What better way to be introduced in your first public
production at WAAPA than under the stars performing an enduring classic written
by The Bard himself? As is the Academy’s tradition the first show for the 2nd year musical theatre students is always a non-musical and here they get to sink
their teeth into Shakespeare’s oft performed and beloved comedy.
The venue was the Amphitheatre which put the focus squarely
on the performers with only an empty stage and minimalist lighting and sound
design to recreate the mood of the enchanted woods. Striking costuming and interesting choices in interpretation, some more successful than others, added
to the world in which both humans and fairies frolicked.
The fairies were given a distinct Nordic flavour, in accent,
costume, makeup and attitude. Nick Errol’s Oberon was presented as a powerful,
warlike figure while Jenna Curran’s Titania had a proud, regal air.
Occasionally the language didn’t sit well with the thick accents especially
early on with Curran but this was a proud couple of equal footing.
Not so the status of women in the Athenian Court. The
opening scene featured Hippolyta (Lucy Ross) and Hermia (Kelsi Boyden) treated
like playthings to be manhandled by the men. It was quite unsettling watching
Ross restrained with a stout stick across her throat while Boyden was grasped
and grabbed at as ownership was discussed between Theseus (Joshua White) and
Hermia’s father Egeus (Benjamin Colley).
The costuming was also in direct contrast to the fairies
with the four lovers, Boyden, Monique Warren (Helena), David Cuny (Lysander),
and Tom Gustard (Demetrius) given the preppy attire of a Hollywood high school
comedy. They worked well together though Gustard’s Demetrius seemed overmatched
in the manly stakes by Cuny’s Lysander which tended to unbalance the quartet.
The four fairies, played with relish by Mackenzie Dunn, Meg
McKibbin, Laura Jackson, and Chloe Bremner, were sleekness personified in skin
tight black outfits. They oscillated between being lascivious, notably when
Titania seduces Bottom, to adopting the stern visage and posture of warriors
within the Fairy kingdom.
Then there were the Mechanicals led by Peter Quince (Tom
New) but dominated by the vainglorious Nick Bottom (Cameron Steens) and, of
course, the mischievous Puck (Bailey Dunnage) whose slipups drive much of the
mayhem as potent magic ensorcells Titania, Lysander and Demetrius to amusing
effect.
Standouts for me were Warren who gave a Helena an exaggerated
comic bent in her pursuit of Lysander and total disbelief when both he and
Demetrius are compelled to pursue her. Steens plays up to the ego of Bottom with
suitable flourishes while two of the Mechanicals, Finn Alexander (Francis
Flute) and Daisy Valerio (Snug) have highlight moments during the play within a
play. The former as he laments the death of Pyramus in dramatic counterpoint to
his earlier flouncing as Thisbe; the latter with a Lion’s roar of such
understatement that the audience cracked up at the delightful absurdity of it
all. Luke Haberecht (Tom Snout) and Sarah Brideson (Robin Starveling) add to
the mirth as Wall and Moon respectively.
Dunnage had a funny sequence as Puck scampers through the
audience attempting to hide from Oberon’s wrath as things go pear shaped. He had
cheekily drunk from a lady’s can of soft drink earlier and here was fascinated
with random objects amongst the crowd. In fact the cast was impressive in
reacting to the audience as they cavorted along the tiered seating. At one
point Errol caught the magic flower thrown by Puck with some style which
elicited a chuckle of approval from my good self. He turned toward me and
nodded as if to say, “pretty good, hey” which was in character and a confident
example of being in the moment as the cast often broke the fourth wall.
I don’t know if I was as enamoured with the use of Nutbush City Limits in the finale. I
understand the notion of updating the music to more modern times but this song with
its patented dance routine seemed dated (and probably twice as old as most of
the cast). The use of a track that was more recent, vital and immediate would
have worked better.
Overall this was a most pleasant evening even with me making
a complete ass of myself as I was dragged on stage to the strains of Tina
Turner… or maybe I was simply dreaming all along.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream was written by William
Shakespeare, directed by Trent Baker, and featured the second year musical
theatre students in their inaugural public outing.
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