March 2006

The Top Five Moments of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (according to Paolo, Year 7)

 

Although I freely admit that I was the real A-list celebrity in this play (I expect my Oscar nomination any day now), I realise that looking back at the experience of the school play, there were many memorable moments.

Number 1 According to some people, the real showstopper of the play was the scene in which Bottom (played by me) ‘danced’ with Titania and the fairies to “Dream a Little Dream of Me” by The Mamas and the Papas. The audience adored this scene, some were even crying with laughter. I must admit that I had lots of fun not only because I missed lessons when the choreographer came in and also because I was surrounded by my own troupe of enchanting fairies. I felt so at home!

Number 2 One of the highlights for me was the fight scene between Demetrius and Lysander. In the play, both men fight for the love of Helena. As they punched, slapped, kicked and shoved each other the audience laughed uproariously, even more so on the second night because Demetrius got so involved that she fell over! The gentle Hermia, thinking that Helena, had stolen her lover’s heart, suddenly snapped and attacked her. A cat fight is always entertaining. (A word of warning to future actors who may find themselves involved in stage-fighting: don’t miss your cue as you may get slapped by accident!)

Number 3 Pyramus’s death (again, starring me), which seemed to take a decade, was one of the highlights of the last scene. And who could forget the feeble Thisby (male student complete with a pink frilly dress, fake tresses and heavy make-up) who performed the last scene as a woman and stabbed himself letting out a girly, high pitched squeal. Definitely one of the surprise laughs of the night.

Number 4 One of the magical moments was the forest scene: Puck appeared on stage and nonchalantly blew bubbles to the track ‘Rodney Yates’ by David Holmes. Moments later, a punk fairy, appeared and flirted outrageously with the golden, Afro-haired Cupid of the comedy. Puck cracked a smile and left the stage leaving the punk fairies alone and abandoned in the forest. After a few seconds, Puck returned and played a cheeky trick on the fairy.

Number 5 I hate to boast but I must admit that the closing scene of the first half, when Bottom (me) is transformed into a donkey and falls madly fell in love with the enchanted Titania. Titania looked ravishing in her midnight-blue sari, and Bottom’s  exaggerated gawp as he catches sight of this fairy queen brought the scene to a complete standstill.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Christiane Demack A fairy world hidden within a wild forest, an Athens of long ago bustling with valiant ‘rude mechanicals’ amidst the Athenian court and five Athenian nobles desperately sorting through their quarrelsome problems… who would have thought that you could fit all of that into a small international school in the space of six months? Under the direction of Una, (English and Drama teacher) the casting for this magical adventure began in October. A truly ‘mixed’ cast developed, which did indeed give spark to plenty of ‘mixed up’ stories…      The ‘lovers’ (that is to say, four Athenian nobles who disrupt the rhythms of the Athenian court) experienced their first rehearsal in the ‘Fairy Garden’-fitting, don’t you think?-to plenty of laughter and sunlight. The fun continued through the wintery and later alternating sunny and ‘haily’ weather. Our ‘Demetrius’ drove fair Helena sheer mad with his outbursts of  flowing ’shoulder acrobatics’ in the midst of ‘dramatic’ scenes…sadly, he had to move to England unexpectedly during the winter holidays, after reminding ‘Hermia’ (a.k.a. me!) that I pronounce the word ‘thank you’ too many times a day.Before his departure, he finally learned that ‘Lysander’ is not, in fact, pronounced ‘lasagne’. In Shakespeare’s plays, as everyone knows, (or do they?) all parts, including female roles,were played by boys. We’ve given this gender confusion a 21st Century twist: our new Demetrius was, in fact, a GIRL! Despite initial rather loudly expressed murmurs of shock and reservation from certain members of the cast, the new female Demetrius has proved that even the world of Shakespeare can be mixed up and turned upside down if the actress is good enough; and in fact rehearsals whizzed by without a second thought about her flowing curls and obvious feminine qualities. Here’s the reduced version: romance; quarrels; inadvertent slaps; fury; tenderness; our choreographer, Nena teaching donkeys and a Sri Lankan queen to dance; adventurous Chemistry teacher Hugh teaching stage fighting to mad teenagers; tears, formerly resembling mirth;colossal stage-back-drops masterfully crafted by student Tierney; loud, nerve-racking construction workers outside the theater; late lightingmen; screams, laughs, raucous audiences; ‘thribbling’(otherwise known as improvising lines); teamwork; warmth; real tears; jealousy; complexity; magic. Looking back, it has the chaotic colours of a dream. As the fatal nights of performance drew nearer, we all spent days rehearsing at the theatre. These rehearsals were some of the best. The tears seemed much more like laughter and the anger more like mirth, which just goes to show how friendly a cast we were! Something I thought was quite remarkable, though I’m not sure just how many people noticed it, was ‘Moth’s’ incredible talent for learning almost every single line in the play, and then prompting others without even being asked! (Something else that drove fair Helena crazy.)    In the end, the emotional highs and lows of rehearsal added to what was, according to our audience, a performance “piaciuta da morire”. Would I do it again? Do I miss the pressure of a star role? Definitely.

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