Midsummer dreams

>>Shakespeare’s play brings out the drama,
love and laughs from Concordia’s
Centre for the Arts in Human Development

THE PLAY’S THE THING: Once Upon a Midsummer Night cast

by PATRICK LEJTENYI

It’s one of Shakespeare’s goofier plays, and also one of his most beloved. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a fairy-land romp featuring ancient Athenians, beset lovers, unrequited love, petty vengeances, magic and (this being Shakespeare) mistaken identities, isn’t necessarily the Bard’s deepest or most complex work, but its charm has endured for more than four centuries. But a reworking is proving that, though light and fanciful, the play touches on some universal themes, and the cast and crew of Once Upon a Midsummer Night are tapping into them for artistic and therapeutic expression.

Co-written, produced and starring the participants of Concordia’s Centre for the Arts in Human Development, all of whom have developmental disabilities, the play is the culmination of the centre’s two-year program. Members of the university’s creative arts therapies, theatre, music and dance programs have been helping out.

According to Lenore Vosberg, the centre’s clinical coordinator, staging a play—this is the eighth show produced, and the first musical—is both clinically and therapeutically valuable. For the centre’s participants, she says, “Working with people in a creative way brings out politically therapeutic issues like self-esteem and self-confidence. They were involved in things like casting and the content…. It’s about believing in oneself, but there are lessons to be learned, like lessons of love. We’re seeing issues like living social relationships and love triangles, so we felt Shakespeare’s story was appropriate.”

Clinically, the centre is able to conduct qualitative research on assessment tools and measure modalities of progress, says Vosberg. A textbook is in the works, as is a documentary.

Staging a musical play is never easy, though, even less so when the actors have next to no experience and have developmental disabilities. The play’s director, drama therapist Mira Rozenberg, witnessed the same themes touched upon in the play in real life, and used those issues as therapy for the actors. “There were love triangles, so we had to discuss how love is not a game, that you don’t mess with people’s hearts, how to be a team player and how we’re all in this together and we have to help each other out,” she says. “We get messages through this play as a metaphor when conflicts arise.”

And while Rozenberg says teaching the actors how to memorize lines, sing, dance and act on cue takes “exponentially longer” than others, the hoary clichés of the acting world nevertheless manifested themselves here. “Oh yeah, we had latent divas, drama queens, people who would hog the spotlight, and also people who are very shy or nervous,” she says. “There was a lot of performance anxiety. This is a big moment for them, to be recognized as actors and stars. For them, it’s their moment to be on stage.”

Performing Shakespeare can be a daunting challenge for anyone, so the centre’s adaptation took a number of liberties with the source material. The setting has been changed from ancient Athens to 19th century England’s Fantastical Fairy Forest, the props, costumes and sets were designed in part by the actors, and they also contributed in no small manner to the dialogue. “They own this play and they know they own it,” says Rozenberg. “Personally, I’ve seen a lot more confidence, because they want this to be good.”