Not-so-bleak midwinter

Last summer the Resident Fan Boy and I took younger daughter to a production of Romeo and Juliet in Strathcona Park. We liked it so much that I joined the Facebook group for The Fools, and receive online announcements of the various productions --- none of which we've been able to attend, mostly due to the bus strike.

However, the bus strike is over; we had Saturday afternoon free, and we were able to catch the final day of their winter production A Midwinter Dream's Tale, a frothy concoction borrowing elements from A Midsummer Night's Dream (obviously), A Winter's Tale (less obviously), and the clowning tradition.

The Resident Fan Boy and I haven't been to the Gladstone Theatre in about five years, when we saw a production of Wit put on by the Great Canadian Theatre Company which has since up-staked and moved to their own theatre in Westboro. These are tough days for the arts, and the fellow who took over the Gladstone has spiffed it up a treat, and courts the patrons shamelessly. I was phoned back twice after placing my ticket order, and I was told I would not need to bring anything to the theatre, just to give my name at the door. I did, and was presented with programmes with our seat numbers on it, then directed to the free coat check. All went swimmingly until the volunteer usher misread the numbers on our programmes and directed us to occupied seats. Luckily, I had taken the precaution of bringing my computer print-out, and thus spared the innocent occupants of Row C an unpleasant bickering over seats they had every right to be in. The concession featured splendid things to eat and drink; too bad there wasn't quite enough time to consume them and line up for the washroom.

The Company of Fools seem to have the gift for making entertainment that appeals to the sophisticated and the unsullied. The audience involvement was a big part of the charm: The RFB and I enjoyed the ad-libbed responses to comments from the peanut gallery and younger daughter loved the physical comedy which often had the actors racing through the aisles, and told her dad at bedtime: "I've had a very exciting day!" When I told her the day before that we were seeing a play with the same people who did Romeo and Juliet last summer, she was delighted. We recognised Jesse Buck and Emmanuelle Zeesman from that production.

The set was really quite lovely, a winter forest landscape with sparkling balls hanging from the ceiling of the stage and the first few rows of the audience. The story follows 'Restes and Pommes Frites who are wandering through the winter forest looking for ice cream and evidently not waiting for Godot. 'Restes is child-like and dressed in what appears to be a smoking jacket. Pommes Frites is supercilious, dressed in a turtleneck, iridescent turquoise leggings and a kilt. He speaks like Inspector Clouseau and transforms the words "ice cream" and "focus" into jokes for the adults and adolescents in the audience. They run into Oberon, a heavily pregnant Titania, Puck, and a merry band of attendant fairies. Oberon doesn't believe the baby is his, and when it is born, gives it to the clowns to throw into the ocean. A magic flower that causes people to fall in love with the first thing they see is involved, complete with Barry White music. There is a snowball fight with balloons dropped from the ceiling, a painful encounter between a tongue and a frozen pole (any Canadian kid would sympathize), a chase scene, and a happy ending complete with song-and-dance number, culminating in everyone in the audience getting a free dollop of ice cream as a bribe to prevent their telling Titania what Oberon wanted to do with the baby.

The only thing lacking was a mass exeunt pursued by a bear, but that, perhaps, would have been impractical...