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MND (2005) >
News and Review|Gold Country Times|Amador Ledger Dispatch
"The course of true love never did run smooth," a point driven home in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Add in a touch of mistaken identities, rustic tomfoolery, gorgeous lyrical poetry (and a sprinkle of fairy magic), and you have one of Shakespeare's most enduringly popular romantic comedies. The Bard's tale of magic, love and madness is set in the days of early California. Fairies, gold miners and Spanish gentry wander the stage in the ideal setting for this comedy full of surprises, perfect for the whole family!
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Sacramento News and Review
What visions have I seen!
By Jeff Hudson, Sacramento News and Review
(7.15.05) These next two weekends, you can Dream and Dream again. Both the Sacramento Shakespeare Festival and Main Street Theatre Works in Jackson are staging community productions of that most flexible of Shakespeare’s comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. But these shows are not identical twins.
One striking difference is that the Sacramento production looks Elizabethan. The Jackson show, staged at the Kennedy Mine Amphitheatre--where the mine dates from 1860--has a gold-rush motif.
In Jackson, Queen Titania’s fairies are played by angelic preteen girls in lacy wings--very cute! But in Sacramento, Titania’s fairies are young adults dressed as leering, hissing Celtic spirits. They’re almost like trolls.
Puck, the forest sprite and prankster, is played in Jackson by Scott Devine. He prances round the amphitheater as a bare-chested satyr with wooly legs and a wooly midriff. In Sacramento, Puck is played by a masked woman (Trina Palmer), wearing an androgynous, leafy camouflage top.
The four young, human lovers, lost in the forest, are played in Jackson by experienced actors. You’d expect Julie Anchor, David Campfield, Anthony Scoggins and Christina Sartain to be good, and they are. In Sacramento, the lovers are played by Jeff Frieders, Dan Featherston, Lia Seyman and Jennifer Nelson, three of whom are high-school students. It’s an age-appropriate but risky casting choice. However, the quartet is fresh and funny and rises to the task.
Two very funny actors play Bottom--the ordinary weaver aching to become an actor. In Jackson, Bottom is played by Allen Pontes. He’s a handsome, clean-shaven guy with a mellifluous voice, suited to the music in Shakespeare’s language. Pontes, typically a leading man, gives us Bottom as a magnetic personality. In Sacramento, Bottom is played by James Roberts--a short, stocky character actor with a gritty voice. His Bottom is pure bumpkin. Roberts bites into his incongruous lines ("I see a voice!") with relish, winning big laughs.
Bottom’s big scene is a hilariously bad performance of a tragedy, staged for a royal audience. Shakespeare wrote the scene for Bottom and five other "rude mechanicals" (tradesmen turned actors). In Jackson, the group is reduced by two. The Sacramento version, with the full complement, is funnier.
Overall, both shows are almost equally successful, though not in the same way. The Sacramento show, directed by Luther Hanson, is more antic and active, contrasting meddling fairies and hapless humans using physical comedy, underlined by onstage fiddle and drum. The Jackson production, directed by Dale Lisa Flint, is more stately and attentive to the language, radiating serenity and wholeness in the final scene. If you have the opportunity, by all means see both shows--you’ll have a lot of fun drawing comparisons and contrasts.
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Gold Country Times
A Midsummer Night's Dream in the Gold Country
By Corky Templeton, Gold Country Times
(7.1.05) The woods were alive with fairies, goblins, and mortals at the Kennedy Mine
on the evening of June 24th through the magic of Main Street Theatre Works'
William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Although warned against dust and construction, I found the setting to be
both comfortable and charming. I settled in my folding beach chair, donned
my jacket, sat back and enjoyed the performance immensely.
The stage set, a facsimile of a mine, was both rustic and functional,
particularly the stairs and various balconies which allowed the players, at
different points in the play, to effectively deliver their lines to the
audience and to invoke a great deal of movement on and off the set. Indeed,
the entire amphitheatre was part of the set, with various players charging
off the stage, into the upper reaches of the amphitheatre.or vice-versa,
with players entering via the side aisles. This breadth of movement lent
itself well to the mischievous atmosphere.
