Midsummer’s Night Dream by The Nomadic Players

The Morlan Centre is a difficult space to play in & from the first it must be said how well the Nomadic Players attempted to overcome this difficulty.  The space is large & little can be done with it but in spite of this the revealing of the spirit infested garden did give a genuine sense of entering into the magic of theatre.  Acting was equally admirably particulary between the two prime characters Bottom & Puck, who easily have the best lines & most engaging scenes; Bottom was bombastically played where his ego was laughed at & encouraged as the best of Quixotic characters should be.  His delivary was joy riding over-the-top indulgence that gave laughter from the very first word.  Puck also gave a stand up performance that gave a, unmeditated, richness to the play’s sexual themes while being challenging, shadowy & sinister.

There were many technical problems that should not be excused, such as the rough handling of sound fadings & the badly timed blackouts after characters had entered the stage.  However this lent itself to a paradox because the worker’s play-withing-the-play, itself  involved with technical fallacies & problems of acting, was played out very smoothly indeed & since this is the best part of the play was all the more glad to see it played out well.  The love struggle between the nobles is uninteresting regardless how well it was acted it is always the roles that give even the best actors little to do so are not to blame for its’ blandness. 

It was during the quartet tangle that somebody, whether director or auidence I cannot detect, forgot that it is supposed to be a comedy.  Maybe we take ourselves too seriously or that the lost couples scene is innately unfunny but whatever the cause it fell flat.  Possibly it is too diffcult to care about the characters who have no characters other than spolit brats & whose problems are psuedo-problems.  No need for lurkwarm rich romantics give us the hot lovably cheek of the worker actor or the cold manipulative plotting of the invisble spirit for our heroes & anti-heroes but nothing moderate.      

The groupie faires to the Queen were very spledidly sensual in their cooing & cressing, purring & giggling.  In addition this production also contained the cutest Lion I have ever heard roared.  Well roared Lion! The play also gives solid advice about putting the moon on the stage: all you need is a man with a latern, a piece of plantlife & a dog.  A very simple solution.          

It was a courageous performance carrying bravely on as it threatened to dismantle itself & in spite of it’s natural diffculties & dogged problems it managed to arouse everyone in laughter.