RHUM

Before the mozzies came out I was thinking I hadn’t been so comfortable and content for years. There was of course the odd ‘how’s the serenity moment’ as a paddle steamer or speedboat split the wide green river into rippled reflections of light and sound.
 
Outdoor Shakespeare is no new idea but I doubt I will ever tire of it. The plays endure for a reason. We all know the story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the magical precursor to date-rape drugs applied to the eyes, a donkey, love misdirected like pointed arrows from a novice archer but in the end all is forgiven, again.

The production was in an ideal location – a long and grassy riverbank, with flights of bats set against the dying of the light. Director Catherine Lockley has made some interesting twists to this old tale. There was a distinctly colonial feel to the set, props and costumes. Jon English could be heard singing some kind of pirate song and I believe Puck was painted in a traditional Indigenous way.
 
The cast was patchy. Matt Perriman was commendable as Bottom and Jessica Wallace competent as Helena. Steven Menteith was tedious as Oberon but fortunately he was often drowned out by a horde of writhing and screaming unitard-clad fairies. I’ve never heard a fairy screech before but I can tell you I know exactly what they sound like now. Between the blue bodypaint, unitards and screeching, their performance fell somewhere squarely between Avatar and Dante.
 
Overall, the play did its job and threw forth merriment for all. The large picnicking audience laughed, sighed and clapped as one, while children ran by the river in the moonlight. The quality of performance varied from amateur community theatre to really quite good almost from moment to moment, but I found the small errors and fluffed lines rather charming. If you’re headed out to Emu Plains next weekend take a blanket, a picnic and enjoy.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
by William Shakespeare
The Acting Factory
Directed by Catherine Lockley
 
Theatre dates: 20 Feb–14 March, Sat & Sun, 7.30pm
Venue: Regatta Park, River Rd, Emu Plains
Entry by $10 donation