Although I found it quite difficult to reconcile the lines to the main
players' western attire (there is something incongruous when a cowboy speaks
of fellow Athenians) I overcame the incongruity on the strength of the
acting, particularly Lysander (played by Anthon Scoggins), and Hermia
(played by Julie Anchor). Lysander's effusing charm and Hermia's fire made
me completely forget their attire after their first appearance, only to be
reminded again when they arrived in the woods with suitcases, she twirling a
parasol-a jolt to my senses! Helena, (played by Christina Sartain) was a
sassy and most assertive Helena. The scene where she clings quite
aggressively to Demetrius (played by David Campfield), and his frantic
efforts to be rid of her were truly comical.
As for the fairy world, Ed Gyles, Jr's Oberon was larger than life, and
Titania as seductive and sensual a fairy queen as can be imagined. The young
fairies were adorably coiffed and dressed and I'm sure with a few more
performances will relax into their netherworld selves. Scott Divine as Puck
rendered a fabulous performance and so true to the spirit of the character.
He was marvelous with his tremendously energetic range of movement on and
off the stage as well as his theatrical antics. One of the funniest scenes
occurs when Puck is nearly drooling over sleeping Hermia making all sorts of
ridiculous but very real cat-like sounds. Divine became Puck, right before
our eyes.
Of all the characters, the one that stood out for me was the character of
Bottom, one of the 'mechanicals' played by Allen Pontes. His dramatic
outbursts with Quince desiring to play all the parts in the play for Theseus
and Hippolyta's wedding received a lot of laughter from the audience. But
his finest performance was rendered as a donkey-- braying between
lines-truly hilarious! Later in the play Pontes portrayal of Pyramus gave
the play a boost after a post-Intermission lull.
The combination of strong performances, the stage set, and the mixture of
music between scenes (everything from fiddle music to new age chimes)
accentuated the soul of the play. At the play's end I truly did feel perhaps
I had also been partially in a dream-like state, wanting to remain in the
dream but knowing I must go home!
I hope you head for the hills to see these performances. Make sure to bring
a sweater, chair, blanket, some insect repellent and a picnic to enjoy. For
more information regarding performance schedules, visit Main Street Theatre
Works website at www.mstw.org.
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Amador Ledger-Dispatch
Summer Nights Imbued with Bard's Fantasy
By Brandi Ehlers, Amador Ledger-Dispatch
(7.1.05)
A wee bit of fairy dust lingers in the fresh summer air as the Bard’s tale of passion and pandemonium enchants Amador County.
"Love, madness and art are one and the same thing," said Dale Lisa Flint during her director’s introduction at opening night of Main Street Theatre Works’ production of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" July 1 at the newly restored Kennedy Mine Amphitheatre in Jackson. "When you’re in love, you see things differently than other people do. That’s a form of madness."
Flint said MSTW set its adaptation of William Shakespeare’s famous play in the mid-1800s Gold Rush era California of "to invoke the use of this very evocative setting."
Evocative indeed. After heavy rains destroyed the amphitheatre last winter, the group was forced to rebuild the stage and seating area. Audience members can now open a bottle of Amador County Zinfandel and enjoy a picnic with live entertainment surrounded by the sturdy branches of the trees as if the fairies themselves flew amongst the oaks’ mystical canopy.
Flint recognizes, however, that the mysticism can often be audience members struggling to understand the language of Shakespeare’s work. "As consumers of modern entertainment, we’re used to getting our entertainment visually," she said. "We’re not used to listening. (When Shakespeare was writing his plays,) they were a lot more used to hearing their stories."
The Bard used 30,000 different words in his plays - enough to fill up two dictionaries, she said. In his day, English was a new and developing dialect. He even made up a lot of words like "baggage."
Flint recommended learning the story before seeing the play. "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" has four concurrent story lines: a dignitary’s impending marriage, mayhem in the fairy realm, an acting troupe’s play and a quadrilateral of lovers’ quandaries. The lines converge under the charms of an imp’s spellcasting.
The dignitaries are the charming Spanish Duke Theseus (Mike Phalen) and his bride-to-be Hippolyta (Christie Capps). The Duke is approached by Ageus (Richard Williams) who wants the Duke to pass judgment on his daughter Hermia (Julie Anchor); she must accept her father’s wish to marry Demetrius (David Campfield), join a nunnery or be put to death.
