A Midsummer Night's Dream (Abridged Version)
Information
- Date
- 2nd November 2019
- Society
- Clavering Players
- Venue
- Clavering Village Hall
- Type of Production
- Play
- Director
- Rachel Betts
- Musical Director
- N/A
- Choreographer
- Jo Beale
- Producer
- Not credited
It may have been wet and miserable outside but the atmosphere inside the packed hall was warm and welcoming as we were shown to our seats. The open stage was adorned with Greek pillars entwined with ivy, forming a delightful woodland setting which spilled down to audience level and included bushes, large upended logs and flowers strewn across the floor. The whole set twinkled with what must have been hundreds of fairy lights, including a wonderful display around the proscenium. What a delightful setting for this most magical of Shakespeare’s plays. This may have been an abridged version, but I felt it was a shame that the author was not given a credit in the programme.
Shakespeare is not of course to everyone’s taste but I think this version had a lot of audience appeal. It moved along at a good pace with the cast seeming to relish the challenge of speaking in the language of the day. Costumes were a mixture of period and modern with the male characters mostly in modern dress and this seemed to work well. For the most part diction and projection were good; essential of course if the audience is to keep up with the Shakespearean dialogue.
The cast was made up of faces I recognise as well as some I didn’t so I take it there were some newcomers for this production, which is always good. I will give a mention to some of the main characters but to my mind this was a lovely joint effort with everyone giving of their best, which is how it should be.
Jamey Benson and Nettie Lomas as Hippolyta and Theseus and as Oberon and Titania, gave strong performances, as did Helen Howett as Hermia and Simons Bates as Lysander. There were other good performances from Dom Bonita as Hermia’s father Egeos and Dave Liddle as Demetrius.
A lovely expressive performance by Rachel Betts as Helena, helping Hermia to avoid marriage to Demetrius, Helena’s own true love.
Bottom, with whom Titania is led to believe she is in love, thanks to Puck, was well played by Martin Gouldstone, coping very well with the asses head.
Bryony Kay gave a great characterisation of Puck with some lovely facial expressions and great movement, while Issy Hartley, Chessy Dymond, Lily Betts and Amelia Hartley were delightful as Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Mustardseed and Moth. The younger fairies did look a little self-conscious at times, probably due to being so close to the audience, which was unavoidable due to the extended set, but that should help them grow in confidence.
Last but by no means least the Tradesmen, who as a group were suitably subservient but of independent mind and character. Well played.
I think Rachel Betts should be pleased with her first foray into directing and I hope it has spurred her on to direct again in the future.
This was a lovely production, followed by a supper to which we were invited but had to decline in this instance. We did though have a very enjoyable evening.
Thank you for inviting me.
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