A Bard in the hand
CLOSBC makes its first attempt at Shakespeare with ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’
Puck (Ryland Dodge) relates his mischievous work to his King, Oberon (Douglas Bilitch). Photo by Alysa Brennan
THESEUS:
Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour
Draws on apace; four happy days bring in
Another moon: but, O, methinks, how slow
This old moon wanes! she lingers my desires,
Like to a step-dame or a dowager
Long withering out a young man revenue.
HIPPOLYTA:
Four days will quickly steep themselves in night;
Four nights will quickly dream away the time;
And then the moon, like to a silver bow
New-bent in heaven, shall behold the night
Of our solemnities.
Methinks I’ve never experienced anything drawing on apace, lingered desires or otherwise. As much as I can remember, I don’t recall an old moon wane or a she-dame intent on my revenue, humble as that may be. I think I encountered a USC Song Girl named Hippolyta in one of my midsummer night’s fantasies (that was her nickname), and the beholding of an evening of solemnities rings a bell.
Such is the language of William Shakespeare. Bill and his kin spoke a bit differently than we do today in the South Bay, although scholars insist his works are written in English. Couldn’t prove it by me, though I’ve never been accused of being a scholar.
The Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities (CLOSBC) presents the Bard’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” tonight through June 6 at the Hermosa Beach Playhouse. In most cases, it helps if the potential audience member reads a printed version of the source of the performance. In this instance, don’t bother, unless of course you can obtain an annotated version of the piece – with lots of pictures – or remember in what box you stored your Cliffs Notes from college. Neither of which will make life more passable when you take your morning coffee and cigarette into the tiled, porcelain reading room at dawn. Remember, there was no toilet paper in 1594, which would have made these pages more valuable, regardless of the inevitable ink stains.
The play has three plots, all connected to the wedding of Duke Theseus of Athens and the Amazonian Queen, Hippolyta. I think she got to Athens on the Queen Mary. Last I checked, the Amazon was in South America. Stop reading right now if you are attempting to pronounce character names – it quickly becomes more difficult, but, throughout, they all wear different brightly colored tights and funny wigs so that you can tell them apart.
Egeus wants Hermia to marry Demetrius. It’s either that or life in a nunnery, kinda like “The Sound of Music,” though Julie Andrews is nowhere to be seen or heard.
Hermia is in love with Lysandra. They decide to escape into the forest to elope. But, Hermia tells friend Helena about this left-handed trip to Reno; Helena gets ticked off because she loves Demetrius, and blabs the news. Everybody ends up sleeping in the woods – Springtime in Athens (a Miles Davis hit, I think).
Then, all meet the fairies – what else are you gonna run into in the woods? Anyway, fairies are good with bears, who invariably sh… Nevermind. There are Oberon, Titania and good old Puck (also known as Hobgoblin and Robin Goodfellow). They all live in “fairy land,” which is just a stone’s throw from the Pirates of the Caribbean in Anaheim. I once saw a production of “Midsummer” in the Philippines. Filipinos often have difficulty differentiating between the pronunciation of “f” and “p,” which made the part of Puck even more fairy-like.
The fairies drug everybody with a magical juice that makes all fall in love with whoever is lying at their side when they awaken. Today, it’s called Jose Cuervo, and the love stuff usually happens accompanied by a salt shaker and a few lemon slices tasted sometime near passing out and before awakening. I thought, she was the prettiest Lysandra I’ve ever met, then I fell asleep. There are a couple more plots and sub-plots, but I can’t remember them, and if you’ve stayed with me this long, you need to renew your subscription to Sports Illustrated.
I don’t agnosco (Latin)
Stephanie Coltrin, artistic director of CLOSBC, directs this last production of the season at HB Playhouse, overseeing a cast of 16. When asked is she has had any experience with Shakespeare, she said, “Yes, I studied the Bard a lot while in college. I haven’t directed much of him – only a couple times before – but I became familiar in school, and stage-directed a lot of Shakespeare.…”
Has CLOSBC done much Shakespeare before this production?
“This is our first time presenting Shakespeare for our audience,” said Coltrin.
What sort of reaction are you expecting from this work, given that such has not been attempted previously?
