Come You Spirits Theatre Company, founded by Jo Bloom & Charles Mayer, is an innovative theatre troupe with an "elemental approach to performance". They are staging four of Shakespeare's plays, namely A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, Romeo & Juliet, and Macbeth at four different locations over four weeks in Sydney. Opening at the Haven, Castlecrag on the 17 December, then the Southern Swan a tall ship, Hickson House in the Rocks and Cooper Park Reserve at Woollahra, until the 13 January. Including a special mystical performance of The Dream at sunrise to coincide with the Summer Solstice at 6.30am on 22 December.
In her own words, Jo Bloom describes their work as "Simplified plot, amplified magic! 4 actors playing 4 characters, 1 muso, a 90min. edit, live sound-healing instruments, enchanted spaces... and buckets of heart & chi! Or as co-founder Charles Mayer puts it "Shakespeare has included in his writing so much ancient wisdom & knowledge of the universe, natural magic hidden in plain sight".
The magical setting of the Haven's natural amphitheatre in Castlecrag, creates the perfect atmosphere for an ethereal and enchanting performance. Sequested in the bushland of the Castlecrag peninsula, Walter Burley Griffin designed a theatre of fine acoustics here about a century ago. Indeed all the street names of the accompanying residential development are all named after different parts of a castle e.g. the Barricade, the Bastion, the Barbican etc.
Even though a stage is evident, the actors themselves "do wander everywhere!" Thus, the show begins with Jo striking a singing bowl, giving a definite meditative & eastern ambience to the proceedings.
So begins our journey of love, magic and self-discovery, channeling Shakespeare's magic from 400 years ago. As only four actors appear in the play, each must double-up in parts, while the play itself is truncated to an hour and a half. Not for the purists!
Jo Bloom takes on the roles of Titania the Fairy Queen and Helena one of the Athenian lovers. As Titania, she is suitably regal and in touch with her inner earth mother, while as Helena she is admirably love lorne. Charles Mayer, who plays King Oberon, as well as Demitrius, ( Pop-up Globe, ANZAC Girls.) is commanding as the fairy King & effectively sounds a coiled horn at his belt, to signify the approach of a scene change to Fairyland. Sontaan Hopson plays Peaseblossom & Hermia. (Risen, Atomic Kingdom.) Either roaming around as a fairy sprite, or by turns either a loving or spurned Athenian maid, Sontaan gives a well-rounded performance. Finally Ciaran O'Riordan (Chimerica, What Have You Done.) plays Puck & Lysander. As the Athenian Lysander, his skills as an ardent lover are admirably displayed, but Puck was given a rather grotesque turn missing a lightness of touch.
The original musical accompaniment is provided by Brandon Read. The improvised score in response to the actors movements, can be distracting when the dialogue is being delivered but adds a mystical vibe at more appropriate times between scenes.
One of the most unsatisfactory parts of the abridged original play is that of the so called Mechanicals, who perform the play within a play Pyramis & Thisbe. This is played dead straight, devoid of rustic buffoonery, not a comical interlude at all as Shakespeare had intended. It came across as more Romeo & Juliet, thus detracting from the humorous & fantastical nature of The Dream as a whole.
All's well that ends well however, with the wedding of the two main couples. Culminating in the joyous throwing of brightly coloured powder a la the Holi Hindu Festival. All that has gone awry has been put to rights again through the redemptive power of love and magic. In continuation with the healing chi energy, both cast & audience participate in a group meditation session. In the words of Laura Heuston of Theatre Travels "Utterly indistinguishable from magic... an experience that spiritually rejuvenates while also entertaining".
Photo by Clare Hawley
