"A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare (1-4 Jul 2015)

Poster

Undertaking Shakespeare is always a daunting endeavour. So when St. Michaels Players' chairman, Alastair Dewar, asked me to direct A Midsummer Night's Dream, I knew I would have to think carefully about it before accepting. But then he said "It's our 65th anniversary production, so we want to make it special. And we've never done Shakespeare before. Oh, and it's outdoors". At least I knew the 'daunting' aspect was catered for.

The first task in dealing with such a well-known and popular play is to decide how you want to play it: the setting, the period, the style. Having just been involved in a fairly traditional version of the play, I wanted to try something a bit different, a bit more playful and fun, something more in keeping with the ethos of the group.

Thus the idea of the Woodstock theme was born. It has many immediate benefits: it's a great period for wardrobe and it gives us an excuse to have a band, food and music. But above all, it gave us a new way of looking at the magic that makes up the body of the play — with all the smoking and experimenting of the period, perhaps Puck is right: "we all do but slumber here". Doubling up Theseus and Hippolyta as Oberon and Titania, having the mechanicals as roadies and casting the fairies as more mature, drugged out hippies gives us a new way of thinking about this oft-heard play.

Once we'd agreed on this mise en scène, the fantastic team behind the production got to work. Helen Doyle's tireless problem-solving, Marc "Don't worry, I've already done that" Pearce and his fantastic set (and van!) design and construction and Alastair Dewar's calm obstacle-removing, to say nothing of the great and exhausting marketing effort by the committee made this a lot less stressful than it should have been.

But one of the most exciting aspects for me has been putting together this extraordinary cast. Seeing stalwarts take on Shakespeare for the first time, introducing great new talent to St. Michaels Players or, as in the case of Magdalena Jablonska, introducing great new talent to the stage has been a joy.

We hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed putting it together.  From all of us, thank you for taking the time to join us for this Midsummer Night's Dream!

What They Said
"It was a wonderful show by the way, amazing setting and a perfect way to spend a summers evening." Kim S
"Great production, well done to all" Felicity F
"You chaps did a great job, and the band was excellent. Many thanks for a great evening. Hope to see you again next year" Susie L
"It was a great night, thank you! " Emma M
"....great show" Jacqueline B
"Play was great fun and we hope you do it again next year!" Cassandra B
"First and foremost, a huge THANK YOU to the St Michael's Players for a wonderful and most enjoyable performance." Carolyn A
"....absolutely fantastic!!" Kate G
"Keep up the delightful work!" Christina W
"We really enjoyed the evening and I'll happily spread the word to our friends and neighbours next time" Trish P
"The play was brilliant,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and I loved the excellent band playing songs from Woodstock all unforgettable ballades. A great way to segue into Shakespeare" Vicki H

Saturday
"And very good it was too. The only disappointment - that the cat trainer wasn't credited in the programme!" Ken M
"Last night's performance was great fun. I thought the cast did particularly well to overcome the potential distraction of the loud music coming from the nearby Grove Park Terrace Street Party" Brian G
"Second that - a great night. Congrats to all - what a fabulous atmosphere. Happy 65th birthday to St Michael's Players - perhaps no longer Chiswick's best kept secret" Adrian E

Friday
 "Congratulations to you all for the splendid "Show" you put on yesterday evening! Such fun, so slick and beautiful to look at! And how did you arrange to keep the rain off till just after you finished!!! Thank you all " Vicki N
"well done you all, a really great performance tonight! you should all be very proud. peace!" Mario P
"Well done on a super production last night. The setting was idyllic, the weather good and all the performances top notch. It was obvious you were all enjoying it too and that makes a difference. Here's to a grand last night and see you at the auditions for the next show!" Guy F

