A Midsummer Night’s Dream on the Saint Lawrence: a production highly charged with youthful playfulness.
Tatiana (Alix Sideris), Bottom and the band of mischievous fairies. Photo: St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival.
It all began at dusk. The leaves on the trees around the waterfront amphitheatre near the Prescott Marina started rustling in a strange way. Out popped a band of green creatures with shining eyes and plants growing out of their ears, with ragged clothing and a nervous stance. Flutes, drums and harps accompanied what resembled chanting, calling up the spirits of the forest who were hiding somewhere in John Doucet’s chaotic setting of hanging vines and shredded greenery. Thus began director Catriona Leger’s version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream presented at the St Lawrence Shakespeare Festival, the first play of the Festival’s 1oth season, and a delightful production that was definitely something to celebrate.