Monday, April 20, 2015

Shakespeare in the Park

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It rained most of the day and I decided that the picnic I had planned wasn't going to be possible, but the rain stopped just in time for us to go to Cascades Park for the Southern Shakespeare Festival's free performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream, inspired by the 1960s. The sun even peeked out for awhile, just as we were leaving the house.

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Before the main show, there was a group of middle and high school students called the Bardlings, who performed scenes from the play. The sound system was not working right and turned off on a couple occasions, but the kids did a great job of continuing the scenes without being distracted.

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The 1960's interpretation of a Midsummer Night's Dream was great! A live band played music from the 1960s, that was well suited to the scenes and characters, and was a lot of fun to listen to.

Titania sings "Respect":
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Blaze was laughing so hard during some of the play, that I felt compelled to hush him, for the sake of the people around us.

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On the way home, we talked about how things would have been different if Blaze's older siblings had seen this version as their first play.

 A Midsummer Night's Dream was the first play I ever took my older children to. Miko was 3 and Ula was 5. We were spending the winter in Palestine, Illinois and I took them to Lincoln Trail College to watch a performance. A harpist played before and during the play and it made a huge impression on the children. I was the audience for many short plays that the children put on that winter, but every single one started with the playing of the lap harp.

1 comment:

  1. Looks like a lot of fun! This is one of my husband's favorite plays, so we have seen it quite a few times and almost always set in different times and places. I think it is one of Shakespeare's most versatile plays.

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