Fairies, lovers and the mystery of the forest! Simple mistakes create chaos and confusion, but with a little help from the magic of nature, order can be restored. Enchantment, romance and hilarity meld together to create a wonderful evening of delight and mirth, as the rising stars of WAAPA’s Classical Vocal program present different realisations of Shakespeare’s beloved tale of a dreamy night in midsummer. A Night In The Forest combines some very different artistic responses to Shakespeares play A Midsummer Nights Dream. In Shakespeares play the fairy queen and king, Oberon and Titania, reveal their own relationship difficulties while manipulating some troubled mortals who have strayed into the forest. Demetrius once loved Helena, but now wants Hermia. Hermia loves Lysander but is expected to marry Demetrius. Eventually, the couples are re-sorted and the action moves back to town and the wedding celebrations of Theseus and Hippolyta. It is a play about relationships, and how they can shift in different contexts. The fairy king and queen are like yin and yang figures...and as often in Shakespeare, personal issues send ripples of discord through the natural world. Excerpts are from Purcells Masque The Fairy Queen, written in 1692 for a royal wedding anniversary. Purcell used some of Shakespeares characters but not his text. The music has a gloriously formal artificiality and also a great sense of yearning. That yearning quality in the music suggests the human search for connection and understanding through relationships. We reference marriage preparation seminars at one point, and also make use of the Purcell to introduce some of the characters featured in Brittens Midsummer Nights Dream. From 1692 we jump forward to 1960. Brittens response to Shakespeares text is more faithful and more story-driven. It is also darker and less idealistic than The Fairy Queen. Both composers sound unmistakeably English and both composers are sensualists. But where Purcell is decorous, Britten is unsettling. Britten is primarily interested in the fairy kingdom, and in the feral quality that the forest releases in the human visitors. A Midsummer Nights Dream is a troubling play in many ways. For instance, the resolution requires the continuous enchantment of Demetrius, as he has no interest in Helena whatsoever when he is himself. At this, and many other points, audience unease is well reflected in Brittens rippling, organic, and deeply psychological score. Both Shakespeares play and Brittens opera include a play-within-a-play, performed for the human couple Theseus and Hippolyta as wedding party entertainment. We use another text here, a fragment from Keith Robinsons wonderful play The Popular Mechanicals. This contemporary Australian classic follows the adventures of Shakespeares rustics, the amateurs who perform excruciatingly badly for the royal couple. Their performance is flanked by two other Purcell excerpts before we return to Britten and the forest for the end of the show. https://facebook/events/235471333314172/
Posted on: Mon, 19 May 2014 22:33:38 +0000
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