A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Centennial Park, Sydney

The days are getting longer and the weather is getting warmer in Sydney, which makes it the perfect time for a little Shakespeare in the park. WildRumpuS’ production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream begins at dusk, and as the sun goes down and the stars come out, we are fully transported into Shakespeare’s magical, Athenian wood. There’s mischief afoot in this play, and it’s palpable. 

Presented by: WildRumpuS ProductionsVenue: Centennial Park, Sydney Sunday, 6 November 2011 The days are getting longer and the weather is getting warmer in Sydney, which makes it the perfect time for a little Shakespeare in the park. WildRumpuS’ production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream begins at dusk, and as the sun goes down and the stars come out, we are fully transported into Shakespeare’s magical, Athenian wood. There’s mischief afoot in this play, and it’s palpable.  One of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedies, this comedy of errors, this romantic comedy that puts most modern efforts to shame, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the story of two would be couples, Helena and Demetrius, Hermia and Lysander; a rag-tag blue collar group of workers turned thespians; and fairy royalty Oberon and Titania, and Oberon’s servant, the devious Robin Goodfellow, or Puck. The play weaves magic into romance with the help of little love potion. And, in the case of this production, with an incredible cast.  Hermia (Emma Cooperthwaite) is in love with Lysander (Warwick Allsop) but betrothed to Demetrius (Luke Joslin), who is beloved by Helena (Olivia Beardsley), who Demetrius avoids at all costs. When all four are in the woods for their various reasons (Helena chasing Demetrius, and Hermia and Lysander planning to flee the city and elope), they stumble as bystanders, or perhaps more accurately casualties of war, into the lover’s tiff between fairy king Oberon (Torquil Neilson) and queen Titania (Marika Aubrey). Oberon enlists Puck (Frank Hansen) to bewitch Titania in revenge so that when she wakes she will fall in love with the first creature he sees. He just also happens to decide that Puck should do the same to dismissive Demetrius, so that he could fall in love with Helena in revenge of his cruelty to her. Of course, even that is a too-simple plot, and Puck, on the lookout for an Athenian in the woods, doses Lysander instead. Of course, the first thing Lysander sees is Helena. Classic comedy of errors.  And what does bewitched Titania see? One of those rag-tag thespians, the most hilarious of them all, Nick Bottom – the over-enthused amateur leading man of the play-within-a-play, ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’. Of course, by the time Titania wakes to see him, Puck’s turned him into a donkey. Of course. Shakespeare is awesome, kids.  What comes next is probably one of the most entertaining, laugh-out-loud funny nights you’ll spend in a park all summer. The cast is uniformly excellent, committed, confident with Shakespearean language and sure of movement. Olivia Beardsley (Dusty the Musical) was an inspired, fiery Helena who grew stronger and stronger as the play progressed – a relative newcomer, she is one to watch. Frank Hansen (Doctor Zhivago) played an irrepressible, irresistible Puck and Marika Aubrey (The Last Five Years) brought both dignity and fearless comic abandon to haughty, potion-struck Titania. However, it’s the accomplished Tony Cogin (Doctor Zhivago) as Bottom that is the production’s secret weapon: sharply, helplessly funny. It’s almost an immersive experience. The players play around the amphitheatre, behind you one minute, in front the next; laughing somewhere you can’t quite see just as a bit of a surprise. The players don a couple of hats through the show, with the Athenian lovers doubling as Bottom’s fellow players, fairy royalty tackling Athenian royalty, Puck turning Philostrate – WildRumpuS presents a true company experience.  Everything turns out all right in the end, of course, as romantic comedies were wont to do even four hundred years ago, but it’s the journey that we’ve come to see and it’s the journey that will see you leaving Centennial Park with your blanket and picnic basket and a smile on your face. This is a great show, a real summer experience, a refreshing bit of Shakespeare. Highly recommended.

For bookings & more information visit www.wildrumpus.com.au