Review: A Midsummer Night's Dream in Esplanade a charming experience

Director Mel. Cook has assembled a large team of talented folk for A Midsummer Night's Dream. Photo / Supplied

Review
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Presented by Manawatū Summer Shakespeare
Directed by Mel. Cook
Victoria Esplanade
March 10, 2021
Reviewed by Damian Thorne

William Shakespeare is to theatre what Peter Jackson is to the movies: long winded, a lover of his own voice and somebody badly in need of a good editor.

On hearing this version of Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream was sub-two hours I was keen to see if they'd managed to edit around the broken shark as Oscar winner Verna Fields did so well on Jaws.

Staged up river of He Ara Kotahi footbridge, it was a terrific thing to walk up on. Pretty much literally as if a band of talented tradies had pulled up, unfurled and set about putting on a show.

The atmosphere marred but not destroyed by the officious woman telling us where we could and could not sit, we stole away as she became distracted and plonked ourselves down with our backs to the busy forest and close to a delicious-looking cheeseboard complete with baby cheeses ("No Kim – baby Jesus!").

Starting promptly at 7.30pm we became enveloped in a show staged not only in its central ring, but everywhere around us. The aforementioned forest lit up with gorgeous colours and soft music. Cast members joined us by the cheeseboard, whispering and twittering at each other. It's an absolutely charming way to stage a play, making it certainly more of an experience, however it came at the price of the dialogue.

For once I wanted to understand Shakespeare, desperately listening to the main actors in every scene, but with no microphones, some very quiet voices, the forest music, and the other goings on around us there was no hope I would be picking up any of the clever edits to Shakespeare's usually much longer play.

Now this should not be taken to mean I wasn't thoroughly entertained, after all I generally believe Shakespeare to be a bunch of elongated babble, and with this in mind I began really relaxing into the show as something really quite special.

The quartet of young actors were a particular standout with Nina Kereama-Stevenson, Cameron Dickons, Danielle Brown and Sam Wyss all devouring their material. Wyss also gets plaudits as the fastest runner in the world escaping the excited chase given by Brown's Helena.

We watched as audience members were abducted into the magical forest, where they became surrounded by stoned teenagers and much excitable activity, I later found out on interviewing one of them.

As things were really starting to become all involving rain stopped play. The sky had been leaking throughout, but at the 45-minute mark the show was halted and Shakespeare suffered the ultimate edit.

So, this review must therefore be about the experience as a whole, or half an experience as a whole. It's about a large team of talented folk who staged a show in a grassy clearing next to the mighty Manawatū River. They pulled off so much in that 45 minutes I can only imagine what lay ahead.

This time they fought the elements and lost, but they will be back, hopefully under better conditions, to spin some more magic as they have four more shows.

The play continues March 11, 12 and 13 at 7.30pm with a matinee on March 13 at 3pm. Entry by koha.