There’s something fun happening down on the castle grounds, and we got to take it in last week! Victoria Shakespeare company is presenting Midsummer Night’s Dream until July 25th.
There’s a fun twist this season in that Puck, Oberon, and Titania are played on a rotating cast. On Saturdays, it’s audience choice as part of a ticketed fundraiser.
There is also a market hosted in collaboration with the Victoria renaissance fair on Fridays and Saturdays!
Finally, the season ends with a a spooky walk though event! I loved this event at Mount Douglas at Halloween. It was certified scary at points but I (a card carrying ‘fraidy cat) still enjoyed it so much! I’ll see if I can make a visit to this show!
There really is a festival feeling going on this year, for more information about what is happening, specific dates and times, I recommend checking out Vic Shakespeare on instagram.
As mentioned, this year’s mainstage offering is Midsummer Night’s Dream! This is, in my opinion, one of the best Shakespeare shows to do outdoors (and is one of my favourites to boot!)
Overall, this production gave audiences high moments of campy hilarity which was deftly held together by a gaggle of talented comedic actors. The show was rollicking and went along at a perfect pace, coming in at just about 90 minutes.
In a play that can feel a bit meandering, the quick timing of the two worlds – the human and the fairy – worked extremely well.
The mechanicals stole the show overall, with Bottom, played by Jenny Robinson, easily winning crowd favourite. Robinson’s rendition of Bottom was perfectly over the top, leaving us all feeling like Titania, who decrees:
Methought I was enamoured of an ass.
Titania
Bottom plays opposite the ever-suffering Quince, played by the hysterical Gene Sargent. Sargent brought so much to his performance of Friar Lawrence last year, and showed so much more of his comedic styling this year! With the mechanicals, we get a behind the curtain look at the personalities on stage which culminates in a delightful final play within a play.
The play within a play makes great use of puppetry, using the skill set of Over the Moon puppets that are perfectly effective and add just the right amount of kitchiness. You may have spotted Over the Moon at several other shows, including New Earth Bandits, over the past few years, so it truly is wonderful to see them continue to share their craft and now collaborate with the Shakespeare Company!
Our mismatched lovers were overall delightful with lots of fun back and forth. Their lost in the woods hijinks had me rolling! However, I didn’t always believe in the romance between the characters. This disconnect from a key part of the script lead some parts to fall a little flat. Without the believable true low, the big emotional arcs in the story feel a little out of place. However, Helena (Audrey Moore) and Hermia’s (Syrah Khan) friendship reunion at the end did feel like some of the most honest and touching of the night.
Volume did continue to be a problem this year. Outdoor theatre has its own unique challenges, especially as they pertain to volume. But, even with me and my eager beaver friends were sitting right up front, it happened in several instances that as soon as actors turned away from us, we missed several pieces of dialogue.
The background chatter of characters does have to balance a fine line between being engaged as “real” and the risk of pulling focus. Several times there was just too much chatter and movement from the non speaking characters that they overtook the characters who were revealing plot points or having major discussions.
For a 90 minute production, there are many laughs to be had, charming moments where couples fall in love, and where some of Shakespeare’s best hijinks are on display. Dust off your picnic basket and head on down to the Castle!
Tickets can be found here, running at Craigdarroch Castle until July 25th.
