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A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
June 1996
Cumbernauld
News 12th June 96 - “CYT ‘Dream’ comes true”
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Magical things can happen on
Midsummer Night – and Cumbernauld Youth Theatre aim to make sure of it with their
production of Shakespeare’s best-loved romantic comedy “A Midsummer Night’s
Dream”.
The play can be seen at Cumbernauld
Theatre from June 20 to June 22, at 7.45 p.m. each night.
"A
midsummer Night’s Dream" is one of the Bard’s funniest plays. In the forest
on Midsummer’s night, the King and Queen of the fairies have quarrelled, lovers
Hermia and Lysander are meeting in elope and a troupe of amateur actors from the town are
rehearsing a play for the forthcoming wedding of Theseus, Duke of Athens.
Evelyn
Wallace, Cumbernauld Theatre’s community drama worker is directing "A Midsummer
Night’s Dream". She said: “This is probably one of Shakespeare’s most
accessible plays and it’s a good one for youth theatres to do.”
Several
youth theatre members plan to go on to study acting and Evelyn feels it is essential they
try their hand at Shakespeare.
“Anybody
who is interested in a career in the theatre needs to be able to tackle Shakespeare,”
she said. “Drama colleges always look for a piece from Shakespeare as an audition
speech".
“And for those who don’t want to go on to professional theatre, it’s good too. Acting in a Shakespeare play or seeing someone on stage can make you see the whole thing in a different light.”
Shakespeare’s most enchanting
play has already cast its spell over Cumbernauld Youth Theatre – now it’s set to
do the same for the group’s audience.
CYT’s production of “A
Midsummer Night’s Dream” runs at Cumbernauld Theatre from Tomorrow (Thursday)
until Saturday.
Directing the 20-strong cast in this comedy of love, mischief and confusion is
drama worker Evelyn Wallace.
Said Evelyn: “Most of the group had only ever done Shakespeare at school
– and hated it.
“They’ve found it all comes alive once you start acting it. They
realise it’s not a hard play at all once you get to know the language.”
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is on of the Bard’s funniest plays.
In the forest on Midsummer’s night, the king and queen of the fairies have
quarrelled, lovers Hermia and Lysander are meeting to elope and a troupe of amateur actors
are rehearsing a play for the wedding of Theseus, Duke of Athens. The plot unwinds
with chases, magical transformations and mischievous enchantments.
It is also one of the most popular with newcomers to the Bard’s work.
“It’s just a really funny play, with good comic characters,” said
Evelyn. “There’s a lot of fun to be hand with character like Bottom and
Puck.”
The play begins at 7.45 p.m. each night, with tickets priced £4 or £2 for concessions.
Enchantment and magical
entertainment were the hallmarks of Cumbernauld Youth Theatre’s “A Midsummer
Night’s Dream”.
The play, seen at Cumbernauld Theatre last week, may be Shakespeare’s most
accessible work, but it’s still packed with more than enough tricky verse and complex
plotting to trip up even the most experienced performer.
Full marks to CYT, then, for delivering their production with perfect lightness of
touch – and to director Evelyn Wallace, who coaxed some star-making performances from
her cast of 15 to 21 year olds.
Gary Ivady and Kirsty Docherty made a suitable real pair as Theseus and Hippolyta,
with Scott Wylie and Michelle Frew equally fine as their immortal counterparts, fairy king
and queen Oberon and Titania.
The central quartet of lovers, Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, were played
by David Jenkins, Sharon McMahon, Nyall Goodwin and Karen Gunn. David’s unforced,
winningly natural performance worked well against Sharon’s fiery Hermia, while Nyall
was well matched by Karen’s very modern approach to Helena’s romantic confusion.
Deservedly garnering the lion’s share of the laughs were Quince, Snug, Bottom
Flute, Snout and Starveling, played by Charles Scullion, Ross Gunn, Ian Peebles, Peter
Stewart, Daniel Cumming and Jennifer Teale.
Ian, in particular, was quite outstanding as the bumptious Bottom, especially in
his scenes with a love struck Titania. It would be a great shame if this comic
talent were to go unused in future – let’s hope we see more of Ian.
Performance of the show, though, came from John Kielty as Puck. John’s
performances have impressed in previous shows, but he simply gets better and better every
time. His Puck was a skittish cross between Kenneth Branagh and Rik Mayall – an
inspired creation. If John isn’t a massive star by the end of the decade,
I’ll eat my word processor.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” saw great work from every member of
it’s cast, however, and whets the appetite for more meetings between CYT and the
Bard.
Cast: Gary Invady, Alan Eadie, David Jenkins, Nyall Godwin, Te Chung McCall, Charles Scullion, Ross Gunn, Ian Peebles, Peter Stewart, Daniel Cumming, Jennifer Teale, Kirsty Docherty, Sharon McMahon, Karen Gunn, Scott Wylie, Michelle Frew, John Kielty, Stella Ferguson, Anita Naik, Felicity Conway.
