Or how dreams became hallucinations.
In a Sofia University “St.
Kliment Ohridski” project, called STHRUP, led by Ph. D. Georgi Niagolov,
students re-interpret the classical comedy of William Shakespeare’s “Midsummer
Night’s Dream”, breathing new ideas and vision into it, to create a parody that
is to challenge the perceptions of all.
The crew has chosen a rather
curious setting for the plot of the play – a psychiatric hospital. Having in mind that in Shakespeare’s time the
most magical place was the forest, the place where unexplainable events took
place and where supernatural creatures dwelled, it is only natural that in a modern world the alternative should
be an asylum. Not for any other reason, but mainly because the society of today
regards magic as gibberish and considers magical creatures a whim of the wit.
And after all the leading theme of the original is “Love makes us act crazy”.
What better place to be crazy than in a psychiatric hospital?!
The main theme of “Midsummers
Night’s Dream” is to be further exploited. Contrast as the leading tool for
comedy in the original, in this modern re-read, is further reinforced by the
doubling and tripling of roles that the
students have chosen to perform. For instance, if we take the characters of
Theseus and Hippolyta who in this project will be represented as doctors who
during the day flirt and toy with the idea of getting married, but when night
falls and the calmness of the day is put to and end reveal a rather curious
perspective of the life of couples that are actually married, we can find it
relatively easy to explore a more psychological view on the relationship
between two people who are about to enter into matrimony. The way they imagine marriage to be, and the
way it actually is to be. And this all presented with a touch of youthful charm
and sense of humor.
This group of young talented
people has chosen a unique way to represent the magical – all occurrence of magic
is seen as hallucinations of the characters caused by the taking of medication
which functions as a key to an
alternative reality, if I may be allowed the frivolity to define madness as
alternative reality of behavior. With the help of the charming nurse which
embodies both Philostrate and Puck, the main characters take the wrong pills
and their emotions get mixed, but there is no magic to this – it is a simple
misunderstanding caused by the wit of a charming fellow. This rather realistic
touch to the original, in fact, adds further to the comical and shortens the
distance between the understanding of the modern society about love an what
Shakespeare wanted to ridicule in his comedy.
A personal favorite is the
doubling of the two couples Hermia-Lysander and Helena-Demetrius. Since Hermia
and Helena are to be played by one and the same person, and Lysander and
Demetrious as well, it would be rather curious how the contrast between them
would be represented. But our wonderful company of ingenious students has an
unexpected answer even to this problem: the characters would be in fact two
schizophrenic patients who suffer from multiple personality disorder. A
wonderful resolution, indeed. Because
the failing of these love birds to match the two pairs of compatible
personalities in order to achieve an ever-yearned “Happily-ever-after” is to be
the most comical part of the whole play.
As a conclusion, this modern
re-read of the classical “Midsummer Night’s Dream” succeeds to not only reveal
the talent of both students and professor, but also aims to challenge the
perceptions of the public. As a fair-minded follower of the progress of the
project, I am looking forward to its completion in the autumn of 2012. It sure
has the potential of greatness that no other “regular” reading of this play
previously had.
Good luck, my fellow students!