Thursday
"Excellent performance lovely atmosphere , well done to all those taking part performers and stage crew and the added addition tonite, the cat! Music was good too" Rose P
"Enjoyed an absolutely fantastic performance of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by St. Michael’s Players on the grounds of St. Paul’s Church in Chiswick. Basically, all I want to say is that I truly enjoyed it and I had a lot of fun. I really highly recommend it" Mustafa S
"had a terrific evening; thought it was tremendous" Mathew D
"Fantastic, what a magical night, so relaxing" and "she also raved about it all the way on the drive home!" Anon
"It was a great show, and venue, and evening, we really enjoyed it.
I’ve moved to Chiswick recently so keep me updated on any events, please" Amy V
"Wow! What a memorable experience last night's performance was..Everyone spot on...From the fantastic music to the smooth segue into the scene with Theseus, the mixed-up lovers building their game of Twister into top-notch slap-stick, the stoned fairies with their haughty queen teamed with the powerful rendering of Oberon and an impeccably pert Puck and last but not least the hilarious Mechanicals. I usually rather dread these scenes but I was delighted to find I was laughing out loud all through them. Well well done Paul..You pulled off a top performance from everyone and a Bottom to remember for ever!!" Sheila C
"Superb, intelligent, beautifully acted and engaging performances, a gorgeous setting, and such an enjoyable show. Really funny too! Just fab. 
A great play, very well done, by a group of really committed actors, and a clearly extraordinarily dedicated crew!" Olivia K
"I very much enjoyed last night. You really have got a high quality cast, although you seem to be making the more humorous roles your own. You got lots of laughs which must be difficult when it is the part that most people think they know already.  Shakespeare must be very difficult to learn as well as to deliver. But the speech seemed very natural and easy to follow. All the leads were very good, especially Helena and you have a winner in Oberon whose voice is terrifically rich and has some nice comic touches.  And what a lovely setting, appropriate too when Puck (very good) was talking about graves opening in churchyards.  Good luck for the remaining two nights and I hope you get more big audiences." Adrian G

Wednesday
"What a fantastic night last night! My parents, and best friends, came last night who all said to pass on their congratulations to the cast." Liv G
"Super Evening - I thoroughly enjoyed last night's performance of the theatre event of your year! Your interpretation of Bottom was magnificent. The churchyard was the perfect setting. Hope you enjoyed it. Wishing you all the best for the rest of the performances" Alison L
"Well done on a great show last night!" Helen D
"Last night was absolutely perfect.... Loved it all, including being outside on such a beautiful evening" Anon
"Delightful performance well acted.. beautifully lit and in a perfect setting on a perfect night, bravo to all" Rula L
"We really enjoyed Midsummer Nights Dream yesterday evening - well done to the whole cast and crew" Caroline G

Programme
programme_mnd.pdf
File Size: 1329 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Pictures

Cast

Theseus/Oberon (James Mbanefo)
Hippolyta/Titania (Georgina Parren)
Demetrius (Tom Rebuffa)
Hermia (Olivia Gillman)
Helena (Lauren Powell)
Lysander (Jayson Baird)
Puck (Magdalena Jablonska)
Bottom (Alastair Dewar)
Peter Quince (Bryony Wilman)
Starveling (Steve Shotton)
Snug (Emma Beckett)
Flute (Mervyn Jupe)
Snout (Elizabeth Ollier)
Fairy Mustardseed (Madeleine Hazard)
Fairy Peasblossom (Christine Lee)
Fairy Cobweb (Sue Darrieulat)
Fairy Moth (Pihu Dubè)
Philostrate (Kay Porter)
Egeus (Peter Woods)

Band (1/2 July)

Vocals / Guitar (Galia Arad)
Guitar / Vocals (Andy Murray)
Bass Guitar / Vocals (Eamonn Doyle)
Drums (Martin Scott)

Band (3/4 July)

Vocals (Gerry O'Sullivan)
Guitar / Vocals (Andy Murray)
Bass Guitar / Vocals (Andy Godfrey)
Drums (Simon Smith)

Crew

Director (Paul Smith)
Production Design (Marc Pearce)
Musical Manager (Andy Murray)
Wardrobe (Jan Huckle)
Stage Manager (Helen Doyle)
Production Crew (Adrian Ellis, Fleur De Henrie, Marios Papadakis, Jo Harry, Richard And Thomas Wade, Louisa Barrett)
Business Manager (Chris Hulatt)
Front Of House (Members And Friends)