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On the Concept of Time
On the Concept of Time
Traditionally, plays are set in a certain time period and style and are limited to creating their world within those restrictions.
This production of A Midsummer's Night Dream is, in fact, not set in any particular time or time period. It is set in the past, present, and future.
Why must we set the show within a time period and limit it just to that? A Midsummer's Night Dream is set into any reality you as the audience can think up. There are no limitations to where your imagination will lead you, so why adhere to a singular reality.
On Shakespeare
On Shakespeare
When looking at one of Shakespeare's scripts, unlike modern scripts today, there are no directional prefaces offered aside from the Character List. While his works can be interpreted as being set in Shakespeare's time or in the time of a referenced historical event, there is lots of room for exploration. Shakespeare's plays are infamous for being easily adaptable and lend themself to various forms of interpretation.
In a conversation on the time period with the director, Tom Bradac, he said, "What would Will do?". As opposed to deciding the time as a director, let the work speak for itself and let Shakespeare's words shape the world for the audience to explore and interpret.
Within the text itself, characters are often the ones who are defining time and distance. For example, the very first lines in A Midsummer's Night Dream are from Theseus and Hippolyta who describe the timeline of the play in relation to the moon.
Given most of Shakespeare's audiences might not have been literate, there was no possibility of expressing details through something similar to the programs we use today. Making endless copies of the script was also not probably during that time, and actors would only be given their lines during rehearsals since the script was constantly being reworked throughout the process. The final manuscript often would not exist until the play was ready to be performed; even then, a scribe might only create one copy.
Facsimile of a page written by 'Hand D', in all likelihood written by William Shakespeare
On Design
On Design
Given the lack of set time period, there is a freedom for the designers to pull inspiration and ideas from anything they feel will lend to this production.
For the overall color palette of the set, inspiration was found in the Rock and Roll era and in Gustav Klimt's artwork. Rock and Roll emerged in the late 1960s and lasted until the mid 1970s primarily in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Gustav Klimt is an Austrian symbolist painter who was prominent during the Vienna Secession in the late 1890s and early 1900s.
Alongside this, Victorian elements can be found within the set, makeup design, and costuming designs. More specifically, influences from the Edwardian era, which corresponds to the reign of King Edward VII in Great Britain. This era lasted from 1901- 1919 and is defined by neutral color schemes, floral designs, and pastel colors.
Source: https://www.roomssolutions.com/features-of-an-edwardian-interior-design-style/
Gustav Klimt's The Virgin (1913)
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gustav-Klimt-The-Virgin.jpg
For the projection design, inspiration was taken from posters akin to rock and pop posters from the 60s and 70s. During this time, Art Nouveau was brought back and revived in a new psychedelic style. "Art Nouveau", or "new art", was developed throughout the 1880s up until the First World War in Europe and the United States. Art Nouveau is heralded for being dynamic and illustrative of movement in an unruly manner.
Source: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/artn/hd_artn.htm ; https://www.britannica.com/art/Art-Nouveau
In conjunction with this, music plays a big role as the influences of punk rock are interwoven throughout the production. For the musical design, Jimi Hendrix's look and musical style can be seen throughout the designs. Oberon's and Theseus' costuming are also inspired by Hendrix's looks. Jimi Hendrix is an American musician from the 1960s who combined genres including blues, folk, and rock 'n' roll. His fashion style comes from British influences including a revival of Victorian and Romantic aesthetics.
Without having the barrier of time period and period style, this production is able to play around with a variety of influences and design according to what the team feels works best. A Midsummer's Night Dream, directed by Tom Bradac, contains a mishmash of various impactful eras, creating a reality, or several realities, that exist within each individual's mind.
Doors Concert Poster from 1970s
Source: https://optikrock.com/the-doors-with-albert-collins-at-the-vancouver-pne-coliseum-june-6-1970/
Alphonse Mucha's Gismonda (1894)
Source: https://www.invaluable.com/blog/art-nouveau-artists/
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