Thursday, March 01, 2012
Dream Sequence
I saw A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre last night. It wasn't exactly perfect timing because it caused me to miss the Top Chef finale, the Top Model premiere, and Revenge, but I guess that's what DVRs are for. Although I did hear that Top Model's ratings were way down, probably solely due to my absence.
Anyway, the show was good. I wasn't totally thrilled that they decided to musicalize the bits involving the mechanicals, and I've never been a big fan of all the fairy crap involved, but the acting was stellar as always and it was a really compact adaptation at 2:30 with intermission. That meant I didn't have to pee throughout the first half of the first act, as sometimes tragically happens.
Of course, this production couldn't hold a candle to the production I was in in eighth grade, which featured entirely junior and middle high school students and never actually made it to performance. (Although we did paint the sets, which were totally sweet.) I played Demetrius with great fervor, and great amounts of gesticulation, one might add. Oddly enough, I realized I still remembered a lot of my lines when I found myself mouthing along last night. The good news is that professioanl actors really appreciate it when you do that.
