I arrived at the Wednesday night showing of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Bellamy not knowing what to expect. I had never been to a Shakespeare production before, but I enjoyed the first production, A Streetcar Named Desire, so I had high expectations for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I thought I would like A Streetcar Named Desire more since it was a realistic play and a little more relatable than fairies and spells, but I was completely wrong. Even though A Midsummer Night’s Dream was not relatable, I liked it even more, mainly because of the theater space. Being close to the action in the Bellamy Theater is what set the two very different plays a part. I realize I do not have any experience or expertise in this subject besides attending
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Although I liked the music, set, and costumes, together they did not seem to portray the director’s initial concept. I loved the fairy costumes and while some people would have called them too “risqué”, I know the world of theater is very liberal and nudity isn’t a big deal, so in that case, they could have been a little more “sexy and dangerous”. The music and sound effects did not stand out to me but accompanied the play nicely. Again, the music did not sound dangerous and did not have a very modern feel to it. The set design was my favorite part of the show. I loved the stairs and how the balcony area was used during the play. The many entrances and exits kept the production entertaining and the hidden entrances within the stage caught me by surprise. The only negative aspect of the set was that I couldn’t get fully immersed into the play like I did with A Streetcar Named Desire. I never left the Bellamy and into the world of Athens. I didn’t think this would be the case since you are so close to the action and almost a part of the play in the Bellamy, but it may have been for the fact that I could look across and see other people in the crowd which may have been a little distracting. Even though I wasn’t fully immersed in the play, I …show more content…
I happened to pick a seat on the side that was under the balcony so during one scene I couldn’t see anything and could only hear the actors walking above me. I didn’t know whether to lean forward and try to see what was going on above me like some others on the row or to sit back in my seat and pretend like nothing was happening. In the end, I completely missed that scene and was left hoping it wasn’t too important to the story. I realize that this problem was probably hard to overcome due to the set and space. One more problem was the perception of the people sleeping on the floors. At one point a fairy jumped over a character sleeping like he wasn’t even there and it was comedic, but I was confused as to whether the fairies could even see the humans sleeping. This was probably another fact that was hard to avoid due to the theater space. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Clemson Players’ production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I walked into the theater not knowing what to expect from a production in a black box, but I was pleasantly surprised with the production. The actors were flawless and overall, I liked the design of the set. Although there were a few negative design aspects, it didn’t change the fact that it was a very appealing and well-liked storyline and
Although I liked the music, set, and costumes, together they did not seem to portray the director’s initial concept. I loved the fairy costumes and while some people would have called them too “risqué”, I know the world of theater is very liberal and nudity isn’t a big deal, so in that case, they could have been a little more “sexy and dangerous”. The music and sound effects did not stand out to me but accompanied the play nicely. Again, the music did not sound dangerous and did not have a very modern feel to it. The set design was my favorite part of the show. I loved the stairs and how the balcony area was used during the play. The many entrances and exits kept the production entertaining and the hidden entrances within the stage caught me by surprise. The only negative aspect of the set was that I couldn’t get fully immersed into the play like I did with A Streetcar Named Desire. I never left the Bellamy and into the world of Athens. I didn’t think this would be the case since you are so close to the action and almost a part of the play in the Bellamy, but it may have been for the fact that I could look across and see other people in the crowd which may have been a little distracting. Even though I wasn’t fully immersed in the play, I …show more content…
I happened to pick a seat on the side that was under the balcony so during one scene I couldn’t see anything and could only hear the actors walking above me. I didn’t know whether to lean forward and try to see what was going on above me like some others on the row or to sit back in my seat and pretend like nothing was happening. In the end, I completely missed that scene and was left hoping it wasn’t too important to the story. I realize that this problem was probably hard to overcome due to the set and space. One more problem was the perception of the people sleeping on the floors. At one point a fairy jumped over a character sleeping like he wasn’t even there and it was comedic, but I was confused as to whether the fairies could even see the humans sleeping. This was probably another fact that was hard to avoid due to the theater space. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Clemson Players’ production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I walked into the theater not knowing what to expect from a production in a black box, but I was pleasantly surprised with the production. The actors were flawless and overall, I liked the design of the set. Although there were a few negative design aspects, it didn’t change the fact that it was a very appealing and well-liked storyline and