Saturday, January 31, 2009

On Thursday night Owen and I went back to the bosom of the Bard and saw the RSC's production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at the Novello Theatre (formerly the Strand). It usually houses tat like THE RAT PACK etc. so I've not had a chance to visit it since it's nice renovation job - although the dress circle bar has an alarmingly bad whiff of mould.

I haven't seen a production of the DREAM since 2001 - Dawn French as Bottom yet - and while this one didn't totally work it's magic on me it obviously did for Owen... within ten minutes he was a-doze! Well... he did have a week full of tedious meetings.

The production, directed by Gregory Doran, certainly looked great with a dark mirrored floor and back wall which reflected the audience and cast in various ways, a huge moon which slowly traversed the stage during the play and with a gantry of lit bulbs that descended when the fairies appeared lighting the stage with a warm glow.
By and large the performances were ok - I particularly liked Kathryn Drysdale's spoilt little madam Hermia, Edward Bennett was fine as Demetrius - sliding across the stage lovestruck just to touch Helena's ankle, Tom Davey's slacker drop-out Lysander was effective too but Natalie Walter wasn't a memorable Helena.

Mark Hadfield was an ideal Puck, in his dirty vest and fluffy SWAN LAKEish trousers, great comic timing but knowing when to rein it in - unlike Joe Dixon who made every one of Bottom's scenes last an eternity.


Andrea Harris was a vibrant and sensuous Titania but Peter De Jersey seemed to mistake Oberon for Abanazar with lots of cape business and shouted lines. But then I suspect I won't see a better Oberon than Paul Scofield.But more often than not the thought that crossed my mind was how the production almost seemed to be skewed towards the possible school parties it was going to attract. They made an announcement at the end that the RSC are starting an initiative STAND UP FOR SHAKESPEARE aimed at getting more school trips to see the plays, to get primary schools to start teaching the stories - TITUS ANDRONICUS is possibly not a good one to start with - and to also teach the Bard in secondary schools through acting lessons and not just by reading it. It's certainly an excellent initiative but if it means that the rude mechanicals are just that - rude and mechanical then it will be a lost opportunity.

I honestly thought the Pyramus and Thisbe scene would never end... on and on and on, every gag underlined eight times with comic doubletakes and no innuendo knowingly overlooked. Right at the very end there was a germ of an idea where Ryan Gage's Flute plays Thisbe's death scene straight, like Juliet over Romeo's body but it was a tiny crumb of comfort.
So all in all a nice way to spend a Thursday evening though it definitely could have been better.

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