The Donkey Show , and: Sleep No More , and: Best of Both Worlds (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Donkey Show, and: Sleep No More, and: Best of Both Worlds Tom Fish The Donkey Show Presented by American Repertory Theater at Club Oberon. Ongoing since August 21, 2009. Conceived by Randy Werner and Diane Paulus. Directed by Diane Paulus. Costume Design by David Woolard. Set Design by Scott Pask. Lighting Design by Evan Morris. Sound Design by David Remedios. Resident Direction by Allegra Libonati. With (original Cambridge company) Heather Gordon (Mia, Oberon), Rebecca Whitehurst (Tytania, Sander), Cheryl Turski (Dimitri, Vinnie 1), Erin McShane (Helen, Vinnie 2), Jason Beaubien (Dr. Wheelgood), Tom Fish (Moth, Fairy), Mike Heslin (Mustardseed, Fairy), Eric Johnson (Peaseblossom, Fairy), Cameron Ono (Cobweb, Fairy), Samson Kohanski (DJ), Steven DeMarco (Doorman), and Susannah Hoffman (Disco Girl). Sleep No More Presented by Punchdrunk in association with American Repertory Theater at The Old Lincoln School, Brookline, Massachusetts. October 8, 2009–February 7, 2010. Devised by Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle. Co-directed by Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle. Design by Felix Barrett. Choreography by Maxine Doyle. Sound Design by Stephen Dobbie. Costumes by David Israel Reynoso. With Phil Atkins (Duncan), Hector Harkness (Malcolm), Geir Hytten (Macbeth), Vinicius Salles (Banquo), Robert McNeil (Macduff), Thomas Kee (Porter), Sarah Dowling (Lady Macbeth), Alli Ross (Lady Macduff), Conor Doyle (Witch), Stephanie Eaton (Witch), Fernanda Prata [End Page 403] (Witch), Careena Melia (Hecate), Poornima Kirby (The Second Mrs. De Winter), Tori Sparks (Mrs. Danvers), Alexander LaFrance (Bellhop), Annie Goodchild (Annie Darcy), Hayley Jane Soggin (Elsie Price), Sogdiana Azhibenova (Speakeasy Bartender), and Robert Najarian (Man in Bar). Best of Both Worlds Presented by American Repertory Theater at the Loeb Drama Center. November 21, 2009–January 3, 2010. Book and Lyrics by Randy Weiner. Music by Diedre Murray. Co-written and directed by Diane Paulus. Scenic Design by Riccardo Hernandez. Costume Design by Emilio Sosa. Lighting Design by Aaron Black. Sound Design by Brett Jarvis. Music Direction by Michael Mitchell. Dramaturgy by Ryan McKittrick and Beck Holden. With Gregg Baker (Ezekiel), Jeannette Bayardelle (Serena, Daughter of Joy), Mary Bond Davis (Violetta, Daughter of Joy), Sebastien Lucien (Mamillius), Brianna Horne (Rain), Nikkieli DeMone (Camillo, The Bear), Lawrence Stallings (8-Ball, Tariq), Cleavant Derricks (Sweet Daddy, Narrator), and Darius de Haas (Maurice). Fluorescent nightclub lights swirled about as the popular ’70s anthem “Ring My Bell” thumped on the speakers. I stood on a silver box overlooking a crowd of gyrating club-goers. A woman at least four decades my senior pressed against my scantily clad, glitter-enveloped body. Suddenly, she threw back her head, closed her eyes, and as though transported to the disco days of her youth, exclaimed, “I haven’t had this much fun since the real thing!” The setting of this bacchanal frenzy was not a Cambridge nightclub, but Club Oberon, the site of a loosely adapted Midsummer Night’s Dream entitled The Donkey Show, a revival of the original 1999 production which ran for six years off-Broadway. This production would mark Diane Paulus’s directorial debut as the newly appointed Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater (ART), and the first installment of “Shakespeare Exploded,” a series of three loose Shakespeare adaptations built to revitalize the local theatre scene while redefining the way the Boston public experiences Shakespearean production. I was privileged to play a part in Paulus’s project as Moth, one of Tytania’s four disco-dancing fairies in The Donkey Show. As an insider to the ART, I developed a unique understanding of how the aesthetic and operation of “Shakespeare Exploded” worked. Rather than judge the merit of these shows, I will take this opportunity to explore how each of these productions created unique forms of theatrical engagement between the performer and spectator. [End Page 404] Click for larger view View full resolution Rebecca Whitehurst as Titania dances with an audience member on the bar in the American Repertory Theater’s production of The Donkey Show, directed by Diane Paulus. Photo by Marcus Stern. [End Page 405] In The Donkey Show, this unique type of theatrical exchange began before the audience had even entered the club. On the street outside the theatre, a red rope was set up outside the entrance and a doorman checked off audience members...