Shakespeare in the Park
Amy Scott braves the turbulent elements for some Shakespeare in the Park , while our book reviewers come up with three summer reading suggestions for the beach
Summer’s here and with it has come ice cream, football and now, Shakespeare in the Park. With a run of five days in Hull Road Park, Will Bowry’s production of Twelfth Night had everything going for it: a beautiful setting, classic comedy and a talented cast. The one thing they were missing (this being summertime in the north of England) was the weather.
In the run-up to opening night, sporadic and heavy showers threatened the success of the production, and although the rain held off, the wind certainly prevented the evening from being quite the summertime joy it had promised to be.
It would take something pretty special entirely to recover from the influence of such unpleasant weather, and something special it was. There were strong performances from all the lead characters, with Sophie Larsman (Viola) and Tom Hunt’s (Orsino) scenes together bubbling with chemistry, and the icy Olivia (played by Becca Morgan) visibly melting in the presence of Cesario.
However, it was really the supporting cast that made this production such a joy, despite the wind. Special mention must go to Lewis Charlesworth’s Feste, whose singing cannot accurately be described as good, but was certainly hilarious, and who demonstrated possibly the finest capering ever seen in North Yorkshire.
But it was the comic trio of Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Ague and Maria (played by Matthew Lacy, Patrick Rogers and Rose Wright respectively) that really stood out, whether it was Lacy appearing drunk complete with twigs up his nose, Rogers trying - and failing miserably - to duel, or every wry comment and witticism that left Wright’s mouth. These three robustly kept the comedy at a maximum without ever resorting to the annoying tendency in modern Shakespearean comedies to rely on slapstick humour.
What would clearly be a gem of a production in the sunshine only further demonstrated its strengths through the conditions, for barely a line was lost to the wind and, even if the entire audience was freezing, not one of them seemed to care.
So now to A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Minster Residence Gardens, and to better weather if, perhaps, a less polished production. Sam Magdi Hana’s production seemeed more aware of, and adapted to, its outdoor setting, though, making more use of levels and the surrounding flora and fauna than Twelfth Night. The setting was also invaluable in helping to create the illusion of fairy magic. The production had two Pucks, but cleverly staged them so that when one disappeared behind a tree, the other would appear on the other side of the gardens. The manouvering was slickly executed by Emily Domaniewska and Thea O’Hear, who appeared to flit around the performance, with engagingly sprightly movements.
However, with the amount of park space in York and the surrounding area, one wonders why the choice of location was so inadequate. The cast were interrupted at least every 15 minutes, not only by the Minster bells, but also by noisy tourists on the city walls, the nearby busy roads, later the England match in the pub behind the gardens and once, hilariously, by a cat. Although the setting was picturesque, the audience was somewhat misplaced, meaning that many lines were lost simply because they were uttered too far upstage.
The delivery was perhaps a bit fast, and many of the cast struggled somewhat to deliver the verse. Lines often ran away from the actors and lost their meaning. A bit more work on the actual text would have boosted the performance no end.
But, overall, the cast were impressive. Havilah Gianetta was outstanding as Titania, and with her commanding stage presence, power and charisma, she was a joy to watch. Andy Birnie’s bemused and mischievous Oberon made an amusing narrator to events and the lovely Tamsin Urquhart’s energetic performance helped rescue this production from the noise pollution, with her delightfully stroppy gesticulations and exasperation as the spurned Helena.
But the real star of this show was Chris Hoyle in the role of Bottom. With a fine supporting cast of comic players, Hoyle’s too-short jacket, over the top delivery and masterful cluelessness really raised the game of the production as a whole. For a sunny summer afternoon, you really couldn’t ask for much more than this, but I’m not sure it could have survived the wind.
Both productions successfully highlighted the fun and comedy of Shakespeare’s words, while also revealing just how much of a challenge it can be just to make sense of the text and characters, especially when faced with the adverse effects of British summertime. Both are also going to be performing in Stratford in the coming weeks, as part of the Complete Works Festival - quite an opportunity, and one they richly deserve.
Rolf - Shakespeare Admirer
Yes, performances of plays in summer can be quite a challenge, especially if the weather starts to play foul. But then even a somewhat ‘humid’ and/or windy Sahkespeare play is still a grea joy to watch, and by your review, the actors played well whcih would have made it even more enjoyable. I always pity the actors when they have to battle agains the weather.