(In order to introduce our vision of this production, I’m reproducing part of a conversation between myself and Eli Simon, the play’s director, that will appear in the programme.)
Ian Munro: What inspired your approach to this production of Midsummer?
Eli Simon: I’ve long been contemplating the heterocentric nature of Shakespeare’s lovers—from Romeo and Juliet to Rosalind and Orlando to the four young lovers in Midsummer—and I decided to change Lysander to Lysandra. Love is love whether it’s straight or gay. Once that change was securely in place, it seemed natural to set the play in the 1950s, a time when being queer was shifting from intolerance toward the beginnings of acceptance.
IM: I think this is a very valuable intervention: beyond the ethical statement it makes, it opens up a lot of interesting angles in terms of how the play explores issues of love and desire. Of course, it creates some considerable friction with the patriarchal structures of the play, but that is worthwhile as well.
ES: Yes, it creates interesting frictions throughout the play. For example, Hermia and Helena’s friendship was extremely intimate—they often emptied their bosoms in counsel sweet upon primrose-beds in the woods—but Lysandra came between them by sweeping Hermia off her feet. All the lovers are at a time of exploration in love, desire, and relationships, and if nothing was what it seemed, all of this is heightened beyond the scope of their wildest dreams in the woods.
IM: What might take the audience by surprise about this production?
ES: We let the fairy tale live in the “real” world and the fairy world to have a more scruffy, edgy feel. This may not be how most of us think about Shakespearean fantasylands. This particular Arden is filled with danger and it’s often more of a nightmare than a sweet dream.
IM: Are there particular challenges you’ve faced directing this production?
ES: It seems as though everyone’s worked on this play…except me. I’ve never been in it, and it’s my first time directing it. What I’ve discovered is a frenetic energy with the trickery, music, and continual shifts of fortune. I’m focused on helping the actors channel that energy so that they aren’t consumed by the madness.