A Midsummer Night's Dream

I had to opportunity to go on a field trip with a large number of students down to Blackfriar's Playhouse in Staunton, VA. For those of you who don't know what this wonderful place is, it is the only recreation of Shakespeare's Globe theater in the world. That's right, the world's only recreation of Shakespeare's famous playhouse is in Staunton, VA. What an incredible thing to be able to take advantage of if you live in this area. Yesterday was the third show I have seen there; the performed "A Midsummer Night's Dream." If you have the chance to make it down there before that play has run its course, I encourage you to do so. It was incredibly done. The acting is amazing, and character development is easy to follow, and the costuming is wonderfully done. However, I must warn you that it is incredibly risque at parts. Shakespeare was very sexual in his humor because he had to appeal to a wide variety of audience members. In his day, anyone would go to the theater, from the poorest urchins to the wealthiest noblemen and royalty, including the reigning monarch at that time. It was also acceptable for the audience to climb up on stage, even mid performance, and beat the bejesus out of the actors if they were not enjoying the production. To avoid the pummeling of his actors, and the pissing off of the noblemen, Shakespeare had a variety of humor in his plays. The current company has taken the liberty in their production to make some of the sexual tension and innuendos a bit more blatant.

They are also performing shows by people other than Shakespeare; they regularly do plays by Shakespeare's contemporaries. Currently, they are showing "Henry VI, Part 1" (also by Shakespeare), as well as "The Revenger's Tragedy" by Thomas Middleton, "The Changeling" by William Rowley and Thomas Middleton, and "The Blind Beggar of Alexandria" by George Chapman. I encourage anyone who has the chance to go down and see one of these shows. For more information, check out www.americanshakespearecenter.com.