A Midsummer Night's Dream

Roadside Theatre
Heidelberg, Germany
October, 1999
Costumes Provided by Theatrix
Directed by Scott Fults

Production Notes:
Given the director's concept that the play take place in the Summer of Love, the challenge was on to weave Shakespeare with the Sixties.  (As a start, the locale was moved to Athens, Georgia.)  Given the abundance of moon imagery in the play, the one scenic piece that stayed throughout was a steel tube rimmed scrim moon.  It is here that the show begins with Oberan being discovered behind the moon, and it is that same image that ends the show.  Following the opening protest march, we moved into the Theseus' realm.  That of marble and steel columns and clear white light.  Kept simple for many reasons, the spare verticals reflected the relative barrenness of Theseus' world.  From there, the columns spin and branches drop down to create trees and we moved into the woods.  Layer upon layer of scrim slides into place (splattered ala Jackson Pollock) and the transformation is complete quickly and effectively.  Here, the lighting dominates the design with deep colors in a variety of patterns shot though haze, giving us a rock and roll in the woods feel.  The scrim allowed for great control of seeing who is coming through the woods or conversely, hide someone's approach.  All this, in addition to the score of Sixties music, really pulled the show together and gave the audience a nice evening.

Just in case you're wondering, the hat on Bottom's head (which I had the pleasure to build) is due to the fact that the mechanicals were played as Shriners. 

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