With the whispered lines “I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, where oxlips and the nodding violet grows…”, the Dublin-based Rough Magic Theatre Company invited its audience, gathered in the round of Kilkenny’s Castle Yard, to enter the world of William Shakespeare and the topsy-turvy forest of his own creation. Produced specifically for Kilkenny Arts Festival 2018 by Director and Trinity graduate Lynne Parker, the cast brought to life one of the most well known of Shakespearean comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in the unique open-air setting.
Within minutes of its opening lines, spoken in the gruff voice of Conor O’Riordan as Theseus, the Duke of Athens, this theatre classic became intertwined with the familiar themes of rebellion, young love and, of course, the lesser-known realms of magic and mistaken identity.
The audience followed Lysander, played by Kieran Roche, and Hermia, played by Karen McCartney, into the forest, where the real mischief and true Shakespearean wit flowed freely, beginning with Amy Conroy’s transformative striptease from the cold character of Hippolyta, to the roguish Puck. Feeding off of Conroy’s expertise, the young ensemble came into its own as the play progressed, with the costumes becoming more outrageously adorned with sequins as the night grew in around the audience. A combination of Sarah Jane Shiels’s lighting design and the warnings of Titania, played by Martha Breen, of the trickery that ensues when the moon is high in the sky, made the magic of the Forest at nightfall all the more realistic.
How such a small cast transforms the central path of the circular yard into a stage fit for the gentry of Athens and the monarchs of the forest is baffling, yet it was very much a group effort according to McCartney, who reveals that they “worked out the problems of performing a play of this scale with only eight actors in the room”.
Speaking to The University Times, Parker explains that she wanted to use the space in its entirety, deciding to do the performance “in traverse”, with the audience on both sides providing a backdrop to the action. Similarly, the skill of Parker’s cast was clear from the ease with which the young players changed from mischief-making members of Quince’s (Paul Mescal) bedraggled troop of actors to the ornamental fairy-figures under the spell of Titania and an unsatisfied Oberon, expertly played by Peter Corboy. Parker affirms that working with such a young cast can only be described as “a total pleasure because of the energy and commitment they have brought to the production”. Making the most of the remaining space surrounding the audience, the lovesick Helena, played by Aoibhéann McCann, chased Demetrius around the stands, giving the illusion that we too were lost in the forest, watching the efforts of Puck to fulfil the Fairy King’s wishes backfire horrendously, yet hilariously.
The true triumph of Parker’s “bespoke approach” to this production was the disastrous play within a play, “The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe”, directed by the chain-smoking and overly invested Peter Quince. The meagre “roars” of Kieran Roche’s “Lion” and the comedic timing of McCann’s “Wall”, which can only be described as brilliant, were just some of the highlights of this play put on in honour of the Fairy Queen. How Titania and her fellow fairies kept straight faces while Corboy walked around expertly in a pair of heels and a pink wig was beyond me. The audience’s laughter filled the Castle Yard until the production came to a close, rather appropriately, to the tune of Seal’s “Crazy”.
This is truly Shakespearean comedy at its best, and the youth of Parker’s cast is a testament to the bright future of the theatre scene in Ireland. As co-founder of Rough Magic in 1984, Parker’s take on a much-loved Shakespearean script is akin to the alternative productions frequently seen in Trinity’s Samuel Beckett Theatre. In twisting this theatre classic, Parker has brought modern questions of gender and global warming into focus, while retaining the original brilliance of the 16th century script. Her enthusiasm for this production is something that the company fosters in all their projects. In an email to The University Times, McCartney explains why young actors are so eager to work with Rough Magic: “I would always jump at the chance to work with them. I love the atmosphere they create in a rehearsal room, the company ethos, and, of course, the work that comes from all this”.
The cast members, the majority of which are graduates of the Lir Academy, were a pleasure to watch, and the entire ensemble has already started rehearsals for Arthur Riordan’s new stage version of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which tours Ireland in the autumn. Rough Magic has certainly succeeded in bringing Shakespeare into the 21st century with style, humour and a little bit of magic.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream runs until the August 18th, nightly at 8pm, in the Castle Yard. Tickets are available at the Kilkenny Arts Festival website.
