“I hope this one’s easier to get – the last play we saw was in English or something?”
I, like, totally, understood where the nine-year-old girl on my left was coming from. It was Friday evening, it’d been a tough week, and I wasn’t in the mood for deciphering heroic couplets.
Luckily for us both, the version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream being shown every Tuesday to Sunday evening in High Park throughout the summer has been stripped back to 90 minutes of mounties, golf buggies, power walking and audience participation (don’t sit at the front if your lion impression isn’t up to scratch).
The language is still unmistakeably sixteenth century, but the bawdy humour is translated into actually funny, 21st century, jokes with the aid of comedy detachable-trousers and some racy physical comedy. Plenty of genuine LOLs all round, especially at anything involving unflattering underpants.
But what was the nine-year-old’s final verdict on a play in which the cast are literally ripping off each others’ clothes? “That was disgusting!”
I think she meant it in a good way.
Photos of the stage were banned, but here’s one I took of the seating area just before it started.
Drinks and snacks are available on site and you can even hire back rests and rugs. A perfect Friday evening; I’d recommend getting there at least an hour before the 8pm kick-off to grab the best seats.
