Friday, March 21, 2008

Ashland




Midsummer Night’s Dream
We were able to take in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and see a play about some kind of dream in midsummer. Apparently in this story, Hermia loves Lysander but must marry Demetrius, whom her best friend Helena yearns after. And Theseus, the Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons, are at odds as their wedding day approaches. The mysterious origins of their conflict lie in the fairy world where Oberon, King of the Fairies, and his consort, Titania, have fallen into dissension. Yada yada yada, Love eventually is set aright through fairy magic, but not before some impish twists take the lovers and some aspiring actors on a humorous midsummer night journey. Good costumes and sets, but in our opinion the fairies stole the show and the audience went along. (BTW, much of the audience was much younger than what we were used to seeing. It was good to see a new generation of theater goers get into the habit).
The aspiring actors in this bit were hippies from the ’60's driving a VW bus on stage! An acid trip of sorts and the kind of thing I should have expected! Bravo, I say!

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