For one of the seventeen Shakespeareans who read aloud "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in Menlo Park on August 23, 2009, the afternoon brought to her mind moments of a very famous production of this play that she had witnessed : Director Peter Brook's 1970 interpretation for The Royal Shakespeare Company. (So innovating was this staging of Shakespeare's classic comedy, that it is remembered as "Peter Brook's Dream," and became a standard reference for late 20th-century "modern" Shakespearean productions.)
The presence of two old friends who had been with me since the beginning of my Shakespeare Reading Club adventures in the 1980's brought special happiness and continuity to the event: Tom, who has attended every version of "Shakespeare Reading Club" since 1983, and Ron, who literally drove over Straight to Shakespeare from SFO where his plane landed that morning and who now lives in Milwaukee. Old friends mixed with new ones as we explored, savored, and discussed Shakespeare's poetry throughout the afternoon.
-- Clifford Schwartz
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For one of the seventeen Shakespeareans who read aloud "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in Menlo Park on August 23, 2009, the afternoon brought to her mind moments of a very famous production of this play that she had witnessed : Director Peter Brook's 1970 interpretation for The Royal Shakespeare Company. (So innovating was this staging of Shakespeare's classic comedy, that it is remembered as "Peter Brook's Dream," and became a standard reference for "modern" late 20th-century Shakespearean productions.)
The presence of two old friends who had been with me since the beginning of my Shakespeare Reading Club adventures in the 1980's brought special happiness and continuity to the event: Tom, who has attended every version of "Shakespeare Reading Club" since 1983, and Ron, who literally drove over Straight to Shakespeare from SFO where his plane landed that morning and who now lives in Milwaukee. Old friends mixed with new ones as we explored, savored, and discussed Shakespeare's poetry throughout the afternoon.
-- Clifford Schwartz
Hi Cliff --
I just ordered the disc of Midsummer Night's Dream -- the old version with Diana Rigg, Judi Dench, et al was available, but I decided to get the more recent one -- I can't wait until it comes.
Yesterday was absolutely wonderful! It's been so long since I've encountered MND that it was like seeing it for the first time. It was fun to read it aloud with a group of deeply interested people who were enjoying the experience so much. I thought your commentary was so nicely balanced -- substantial and helpful, with great core insights, but not at all like school -- not that there's anything wrong with school, but this was much more fun. I think I'm going to be reading and seeing MND a lot in the next weeks, as I was really inspired!
You mentioned thinking of having sessions with a videotape. I'd just like to throw in my two cents that I think the reading is central to the the experience. It might be fun to show a videotape of one or two of the acts of a play -- like after we did our own interpretations of the characters in the first act, it could be fun to see how someone actually played it, then go back to the reading for other acts.
Thanks so much for a memorable mini-vacation!
Judith Moss
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