Theatre Review +/- Statement Of Intent

I feel as though I should use this blog-thing a bit. I figure it's a good sort of place for reviewing ... things. Like cinema or music or, in this case, the theatre.


This evening, I went to see a production by Footsbarn, a company of travelling players who have brought themselves and their large tent to St. George's Dock, Dublin. The production was Perchance to Dream -- a play consisting of excerpts from Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, King Lear, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Macbeth. The acting was quite impressive, given that it was a bilingual show. Admittedly, I did get a sense of Monty Python's taunting Frenchmen when Tybalt got all uppity about Romeo being at the Capulet's Ball. Come back and I shall taunt you a second time! Fun, truly. Hamlet was adorable and French and totally stark raving mad, as any good Hamlet should be. No sign of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, alas, but that was made up for by the A Midsummer Night's Dream meets King Lear scene. Inspired stuff with an explanation of the plot of King Lear, given as Gaeilge.


Thanks to the wonderful Irish educational system, I knew R&J and Hamlet pretty well. Thanks to Christian Bale, I was pretty au fait with A Midsummer Night's Dream. That left King Lear, which I think features at the end of The Madness of King George and the Scottish Play. (I can remember one particular Hallowe'en when I was but a wee wain; two friends and I went trick or treating, dressed as witches and, oh yes, we recited Hubble bubble with great gusto.)


But I digress!


Perchance to Dream was performed, of course, in the Footsbarn Tent which we have been passing everyday for the past week on our way to and from the Luas. The players were kings (and queens) of multi-tasking. They ushered us to our seats and made the announcements about intervals and future performances; they all played instruments and acted and implemented scene changes. All terribly impressive.

It was a long show and, no doubt, I should have stayed in to study this evening but, on the whole, it was well worth it. Definitely go to see Footsbarn if they're ever playing near you, especially if you like Shakespeare and don't mind a bit of fun being poked at him from time to time.