“I think it will be loved because, first of all, ‘Midsummer’ is so well-known,” she said. “It’s a hilarious comedy that stands alone; there is so much in it that is very accessible.”
What exactly is this play about?
“It’s about the triumph of love,” said Coltrin. “It’s about three worlds and, in the end, they all get what they want.”
As director, do you have any problems with an English language not spoken at the Cheesecake Factory?
“No, not at all. The trick to doing Shakespeare is making sure the actors are 100 percent clear about what they’re saying, and understanding it completely,” she said. “They can convey the message to the audience; when you hear a sentence you don’t understand, it’s often because the actors don’t know what they’re trying to convey. As long as everything is clear to the people onstage, they will relate to the audience…. There’s a lot of poetry, but you get the idea.”
What about the sets, going from the forest to the staterooms of the maisons?
“We have a unit set that doesn’t change…. When we’re in the forest there are flashy fairy lights and things, but the set doesn’t actually change,” said Coltrin.
Chris Beyries, a long-time CLOSBC man of all seasons and the husband of Coltrin, designed and built the set. “There will be rocks and a fountain and a moon and all kinds of stuff,” the director said.
Not all fairies are Tinkerbell
Ryland Dodge, a West Hollywood resident, plays the irascible forest nymph Puck. “He’s a troublemaker,” said Dodge, “a bully in his own right who gets knocked down every time Oberon (king of the fairies) comes in and puts him in his place. Generally, Puck just wreaks havoc on the forest and anyone who happens to be there.”
This is Dodge’s first attempt at “Midsummer,” though he said it is a part “I’ve always wanted to do…. Every time it comes up I always say ‘I’ve gotta do this,’ but it’s never worked out until now.”
He also admitted that this is his first onstage experience with Shakespeare – and his first time with CLOSBC. He said he generally stays within the realm of musical theater.
So, how do you feel about the language?
“It’s very intimidating,” he said, “but, the more you get into it, the more you realize that you are really playing the action and everything unfolds in front of you. It’s kinda crazy because, if you just sit and read it, you skim over things and think, what does that mean exactly? But, when you get it on its feet everything makes complete sense.”
Dodge has done recent shows in the L.A. area including an extended run at the Chance Theatre (Orange County) in “Merrily We Roll Along,” among others. He’s also active in film and commercial work. Two weeks before the CLOSBC opening, Dodge finished work on a film titled “Roll Play” and one month earlier shot a commercial. “I’ve been dabbling (in film) at the moment. I still predominantly do theater, but there’s not a whole lot of good paying theater in Los Angeles. I did TV stuff when I was younger – a lot younger – when I was in school on the East Coast… It’s funny because I filmed a commercial for Norm’s Restaurant last fall. We filmed about five hours for about 30 seconds (of video); since then I’ve done several shows and workshops and all of these things that I’m so proud of that people can see. Then, friends who I haven’t seen in awhile say, ‘Oh, I saw you in that commercial. That’s so great; you must be doing really well.’ I guess, for some reason, you’re not anything unless you’re on TV.”
Dodge has high praise for the CLOSBC team, saying that “everyone is really efficient and really nice and all are on top of their game…. Going into this, realizing there were less than two weeks to rehearse, I knew it would be difficult. But, with the caliber of people working here, it ups your game because you want to be right there with your fellow actors. Everybody has been unbelievable. The creative team allows you to explore what you want to do, to discuss different ways of approaching things. It’s refreshing… I wish this theater had a summer season and that the show would run longer.”
So, as Theseus said,
“Go, Philostrate,
Stir up the Athenian youth to merriments;
Awake the pert and nimble spirit of mirth;
Turn melancholy forth to funerals;
The pale companion is not for our pomp.”
Gotta love our pomp.
‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ CLOSBC production at Hermosa Beach Playhouse, Pier Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway. Preview tonight 8 p.m. Tuesday thru Saturday at 8 p.m. Sunday matinees May 30 and June 6, 2 p.m. Sunday evening, May 30 at 7 p.m. Closes Sunday, June 6 with final performance at 2 p.m. Tickets, $35-$45. Call 310-372-4477 or visit www.hermosabeachplayhouse.com.