Thursday, October 25, 2007

Shakespeare-by-the-sea

What if William Shakespeare had been a Yorkshireman, instead of hailing from deepest Warwickshire?
And what if he had lived in the time of good Queen Victoria, not Bess?
Duke Theseus’ court in A Midsummer Night’s Dream reflected the Victorian 19th century just as effectively as the original elements of Elizabethan England.
And the fairies of the Forest of Arden could just as easily have been in the Valley Gardens of Saltburn!
So I went to the Autumn production of Saltburn ’53 Drama group - "Shakespeare-by-the-Sea.
A class-ridden society, with a powerful underworld: the court, the working class ‘mechanicals’ and the naughty fairies (all dressed as ladies of the night) comprise the three intersecting worlds of the play.
There were some hilarious performances particularly Peter Quince and Bottom tho all the mechanicals were like the Three Goons. Portraying Titania and the fairies as Victorian ladies of the night was a great idea but the outstanding performance was that of Hermia closely followed by Lysander, Demetrius and Helena.

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