However, Hermia is in love with the cowboy Lysander (Anthony Scoggins) and wants to marry him. But her father won’t allow it. In the meantime, Helena (Christina Sartain) pines for Demetrius, who does not return her affections.
As the lovers endure their struggles, Playwright Quince (Mike Kerrigan) musters his acting guild - Bottom (Allen Pontes), flute (Chris Coombs) and Snug (Cameron Johnson) - to begin practicing their performance.
When the acting troupe leaves to rehearse, the fairies flitter down from their heavenly abode. The ever-agile and mischievous Puck (Scott Divine) summons his corps of winged pixies - Mustardseed (Katrisse Brown), Moth (Elizabeth Moore), Cobweb (Alexis Loader), Peablossom (Sarina Brown) and Sentinel (Savanna Cordero). During their banter, the beautiful Fairy Queen Titania (Jennifer Russell) and handsome Fairy King Oberon (Ed Gyles, Jr.) emerge from behind the audience and head toward the stage. Titania and Oberon argue over the custody of a young Indian Boy (Gabriel Loader). To win the debate, Oberon orders Puck to cast a series of spells aimed at making Titania relinquish the boy to him. The spells set off a chain of events that combine comedy and tragedy as only Shakespeare can dream up.
Each of the actors delivered a splendid performance. It was impressive to see them adapt the Bard’s words to a 19th Century setting. As Flint mentioned, the vocal inflections, body language and facial expressions greatly helped the audience overcome the differences between 16th Century Old English and contemporary vernacular.
The costumes, especially the fairies, deserve an extra dose of recognition. Kudos to costume designer Susan McCandless and her troupe of seamstresses and makeup artists.
McCandless also serves as artistic director for MSTW. She will be directing its next performance, "The Rainmaker," in August.
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Credits for A Midsummer Night's Dream
THE CAST
Theseus: Mike Phalen
Hippolyta: Christie Capps
Ageus: Richard Williams
Hermia: Julie Anchor
Demetrius: David Campfield
Lysander: Anthony Scoggins
Helena: Christina Sartain
Quince: Mike Kerrigan
Bottom: Allen Pontes
Flute: Chris Coombs
Snug: Cameron Johnson
Puck: Scott Divine
Oberon: Ed Gyles, Jr.
Titania: Jennifer Russell
Mustardseed: Katrisse Brown
Moth: Elizabeth Moore
Cobweb: Alexis Loader
Peaseblossom: Sarina Brown
Sentinel: Savannah Cordero
Indian Boy: Gabriel Loader
THE CREW
Director: Dale Lisa Flint
Assistant Director: Maia McCleery
Stage Manager: Joanne Shugart
Assistant Stage Manager: Maia McCleery
Set Design: Mark Russell
Set Foreman: Carol Sethre
Set Construction: Magnus Berglund, John Berglund, Wat Baer, Mark Bowers, Bertrand Dumesnil, Cris Flint, Glen Johnson, Mike Koepke, Marlene Linn, Ken McCandless, Jeff McClelland, Greg Motch, Jill North, Graham Paul, Mike Phalen, Carol Sethre, Ken Stefferud, Giles Turner, George Uriarte, Bill Yee
Lighting Design: Ken Stefferud
Costume Design: Susan McCandless
Assistant Costume Designer: Cathy McClelland
Seamstresses: Cathy McClelland, Barbara Babcock, Carmen Alvarado, Bobbie Brubaker, Emily Daniel, Jane Gleason, Linda Johnson, Diane McCleery, Margaret McLaughlin, Julie Menke, Chris Morse, Linda Smith, Connie Wright
Original Sound Compositions: David Subke
Props: Linda Johnson, Marlene Linn, Ken McCandless, Cathy McClelland, Carol Sethre
Sound/Light Operator: Mary Spitzer
SPECIAL THANKS
Amador High School Drama - Giles Turner
Bobbie Brubaker
California Stage - Ray Tater
Hein & Company Bookstore
Hospice of Amador Thrift Store
Pat and Maurine Crosby - Lizzie Ann's/Bubblegum Books
Laura Mah Photography
Mother Lode Printing - Barry and Sue Duncan
Season's 2nd's
Volcano Theatre Company
Bill Braun
Troy Claveran
Ken Stefferud
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