One of the things I love about writing for Appomattox News is that it gives me – an introvert – a chance to get out more often. On a recent outing, I met Geoffrey Kershner and a number of the folks involved with the Endstation Theatre Company at Sweet Briar College. It was such a good experience, I planned to see as many of the group’s productions as possible during the Blue Ridge Summer Theatre Festival.
Saturday evening, I returned to the Sweet Briar campus in the company of a dozen friends for an outdoor production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. We packed lawn chairs, blankets, and bug spray along with coolers full of cherries, sandwiches, and bread & butter pickles. After unpacking everything, several of the most suave members of our group visited the Rebec Vineyards‘ booth for wine tasting (Autumn Glow and Pinot Noir were the two favorites).
The July evening was warm, but not near as warm as you would expect for this time of year. As the evening wore on and the sun dropped below tree level, the weather was downright balmy, and the grove of trees laid out before us seemed a perfect setting for the frolic and mischief of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Indeed, one of the primary elements that made this production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream so special was the outdoor setting. Shakespeare’s characters were free to wonder over a large expanse of the campus grounds, and it wasn’t uncommon to see characters walking and talking deep in the background of a particular scene. My only concern with such a wide-open space was that it might be difficult to hear the players. This, however, was never a problem.
Another smart choice by director Ryan Clark and his crew was to use natural light during the first act. While the grove that served as the plays’ stage mostly blocked the evening sun, shafts of light would fall upon the wooden staging area. When a character sat at the staging, even when they were not directly involved in a scene, the evening sun enveloped the player in a warm glow that made the audience aware of their presence. The lighting in the second act – which took place after nightfall – was equally creative, including the use of strings of Christmas lights for the stars.
I’m reluctant to single out any particular person in A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s very large cast. As an audience member might expect, strong players were chosen to fill the roles for the mischievous Puck (Natalie Caruncho), Lysander (Jonathan David Robertson), Hermia (Kirin McCrory), Helena (Elizabeth Kirkwood), and Demetrius (Michael Stablein, Jr.). But even the players for smaller roles brought style and pizzazz to their parts. The subplot, for instance, sparkled as brightly as the main thread with fine work by Derek Arey (Flute), Maria Hayden (Snug), Tania Oriana Venus Salas Platt (Snout), Thomas Bell (Peter Quince), and Sergio Soltero (Bottom).
Perhaps the most difficult thing to describe about Enstation’s rendition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is how much fun the experience was for the audience. It wasn’t as though everyone was sipping wine while watching a high-brow performance that would make them culturally superior. Both young and not-so-young audience members laughed out loud, frequently, as fairies and star-crossed lovers astonished the eye and ear.
Endstations’ Summer Festival is nearly over…but you can still catch A Midsummer Night’s Dream on July 25th and 26th at 7:00 p.m. Wine tasting by Rebec Vineyards will also begin an hour before the Saturday performance – the 25th.
…And Don’t Miss…
Endstation also has one more production in progress, My Brother’s Knife, which will be performed on Friday the 24th of this week. The original play is about a “man living in Madison Heights, Virginia in the 1980s. We meet Wayne as he is on the verge of jumping off the 5th Street Bridge leading out of Amherst County, VA into Lynchburg, VA. He is met by a dysfunctional police officer (Deter) who manages to talk Wayne down from the bridge but this sets off a chain reaction of events that lead to the unraveling of Wayne’s dark past.” My Brother’s Knife is for adult audiences only. For more information on show times go to: http://www.endstationtheatre.org/tickets.html#showtimes.
There is also a fundraiser for Appomattox Courthouse Theatre…
On July 25 at 6:30 p.m., the Appomattox Courthouse Theatre will reprise Harvey. The evening will begin with a tea and appetizers, and the play will begin at 7:00 p.m. This is a good opportunity for anyone who missed the performances of Harvey earlier this season, and for anyone who wishes to support the theatre. For more information, go to: http://www.appomattoxcourthousetheatre.com/
