A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM by William Shakespeare, directed by Richard Rose, with Dmitry Chepovetsky, Tamara Podemski, John Cleland, Gil Garratt, Sophia Kolinas, Ali Momen, Eric Morin and Sarah Sherman. Presented by Shakespeare In High Park/Canadian Stage at the High Park Amphitheatre. Runs to September 2, Tuesday-Sunday 8 pm. Pwyc ($20 sugg). 416-368-3110. See listing.
For the past three decades, Toronto audiences have been happily Dreaming in High Park, thanks to summer productions by Canadian Stage (and in the early years, its predecessor, Toronto Free Theatre).
Now, to celebrate the outdoor show’s 30th anniversary, The Dream In High Park becomes Shakespeare In High Park, since productions are usually of the Bard’s works.
The current production, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, has been the most frequently mounted work in High Park this is its eighth staging. As always, the show features a strong and diverse blend of young and established artists.
“I think this year’s version will have a connection to the park as never before,” says actor Tamara Podemski, who doubles as Amazon queen Hippolyta and fairy queen Titania. “Without giving too much away, the staging respects and honours the fact that we’re in the outdoors.
“That’s just the way it should be, since a production of this sort rejoices in doing theatre in the natural world. Why pretend it’s anything like a traditional staging?”
Podemski has done her own thinking about the contrasting royal figures she plays.
“Though she’s a warrior, Hippolyta, who’s about to wed Theseus, is a trophy wife. In the first scene she’s forced to listen to a father argue that he wants his daughter to wed a man she doesn’t love. Worse, Theseus agrees with him.
“It’s a hard scene, because I have to play it in silence without losing my power. Theseus has won Hippolyta in battle, so there’s an enforced quality to her marriage, too. I have to use body language to show her strength and the disappointment she feels in her future husband.”
Only late in the play, notes the actor, do Hippolyta’s feelings change.
“She has to witness him overturn his earlier marriage ruling before she views Theseus in a new light he finally uses his power for good.
“Maybe she doesn’t fall totally in love then, but her heart flutters in a moment of respect she sees promise in their union.”
Podemski, a multidisciplinary artist whose stage work includes Wild Dogs and TV shows North Of 60 and The Rez, breaks into a big smile when she talks about Titania.
“She’s a lot easier for me to play – she’s so vocal. We meet Titania and her husband, fairy king Oberon, in the midst of a long-term fight that creates discord in the natural world.”
Oberon, who uses a magic potion to make Titania fall in love with the ass-headed Bottom, eventually removes the spell and is reunited with his partner.
“Initially, I just wouldn’t buy that she immediately forgives him, but I’ve mellowed a bit. She knows some mischief has been done at her expense, but he wears his guilt so obviously that she realizes a power shift has happened and he’s at her mercy.
“I feel that while not everything is right between them, they’re working it out. There’s something of ‘I have him under my thumb right now’ in her treatment of him, and that’s perfectly okay with Titania.”
While the Dream can be staged as a light comedy, Podemski appreciates that director Richard Rose is going for some of the play’s dark elements as well.
“You can’t talk about the clash between the masculine and the feminine without touching on some of the deeper elements of that discussion. We don’t go too heavily into that side, but it’s important to present the full emotional range of Shakespeare’s play.”
Interview Clips
Titania’s love for Bottom:
Auditioning for Richard Rose:
jonkap@nowtoronto.com
