist - even though the characters were modern I was glad to see that they still kept the Elizabethan language. Also the enjoyable irony of Bottom's T-shirt saying "kiss my ass" (which was revealed once he was turned into a donkey). Overall it was romance in the rain.
ReplyDeleteI loved the scenery, especially how the first caravan was lifted by the crane to reveal a mystical pond with mist flowing out of it. The other ragged caravan was then pulled back to reveal Titania's flowery domain where she rested in the night. The modern take on the play was well captured, making the characters still recognizable but so different from Shakespeare’s time, for example Oberon was a Punk Rocker and Titania was Earthy and had dreadlocks longer than her own body.
ReplyDeleteThe play was a mixture of drama, confusion and love just as Shakespeare would have wanted us to experience. Even though it was set in modern times the emotions were still expressed and they involved the use of Shakespearian English which helped us connect old and new and which I really enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a play I'd happily study and see again! The way the Open Air Theatre interpreted the play was fantastic and there were certain scenes which when reading the play you wouldn’t picture in that way, but the Open Air crew managed to make it work, for example the Athenians were dressed as gypsies. It was a great shame that the last act was rained off. I shall definitely go and see it again all the way through with friends,if we get a summer.
ReplyDeleteI loved the exotic recreation of the Shakespearian play. It was interesting to see a modern gypsy version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I really liked Bottom's T-shirt, which said kiss my ass. This went well as he had an ass’s head. I also think that the clothes and colours on the fairies mixed really well. It gave them a magical look as they blended into the current stage settings.
ReplyDeleteWhen studying A Midsummer Night's Dream in my English class, I greatly enjoyed the play overall.
ReplyDeleteSomething’s stood out among others, for example, I loved Bottom's character and The Mechanicals as I thought they were the comic relief of the play; along with Puck of course.
However the Shakespearian language was sometimes difficult to tackle.
Nevertheless I soon became more and more used to the Shakespearian English used.
A Midsummer Night's Dream was a fantastic play and I am looking forward to seeing the production that everyone else has talked about.
My favourite part of the play was when Titania danced with faeries. I thought it looked very magical. They danced like they were full of love and hope.
ReplyDeleteI also liked the faerie who was blended into the caravan because I thought it must have taken a lot of work to make her costume fit just right. Even when the light shined on her you still didn’t notice she was there.
I didn’t like the gypsy twist because of their accents. I think it would have been better if it was played the way Shakespeare had intended in Jacobean costume.
All in all I loved it and would like to see the ending.