Learning from Someone Else's Performance

You have asked, I shall discourse
good stuff to learn from watching MND last week (skim for your character/group):

4 Lovers
The director played the lovers scenes entirely comic, and we are not. (That doesn't mean Ryan Ferguson's interpretation is "bad" or that mine is "good." It's just different.) However, Lysander's facial expression, body language, and actions when he was under the power of the potion offered a great example of the "love-drunk" idea I want our two guys to communicate. I want a significant difference between "the aristocratic, courtly Lysander & Demetrius" and "the love-sick, potioned L&D."

During the "fight" scene, Hermia's lunges at Helena played well on stage. I liked how the guys grabbed her under her arms and spun her around, how she was up in the air with all limbs flailing. That was great. And Hermia reacted well with her face to what was being said to (and about) her.

Helena kept her role interesting by not just being "miffed" or "angry." She showed a variety of reponses to the others' lines. That said, I didn't particularly like AC's Helena all that much.

All 4 of them did a good job using the corners of the stage and showing the audience by their blocking what was going on in the character relationships. But it would have helped if the guys had switched corners once in a while... I almost never saw Demetrius' face.

The AC cast were willing to *look* like lovers -- their body language showed they were in love. We've got to do more of that or our play will seem very uncomfortably "adolescent." And we're better than that. ;)

Athenians
Philostrate cued the audience to laugh at the mechanicals -- that's an important role for his character.

Theseus & Hippolyta ... um, I didn't like anything about their characters ... Hippolyta's costume was cool for their India setting. Ok, that's all....

Yay for a strong Theseus in our production! Rebekah, you can play a much more forceful Hippolyta and have no fear of overshadowing Mr. Bills. =)

Egeus was played by the director of their theater department, so it's no surprise that his portrayal of an irritated old father was excellent. He projected "authority" and "upset." And notice that he didn't overdo the age thing. The actor was helped by the fact that he IS significantly older than all the other people on stage... nonetheless, he came across as dignified and fatherly instead of feeble.

Fairies
Puck & Oberon got involved in many scenes, especially the mechanicals' rehearsal in the woods and the lovers' quarrel. I liked Puck's "mischievous" persona.... it fits the character well. She "sneaked" around on stage, exaggerating her "sneakage." That was good ...

Spandex is evil. LOL
So are love triangles between Puck, Titania, and Oberon. Ew....

That said, Oberon had a fantastic understanding of his lines and (to me) did a good job of helping the audience to understand every word. I hope you didn't let his costume distract you from his acting, which was excellent.

Titania, on the other hand, was a disappointment in just about every way, from her acting to her costume. (Ew again ... white spandex ... that's just cruel). However, our Titania hopefully gained some deeper understanding of the lines and scenes by seeing them performed. And I promise I will never ask you to wear spandex....

The fairies moved with fluid grace. I liked that. They were low to the ground, skittery, magical. I don't want you to copy their movement. But keep in mind that image of creeping around.

I think our fairies will be more interesting to the audience because you have each worked on things your character will do while the main actors are talking. Keep working on those ... you're heading in a good direction.

Mechanicals
Wow. Our mechanicals will be *totally* different from the AC production's cast of people. So you've got to dump any idea of "copying" what they were doing. Comedy can't be copied. It depends too much on YOUR personality.

So ...
I liked some of the line readings. Like when Bottom got irritated at the moon for sniffling during his "performance" and so ordered him to "take his flight." That was nicely played. Some of the mechanicals had more developed characters. The Wall was quite funny. In fact, I laughed at the mechanicals several times -- yet the audience missed entirely a number of their jokes. We're gonna have to work hard to get them across, or you end up with nothing but slapstick comedy.

Bottom ... uh, yeah ... I guess if you've got one that big, might as well use it.
*shifts eyes*

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Stage:
Ours will hopefully be a little wider, but not much deeper.

I'm glad you got to see a play performed on a thrust stage. Now you know why I want you to play to all 3 sides of the audience. Yes, you'll have your back to someone most of the time ... but if you let your conversations move you around the stage, the audience will always have something new to look at ... and that holds their interest.

Set Design:
The AC production used a nicely simple set. I liked it. Ours will be a wee bit "fuller" but not by much. A small stage doesn't leave much room for "stuff" --so the actors become the stage dressing.

Costumes:
Pretty cool for the guys.
The girls' costumes weren't generally very flattering. *frowns*
The 3 groups were dressed distinctly and consistently. I liked that....

Cobweb's sorta-mohawk/braid hairstyle was awesome.... I'd wear my hair to school like that one day if I could figure out how to do it .... ;)

Programs:
Heck yes I can do a better job than that ...
(but I liked the font a lot-- for what they were doing with the whole India theme)

Music:
I liked how the mechanicals had their own theme music. It kinda made me think of circus clowns, which was appropriate....

I'm surfing for music snippets to cover our scene changes... yell if you got any ideas.


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AC's production was very different than ours, but it had a lot to appreciate. The director's vision made the play a comedy entirely -- and that's the joy of being a director -- you have the power over the play's interpretation.

I don't want you to copy the AC actors. But I do hope you found something (several things, in fact) to appreciate.

And I hope you realize that you are more than capable of doing Midsummer Night's Dream very well.
*hums "I'm proud of you" song*

Dig deep into your character ... get a good understanding of the lines ... figure out a subtext that works for you (and me) ... and hammer it home with your entire body.

And enjoy it.
=)


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Looking for something to comment on?
Well, if nothing up there ^ spurs a thought, consider pointing out something your fellow actors are doing well in rehearsals. We could all use a little encouragement!