A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. Written between 1590 and 1596, first produced 1604. The work lost favour during the restoration period (Samuel Pepys described the 1662 revival as "the most insipid and ridiculous play I ever saw in my life") but gained new interest in the 19th century as a way of showcasing elaborate costumes and sets. Since then, A Midsummer Night's Dream has been adapted for opera, ballet, television, and film.
A copy of the play was on sale in Cape Town in 1800 for £25, but no production followed apparently, despite the hopes of the reporter of the Kaapsche Courant (15 November).
Early amateur productions in South Africa include ** and Cecil John Rhodes being entertained by Rudyard Kipling and artist Jan Juta's sister René Juta, her other sisters and family servants with the performance of scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream on the slopes of Devil's Peak in the 1890s (Merrington, 200*; Juta 1972: 52).
First produced professionally in South Africa by the Holloway Company in Cape Town in 1900 (*??). Other notable productions include ***, the Shakespeare quadcentennial production at the Alexander Theatre in 1964 (directed by Joan Brickhill and Louis Burke and featuring them with Jenny Gratus. Robert Lang was the stage manager), Robert Mohr’s 1981 production (with Etienne Puren, Louise Saint Claire, Michael Richard and Tobie Cronje) during the opening season of the Pretoria State Theatre. Esther van Ryswyk’s famous puppet-and-human version (starring Clare Stopford, Fiona Ramsay, Neil McCarthy, David Butler, Jennie Reznek, Robert Finlayson and Gaynor Young and many others) was staged at the Oude Libertas Theatre and Baxter Theatre through a Market-Baxter-Handspring Puppet Company collaboration in 1988, then moved to the Market Theatre in 1989, redirected by Fred Abrahamse. **, Maynardville, 1995, Maynardville, 2002. By Artscape in 2012 at the Artscape Theatre and the National Arts Festival and from 23 January to 26 February 2013 at the Maynardville Open-Air Theatre, in repertory with Cardenio – (12 January to 16 February 2013) (After successful seasons at the Artscape Theatre and the National Arts Festival, A Midsummer Night's Dream, one of Shakespeare's most popular and accessible plays, is back at Cape Town's Maynardville. What can you expect from this story of magic and love? Everything that the title says.
Unlike Cardenio, there's no question that A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's plays. And although he was inspired by English folklore and classical myth, many of the characters are his own creations. (Shakespeare scholar Professor Stanley Wells suggests that Oberon could even be compared to Shakespeare himself.)
Being a comedy, it's clear from the start that this story of mistaken identities, unrequited love, and magic that is the stuff of dreams will end well. But it's still such fun to make the journey there. "[In] his comic scenes, he seems to produce without labour, what no labour can improve," dramatist Ben Jonson once wrote. "His tragedy seems to be skill, his comedy instinct."
Written between 1590 and 1596, the work lost favour during the restoration period (Samuel Pepys described the 1662 revival as "the most insipid and ridiculous play I ever saw in my life") but gained new interest in the 19th century as a way of showcasing elaborate costumes and sets. Since then, A Midsummer Night's Dream has been adapted for opera, ballet, television, and film.
This production is the play's sixth staging at Maynardville since the open-air theatre began in 1957. But unlike director Fred Abrahamse's 2002 adaptation, which had a psychedelic 60s vibe, the current version is set in a luxury Athenian game lodge (although it might as well be somewhere in Africa, what with the colourful touches like the way everyone pronounces "Quince" with a click).
In addition to some really funny moments, like the staging of the play within the play, A Midsummer Night's Dream has such a fun cast. It includes Marcel Meyer as the commanding Theseus/Oberon, Terence Bridgett as the scene-stealing Bottom/Pyramus, Hannah Borthwick as the hapless Helena, and Sven Ruygrok as the acrobatic Puck. Together with Meyer's beautifully designed costumes as well as the dazzling lasers and lights, the result is so engaging that I barely noticed the drizzle that unsuccessfully tried to dampen the mood. Dreams don't get sweeter!
A Midsummer Night's Dream is at Cape Town's Maynardville Open-Air Theatre until 9 March. Tickets are available from Computicket or by calling 021 421 7695. Oh, and whether you come early for a picnic in the park or arrive just in time for the show, make sure you bring a blanket and warm clothes because it gets quite chilly.
.
Translated into Afrikaans as *** and produced by ** in 19**.
Return to M in Plays 1 Original SA Plays
Return to M in Plays 2 Foreign Plays
Return to South_African_Theatre/Plays
Return to Main Page
