The middle Dutch word pleien, from whence our contemporary word ‘play’ derives, means to leap for joy. Camp Encore’s recent production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream embodied that joyous playful energy, from the young players’ enthusiastic acting to the audience’s enchanted delight.
Director Kate Magill Robinson took liberties with Shakespeare’s script, creating two roles where Shakespeare had written but one. This provided more speaking roles for campers, and turned speeches into playful banter. Where once Theseus’ bodyguard cautioned the Duke against choosing Quince’s unsatisfactory offering for entertainment, now Philo’s (William Peterson) and Emcee’s (Creedance Jackson) repartee make the criticisms of the play-within-the-play more amusing. Philo’s look of horror at Emcee turned an otherwise funny moment hilarious.
Similarly, Magill Robinson turned Puck into a spirited duo. Played by Alyssa Heintzelman and Elta Goldstein, respectively, Puck and Robin are gleeful tricksters, doing the bidding of their fairy king, Oberon (Aidan Larkin). The two sprites danced the play along as they chuckled and schemed a bit of mischief.
As a whole the fairy scenes were terrific; teal and purple costuming, cheeky wit and wonderful acting gave those scenes particular charm. Yet the play as a whole cracked along at a high pace, bringing to mind, again and again, the word fun. It was a fun production. It was fun to watch, and it certainly seemed fun to be in. With original music by David Gardner and Aeryn Goldstein, songs burbled up to set tone, create ambience and bring more of that wonderful playfulness to the production. With Gardner on piano and flute, Goldstein on guitar and bass guitar, and Megan Winner on drums, the excellent musical accompaniment added another layer of entertainment for the sold-out shows.
That such a production could be put together in a few weeks is surprising; that Magill Robinson and the crew at Camp Encore do this year after year is amazing. In just four weeks, the youth who sign up for Camp Encore audition for and subsequently memorize their lines, dance, songs and blocking, while putting together costumes, painting back-drops, and still finding time to go swimming on Fridays. While it is a treat for the people of Greenbelt to watch the end result, it seems the greatest joy is to the campers. Their genuine enjoyment of the camp and the theatre infects the audience. When watching these young people does one clearly understand the deep connectivity between different meanings of the word play.