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willardk 's review for:
A Midsummer Night's Dream
by William Shakespeare
Given that I saw this play before I read it, I can't help but envision it as it was performed: with Lady Gaga as a soundtrack and one of my good friends as Flute/Thisbe. At the end, we all got up and danced on the black box stage with the actors. It was possibly the most fun performance I've ever attended, and I consider the production good enough that I don't think I lost anything by seeing it performed by high schoolers.
It's so funny because as writers, we're encouraged not to evoke the deus ex machina, overly complicate plots, and over-the-top romantic gestures and speeches. Yet Shakespeare does all these things unashamedly: he invents myriad problems and relationship dramas only to solve them quickly and conveniently--as they were never what I would consider "true" problems anyway. However, I'm glad he does that, otherwise this play would be much longer, as a modern author would feel the need to describe how everyone felt about the sudden change of feelings, and scorned pride would take up another third of the play before everyone finally gets together. With Shakespeare, the problem ends, as he has figured out what most playwrights can't: the audience does not want to sit through a long comedy.
Also, this Greece is more English than Disney's Hercules. It's obvious, but I had to say it. :)
It's so funny because as writers, we're encouraged not to evoke the deus ex machina, overly complicate plots, and over-the-top romantic gestures and speeches. Yet Shakespeare does all these things unashamedly: he invents myriad problems and relationship dramas only to solve them quickly and conveniently--as they were never what I would consider "true" problems anyway. However, I'm glad he does that, otherwise this play would be much longer, as a modern author would feel the need to describe how everyone felt about the sudden change of feelings, and scorned pride would take up another third of the play before everyone finally gets together. With Shakespeare, the problem ends, as he has figured out what most playwrights can't: the audience does not want to sit through a long comedy.
Also, this Greece is more English than Disney's Hercules. It's obvious, but I had to say it. :)