Shakespeare came alive for me at North Carolina Stage Company. I have often doubted my ability to understand his dialogue, and I have often questioned the wisdom of making his plays "relevant" to modern times. Not any more.
How did this cast capture my attention and win me over? After being delightfully entertained for 2 hours I'm still not sure. Walking into the empty theatre, I could see the stage was set with simple props, yet I was drawn to them, knowing they would soon be part of a story.
The ensemble of eight actors entered and went to work, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say they came to play. With each taking on multiple roles, they worked together so well that they made it look easy and fun. The performance, in spite of much complicated movement and dialogue, was polished and smooth from start to finish.
I was intrigued that the actors made almost all costume changes on stage as well as doing all the set changes themselves. I felt that there was a message there for me. I believe the message said, "We are the actors. We are about to do our part. You are the audience. Your job is to follow our lead and allow your imagination to take you on an adventure."
What an adventure it was! We laughed our way through comedy, poetry, drama, and slapstick. This powerful group of professional actors was sharp, quick, and on target all night long.
It is true that I missed some of the words. But the play was so creatively directed and the actors so engaging in their art, that it did not matter. If Shakespeare could see his play and the modern use of scooters, a skateboard, and cell phones, he might raise an eyebrow or two. His work though, is alive and well at North Carolina Stage Company.
--Robert Arthur
18 April 2007
A Midsummer Night's Dream at NCSC
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Again, of course, swiped from the Asheville Citizen-Times website...
--editor
N.C. Stage gives brilliant twist to "Midsummer Night's Dream"
by Jim Cavener
published April 13, 2007 12:30 pm
ASHEVILLE - North Carolina Stage Company's riotous romp of the Bard's “A Midsummer Night's Dream” is not only new and improved in concept and contemporary context, but high-energy in presentation and performance.
This wondrous crew heads into a forest inhabited by fairies riding Razor scooters. After Puck arrives in the opening scene on a skateboard, with a mohawk and full-body tattoos, the young nobles chat on cell phones, we know “this is not your father's Shakespeare.” Director Ron Bashford succeeds brilliantly.
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Billed as one of the Bard's wildest comedies, there is a highly dramatic plot with intense conflicts of a love-triangle/quadrangle, running 90 minutes and featuring eight actors covering many roles.
Michael Winning is a dazzling Puck, with a turn as Philostrate, as well. His is a winning presence. The strongest woman of three is New Yorker Vivian Smith who gives regal Hippolyta and Titania, two queens of quite different realms.
Asheville actor Willie Repoley is Egeus and Bottom, a weaver. His versitality is wondrous and his comedic turns are dazzling. Michael Coghlan is Lysander and Flute and both are rendered with aplomb. Local Lauren Fortuna is charming as Helena and Snout, a tinker, as well as a fairy. He of the piercing eyes, Johathan Frappier, is impressive as both Oberon and Theseus.
Tiny Hannah Sloat is typecast as the young Hermia, later as Snug, a joiner, and fits the character description from the script. Marcus Truschinski towers over the rest of the cast as Demetrius, then as Peter Quince. It matters not if one misses a word here or there. The visual spectacle and hyper-activity is sufficient for all to follow the story.
Jim Cavener reviews theater for the Citizen-Times. Email: JimCavener@aya.Yale.edu.
I had a headache--I don't know why--but I am happy to say that seeing Midsummer's cured me of it. There were moments of eloquence in this production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that were perfect, whether it was in Bottom's awakening or Titania's disdain or Helena's quarrels or Puck's gentle giving back of the play to the audience and his entreaty of mutual good thoughts and feelings. All the actors showed wonderful ability with the language. Due to the actors' understanding and communication of the material, there were moments when the imagery came alive and sparkled, presenting Shakespeare faithfully and at his best, whether it was in a "pregnant sail" or those "jaws of darkness." Most of all, I appreciated the joy I found in the actors and the performance as a whole. It's not often that you get to bask so easily in the fruits of creative endeavor, like ingesting a great meal that is at first pleasant in its complexities on the tongue and then comforting to the body as it settles into the flesh. This is a play to be seen, for, beyond it being entertaining, it acts as a medic to something in the flesh as well as in the mind.
This show was truly magical. It was such good Shakespeare, that you forget it is Shakespeare and it becomes something new and immediate. There are no weak links in the fence, a wonderfully excellent show.
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