A thousand leaves fell...

We've been on the run
Driving in the sun
Looking out for #1
California here we come
Right back where we started from

- Phantom PLanet's "California" OST The OC -

a thousand leaves must have fallen throughout Midsummer NIght's Dream last night at Regents PArk's open theatre venue within the Queen MAry's Gardens..although the audience shivered at the heavy winds whipping the trees into a shedding frenzy, covering the stage with rejects of summer, it only adds to the atmosphere and ambience of the whole play..in short, the crew and cast had a little help from Mother NAture... :)

but, i was most glad that i made the effort to attend one of the best theatre OUT-ing that i've ever attended..the fact that i went alone, did not dampen my spirits, and instead, i made friends with the gentle elderly lady sitting next to me, as she described how she named her house back in Sussex, after consulting her Malaysian friends...." Madrumah" ..please laugh, i did...

the play was fantabulous! the only Shakepearean work that i've ever read (and studied) was Macbeth, and that was for SPM, so i was a little apprehensive before purchasing the tickets (i got one of the best seats in the whole place tho, at the cheapest price..the perks of being a student again!) so, i thought i'd have to listen properly for the dialogue to be able to understand the plot (especially since i didn't have the time to Google the story beforehand)..but, it was executed in such a way, that i found myself laughing along, and actually being able to understand more than half of it!

the stage were really, really close to the seats, no mike in sight, depending only on the ability of the actors to throw their voices..when the lights dimmed, the natural light from the skies act as background to the whole set...the winds were quite hard last night, and at times, we couldn't make out sangat what the actors were saying because of the thousand leaves rustling..it was quite an experience...surrounded by trees, and the sky as your ceiling...really unforgettable..

in short, and in my own words, Midsummer Night's Dream (which was set in the Edwardian period..meaning..remember what Dick Van Dyke wore in MAry Poppins? red and white striped jacket, with white pants, and that flat hat? yup, that period) starts of at Athenian Duke Theseus's announcement of the wedding to his captive queen, Hippolyta, during which Egeus, father of fair Hermia, stomps in to announce that his daughter would be married to Demetrius, or else suffer death or sentenced to life in a convent (an Athenian law)..the thing is, Hermia is in love with Lysander (the sangat comel Jordan Frieda, son of the singer Lulu, and hairstylist John Frieda, who has a range of haircare products that has saved my curly mess many a times before..if i knew earlier that his father was THE John Frieda, i might have stood and shouted, " i used your father's products!!" but then again, so does half of London :p)..alkisahnye, Lysander is equeal to Demetrius in everything, looks, galantry, wealth..but Hermia's father still nak die kahwin ngan Demetrius..now, si Demetrius nie pulak, dulu telah mereject best friend Hermia, Helena, sbb syok kat Hermia..so, Helena is devastated, and has been chasing after Demetrius ever since....Lysander made plans with Hermia to fled to another country (to escape the Athenian law) to be married in err, his country, i think...so, off they went into the forest later that night, and in the forest, slept for a while...

at the same time, a group of craftsmen in Athens is putting up a play for the wedding, and they provided the most laugh! i am still laughing as i type this out..there was Russ Abbot as Bottom (the funniest backbone to the whole production)..so, the play they are about to put up is about Pyramus and Thisbe..a little bit like Romeo and Juliet, really ,sbb dua2 died of unnecessary death in the end..so, they went to the woods to rehearse, that night also..

Oberon (who looks like a brunette Legolas) and Titania are King and Queen Fairies of the woods, and they've been having quarrels over a child that Titania had in her custody (Oberon is jealous i think), and nature has suffered because of their fight..Oberon has Puck, as his fairy, and Titania has a merry band of fairies following her around..btw, the fairies in this version looked like ragamuffins with bald heads, and really funky outfits..back in Athens, Helena found out that Lysander and HErmia are in the woods, and in spite, tells Demetrius that, so he went chasing after them, with Helena in close pursuit..Helena, in this version, is blonde, tall and gangly, while Hermia is brunette, petite and really cute..

Oberon discovered a flower called love-in-idleness that, when sprinkled on to a person's eyes, will make him/her fall in love with the next thing he/she sees..so, nak balas dendam kat Titania, he made PUck sprinkle it on her eyes, while she was sleeping...and since Oberon has witnessed Helena's undying love and for Demetrius, and how he rejects it so, he instructs Puck to sprinkle it on Demetrius eyes, when he had fallen asleep after tiring from Helena's chase..but Puck, tersalah, and tersprinkle on Lysander's eyes...

when the merry band of Craftsmen came to rehearse in the woods, Puck telah membuat naya and turned Bottom into a donkey (ass)..and his friends fled from him...he fell asleep near Titania...so, guess what Titania fell for when she opens here eyes?! hehehe..funny!! and Lysander, saw Helena upon waking up, and immediately fell for her! when Oberon found out that PUck made that mistake, he instructs Puck to go sprinkle on Demetrius eyes..now si Demetrius pulak tergila-gila kan HElena! damn funny!!!!!!! both were chasing Helena, acting like "spaniels", siap gaduh2 with each other..Helena tension la sebab she thinks they are making fun of her...Hermia, pulak, cam blur, cuz she didn't really think Lysander was in love in HElena..so, it was a surreal situation for all of them...especially with Titania falling in love with an ass!

and, in the end, Oberon realised that what he did was not right, and sent PUck to correct everything..and the events which took place in the night, remained..just a dream..Lysander in the end ended up with Hermia, and Demetrius fell for Helena...aww...and Oberon and Titania, danced together in the woods, eyes only for each other...*sigh* at times like this do i believe in those sappy romantic scenes...

the best part was the play the Craftsmen put up for the wedded ones..soo funny! i can't describe it, but i was laughing my eyes out, and so did some of the actors on stage...and during Puck's last monologue, the lights went down, and the winds rustled the leaves even more, making us seem like we're actually witnessing Puck in his natural forest surroundings..beautiful...

i'm actually regretting the fact that i didn't attend the rest of the shows...last night was the last night and show, and since they're not coming back till next year, RUss Abbot made a small speech, and introduced the director, Ian Talbot, to us..it was really, really great...even the actress playing Hermia looked as if she's gonna cry (she's still in training btw)...the audience, all 1200 of us, left the park via the only entrance out at about 11pm..thank god..altho i did hurry to keep up with the couple in front of me..

am gonna try and come back for more shows, insya-Allah, panjang umur, murah rezeki..but i won't be able to make it for Dejavu at Istana Budaya,tho....who's going for that? watch it for me please...