A Dream It Wasn't
...sadly it happened.
The all Indian cast and language production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream titled 'An Indian Dream' failed terribly to sprinkle its magic.
With an intricate storyline of three sub-plots it makes Midsummer a fascinating watch. The play is very popular and a summer doesn't go by when this play is not on theatres across the country and the globe. However, this production by Tim Supple at the Roundhouse theatre did not live up to the expectations I had conjured up. This type of Shakespeare play I thought would have gone very well with an Indian setting with the element of magic, love and mysticism but it didn't really fit into that image very well because of the lack of technicalities that we were presented with, which were:
The actors could not act
The actors were inaudible
The languages got frustrating especially when you didn't understand what was being said - even more frustrating for those who did not know the story line.
The actors could not act
I couldn't hear them half the time
And there was a pillar in front of me obstructing my view!
See the pillar?
umm...were we allowed pictures?
All in all seven Indian languages were used, I could probably understand three of them and I knew the story very well but that didn't help me with the plot and did very little to aid my enjoyment.
Aside from the the problems listed above it probably entertained you on the basic-est level. The actors were acrobats (hence lack of acting abilities) and they did fancy twirls using ropes and hammocks. The costumes were good, pretty fairy Indiany outfits and also great use of the set I thought - it did feel like you were in a ("magical") forest. But unfortunately that was not enough.
Although, what was a great experience was the Roundhouse theatre, it was actually a round theatre! The venue is definitely worth a visit by any means.
The all Indian cast and language production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream titled 'An Indian Dream' failed terribly to sprinkle its magic.
With an intricate storyline of three sub-plots it makes Midsummer a fascinating watch. The play is very popular and a summer doesn't go by when this play is not on theatres across the country and the globe. However, this production by Tim Supple at the Roundhouse theatre did not live up to the expectations I had conjured up. This type of Shakespeare play I thought would have gone very well with an Indian setting with the element of magic, love and mysticism but it didn't really fit into that image very well because of the lack of technicalities that we were presented with, which were:
The actors could not act
The actors were inaudible
The languages got frustrating especially when you didn't understand what was being said - even more frustrating for those who did not know the story line.
The actors could not act
I couldn't hear them half the time
And there was a pillar in front of me obstructing my view!
See the pillar?umm...were we allowed pictures?
All in all seven Indian languages were used, I could probably understand three of them and I knew the story very well but that didn't help me with the plot and did very little to aid my enjoyment.
Aside from the the problems listed above it probably entertained you on the basic-est level. The actors were acrobats (hence lack of acting abilities) and they did fancy twirls using ropes and hammocks. The costumes were good, pretty fairy Indiany outfits and also great use of the set I thought - it did feel like you were in a ("magical") forest. But unfortunately that was not enough.
Although, what was a great experience was the Roundhouse theatre, it was actually a round theatre! The venue is definitely worth a visit by any means.
Comments