Q&A FREDABRAHAMSE
Guy Willoughby
Ebullient Cape Town director Fred Abrahamse unveils his 1960s “summer of love” version of the Bard’s romantic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Maynardville this week.
So why a 1960s setting?
My recollections of the 1960s I was a child, by the way, not a teenager, as some people think was of a time of revolution. Everything from politics to sex to music to spirituality to the length of your hair was being questioned. Being caught with a t-shirt and a bottle of Jik! “But why can’t I grow my hair, ma?” I wanted to recapture all of that.
Why now, on the cusp of the 21st century?
I think the play is about the young lovers standing up against the laws of Athens, against the rule of their parents. The crux is their decision to run away, to drop out as it were, because the law says if you marry without your fathers’ permission you’ll be put to death. The father-figure is being sent up. I can hear parents I knew in the 1960s: “Where are the police when you need them?” I wanted to capture that.
The 1960s are terribly hip. Does your production chime in with the trance movement?
Oh yes, it’s very trancey, with a strong retro feel. The look is there. Farouk Valley-Omar, for example, plays Snug the joiner as a Hare Krishna … in this way young audiences buy into the concept. Our preview shows have been full of kids and they scream, they love it … I’ve taken risks by using very young actors, but it means you overhear the girls at interval: “Which of the boys do you think is the yummiest?” The connection is there.
In 1990 you directed Dream for the Handspring Puppet Company, blending actors and puppets. Have you carried over any ideas from that production?
Only the use of puppets in the play-within-a-play scene, in which the “rude mechanicals” put on Pyramus and Thisbe. The mechanicals are all crazy old academics, scientists who refuse to work on nuclear bombs, who’ve dropped out to grow vegetables, by the way.
What are the particular challenges of working such an elaborate play out of doors?
I wanted a psychedelic 1960s “garden of love” feel, and we have a wonderful soundscape created by Dave Cathcart and music by Charl Johan Lingenvelder. Otherwise the set is the garden itself: I tried to get the city council [who maintain Maynardville Park] not to trim the grass on stage, but they did anyway! Yes, this play with its fantasy and fairies obviously lends itself to the natural setting.
Sound is clearly a major issue
Sound’s a nightmare! We’re all used to Shakespeare at Maynardville where the ambient noise, traffic and wind and so on, have nearly drowned the performers. Subtleties get lost as microphones pick up everything but the actors’ speeches! This year, I’ve used radio mics for the actors. It’s risky but everything has been very carefully choreographed. The sound and lighting is run by computer, so nothing is left to chance.
Is a built-in requirement at Maynardville that each production choose as bizarre and unusual a location for the plays as possible?
I’ve had this concept for Dream a long time. Artscape [the producers] asked directors to pitch ideas this year for a [Shakespeare] comedy. I argued for an extended eight week’s rehearsal period, so we could really work the text and get the most understanding out of the lines. Shakespeare scholars and schoolkids are catered for. Check it out!
The details
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is on at the Maynardville Open Air Theatre, Wynberg, until February 23. Call (021) 421 7695 for details