A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Moresby Arts Theatre

“I’ll follow you, I’ll lead you about a round, through bog, through bush, through brake, through brier….” and away we were led by forest fae – a twenty-odd audience gathered at the Moresby Arts Theatre on a warm Wednesday evening captivated by Director Bob Stanley’s rendition of William Shakespeare’s classic: A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The human and fairy world comically merge in this 16th Century English play.  At the heart of the drama the affectations of Love unravel like a dream - be it unrequited, blinding, jealous and raging - all thrown together by timeless characters and beautifully executed by the wondrous words of Shakespeare. 

Bob Stanley's directorship of this popular play is to be commended.  The minimalist props, stage setting, lighting and costumes delivered what the audience needed to perceive and differentiate - the orderly mundane world of humans where love is controlled and the fantasy world where love is left to the whims, fancies and enchantments of the creatures that inhabit it.  

The actors in the production are to be praised for their performances.  The cast were a mix of local and expatriate talent under the tutelage of the Moresby Arts Theatre association.  

The wonderful acting, live band and singing talents treated audience to a quality theater experience, especially performances by Alyson Joyce who played Titania - the Queen of the Fairies, Andrew Kuliniasi as Puck the sprite who serves Oberon the Fairy King - played by Darian Clark.

Live performance is an art-form to be admired.  There's a purity to it that sets it apart from the edited and packaged entertainment that sadly plagues the world today.  Watching A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Moresby Arts Theatre (MAT) was a reminder of the beauty and purity of live-performance theatre.

The overall performance under Bob Stanley, regardless of the amateur moments - forgotten lines, missed cues, etc. - had a raw, beautiful and simplistic quality.  Coupled with the phenomenal writing of Shakespeare and an experienced director MAT's A Midsummer Night's Dream makes for a truly entertaining theatre experience. 

     

The Moresby Arts Theatre has entertained residents of Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea for over a century.  There are more productions planned for the future and MAT continues to extend an invitation to the public for support and volunteers.

Like and Follow the Moresby Arts Theatre Facebook page for updates and upcoming events.  

I leave you with one of my favorite theatre quotes by American playwright Arthur Miller popularly known as 'The Unsingable Heartsong' quote:  

"There is a certain immortality involved in theater, not created by monuments and books, but through the knowledge an actor keeps to his dying day that on a certain afternoon, in an empty and dusty theater, he cast a shadow of a being that was not himself, but the distillation of all he had ever observed; all the unsingable heartsong that the ordinary man may feel but never utter, he gave voice to.  And by that he somehow joins the ages"

~Arthur Miller, Collected Essays 1944-2000 (2000)

Puck (Andrew Kuliniasi), Oberon (Darian Clark) and Moth (Jordanne Gorogo)

Titania (Alyson Joyce), Bottom (Greg Clough) and Moth (Jordanne Gorogo)

Moresby Arts Theatre 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' Show Programme

A Midsummer Night's Dream will be performed at the Moresby Arts Theatre on the following dates:

• Saturday, 29th October 2016

• Sunday, 30th October 2016

• Wednesday, 2nd November 2016

• Thursday, 3rd November 2016

• Friday, 4th November 2016

• Saturday, 5th November 2016

• Wednesday, 9th November 2016

• Thursday, 10th November 2016

• Friday, 11th November 2016

• Saturday, 12th November 2016 

Tickets sold at the following outlets in Port Moresby:

• Waterfront Foodworld

• Boroko Foodworld

Contact the Moresby Arts Theatre, email: info@moresbyartstheatre.org or phone: +675 7091-9799