It really was a dream show!

Did you see the fantastic news about A Midsummer Night's Dream after the show closed?

Copyright Darren Thomas

Stafford Festival Shakespeare’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream closed on Saturday 13^th July to a sold out audience and has seen record breaking attendance since the show opened on Thursday 27^th June.

Derrick Gask, Producer of the event commented: “we have seen 11,000 people attend this year’s show, which is the largest audience the festival has received since 2005. We had a fantastic year last year and were overwhelmed at the support Romeo and Juliet received, so to see even more people support the show this year is incredible”



Copyright Darren Thomas

A Midsummer Night’s Dream had a total of 17 performances and was the festival’s 23^rd production. Receiving critical acclaim from reviewers and audiences, Gask added: “I am so thrilled that Stafford Festival Shakespeare continues to attract audiences locally and nationally and it is a true community event. We are hugely proud of the success the show has had and would like to thank our ever loyal audience for supporting Stafford Festival Shakespeare”.

Date night dilemmas

A few weeks ago we asked you to join in our survery of your date night dilemmas and disasters. Here's the results!

Days before the curtains are set to close for the finale of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, people across the country were asked to complete a survey on the worst thing that could happen to them before a big date.

The survey, made up of 100 respondents in the Midlands, revealed that the biggest issue a couple could face before the night is losing the tickets. Other responses include turning up on the wrong night and finding someone sitting in your seat, sitting on a chair which collapses mid performance and forgetting your date’s name.

One survey respondent commented, “The worst thing that could happen while on a date with my boyfriend would be my husband turning up!” 

The full list of date night dilemmas and the percentage of respondents choosing them was:

·        You lose the tickets:  32%

·        Your partner talks all the way through the play: 14%

·        Your partner talks about their ex too much: 13%

·        You realise you know absolutely nothing about the play you've agreed to see: 10%

·        Losing your wallet/purse: 9%

·        You spill your drink everywhere: 5%

·        You can't find anything to wear: 5%

·        You turn up ridiculously late: 5%

·        Your phone doesn't stop ringing throughout the night: 5%

·        You get a spot on the big night: 2%

Thanks to everybody who took part in the survey!

Collaboration between RSC and Google demonstrates the continued relevance of Shakespeare

The Royal Shakespeare Company and Google joined forces this month to put on a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that utilised elements of the latter’s social media site, Google+. A Midsummer Night’s Dreaming, as the project is titled, saw the plot of the play shared on the internet as it occurred over three days. Making use of text, animated and video posts and the hashtag #dream40, the project aimed to present the story of the celebrated play through the lens of social media.

This is not the first time the RSC has tried its hand at social media storytelling. Its previous project titled Such Tweet Sorrow, aimed to bring Romeo and Juliet into the 21st century and the digital world. The production made use of multiple platforms such as Wordpress, YouTube and Audioboo but primarily focused on Twitter. The 140 character limit of Twitter saw innovation from the cast. The actors for instance interacted with other Twitter users that were following the narrative, and improvised their tweets around a structured framework rather than quote lines directly.

One benefit of both these performances is that they are archived on the internet, so you can look back over them at any time. Although reading through the 4000 tweets posted over the five weeks Such Tweet Sorrow took place, is not a task to be undertaken lightly.

A Midsummer Night’s Dreaming took a different format, characters updated Google+ with pictures and videos of a performance that took place in real time over three days in Stratford-upon-Avon. “These projects highlight the continued relevance of Shakespeare in the modern day,” says Derrick Gask, Artistic Programme Manager at Stafford Gatehouse Theatre.

“They show that Shakespeare’s works can be transmitted over digital channels and still have an impact. With the recent release of Joss Whedon’s film adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing garnering critical acclaim, the popularity of Shakespeare is higher than ever.”

You can buy tickets for the Stafford Festival Shakespeare performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream here (http://www.staffordgatehousetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/shakespeare/A-Midsummer-Night-s-Dream). View the archive for A Midsummer Night’s Dreaming at www.dream40.org to refresh your memory of the plot.

Bottom's Blog: Week 3

"It's all go!!

I think I've even surprised myself how many oatcakes and sweet treats I've needed the past week simply to maintain my shape what with all the running around we have all been doing.  (This is simply to save our wardrobe dept having to take my costume in any further!!) 

Our final rehearsals in the Gatehouse went really well and the excitement of heading up to the castle site became almost unbearable! The sun shone, our beautiful set was built, the urn in the portacabin worked and all was ready to start our final run throughs in the shadow of the mighty castle itself.  (Although the promised stairlift to get me from the car park up the hill to the arena had not materialised again this year...the matter is now with my Zurich lawyers!) 

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As I sat in the stand, looking over the set and fortifications beyond it was as if I'd never been away! Absolutely lovely! The tech and dress rehearsals went very well as we adapted to the task of timing entrances running round the hill as opposed to taking three steps on-stage as we had in the theatre.

And now...we're up and (quite literally) running.  The opening night was damp and chilly but our hearts were warmed by the response of the sell out crowd who cheered and clapped their way through the evening as only the wonderful Stafford audiences do!! Just what we needed.  I hear rumours of lovely reviews and a morning after rush at the box office! Don't leave it too late!

 Eric xx

Copyright Darren Thomas

 

Copyright Darren Thomas