Rossland Summit School’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream offered laughter and merriment on its final eve.
Students at RSS presented their final performance of an adaptation of the bard’s classic comedy last Thursday night. It was originally adapted by former RSS drama teacher Lisa Henderson for a performance given over a decade ago, and the students who performed it last week did it full justice.
Brian Chan was a perfectly impish Puck, bringing plenty of attitude to the role, but the fairies — played by Lisa Bruckmeier, Jaden Hlushak, Jasmine Smith and Cassidy Watson — gave him as good as they got when his sass turned on them.
The fairies also performed some lovely dance numbers and Sophie Hargreaves, who received a scholarship to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Professional Division Summer School, performed a fantastic ballet solo as the fairy Willow.
The lovers also gave physical performances as they battled it out on stage, throwing in some stage slaps and hits. Anais Adams playing Hermia and Sage Stefani playing Helena exchanged a blow, and Ben Scully (Lysander) and Sam Miller (Demetrius) briefly clashed wooden swords before performing an all out fistfight — in which the smaller Scully found himself at a comical disadvantage.
Bella Vockeroth-Fisher (Peter Quince) and Molly Jamin (Nick Bottom) stood out among the craftsmen-players because of the way they were able to bounce off one another — both physically and through dialogue, but all of the players did a great job. When they first enter the play, Voceroth-Fisher, Jamin, Roman Hamming (Tim Snout), MacEwan Leask (Tom Snout), Finn Kinghorn (Francis Flute), Sasha Leithead (Snug) and Regan Miller (Robin Starveling) are all wandering through the woods looking for one another, and comically failing. The scene relied on timing and brief moments of dialogue and gestures for its humour, and all involved pulled it off perfectly.
Ellie Knox was regal as Titania and even made her own beautiful costume and the donkey head for Bottom. Her Oberon was played by Malia Johnstone who shared many scenes with Chan and convincingly chided the mischievous Puck for his meddling.
Though their time on stage was brief, Tatum Clement (Egeus), Talia Symington-Kruus (Theseus) and Lauren Smith-Anderson (Hippolyta) all gave strong performances that left an impression. Emily Gardner (Sprite), Cassidy LaFond (Sprite) and Wyatt Joyce (Indian Boy) didn’t have speaking parts, but showed strong stage presence during the clash between Titania and Oberon.
Credit must be given to Danielle Lussier for excellent casting and direction. All of the actors seemed perfectly suited to their parts and did a fantastic job, keeping the audience in stitches through much of the performance.
I literally had tears in my eyes, but not so many that I couldn’t appreciate the wonderful costumes and set decoration. The play was not only entertaining, but beautiful in its aesthetic. Congratulations to everyone involved.
