Rain or shine: Shakespeare is our contemporary

Of course, it’s not my first experience of “Shakespeare in the Park” ever. That’s before the turn of the century when my high school BFF and I enjoyed the Public Theatre’s production of Moliere’s “Tartuffe” at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park. It’s midsummer and when the weather was much more predictable.  

Having frequented Singapore pre- and post-pandemic mainly for theatergoing, I have heard of Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT)’s “Shakespeare in the Park” productions for a long time but couldn’t imagine myself sitting in Fort Canning Park for a few hours to enjoy them. This is despite the fact that throughout their 30-year history, SRT has solidly proved that it’s downright Asia’s leading English-language theatre company, with their own works like “Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress” and “The LKY Musical” and co-productions like “The Bridge Project” which brought Sam Mendes’s productions of “The Winter’s Tale”, “The Tempest” and “Richard III” exclusively to this region.

Having read director Guy Unsworth’s message in the press release of his “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, though, I finally changed my mind about picnicking in Singapore and managed to fit this play into my busy weekend trip—watching three performances, speaking at a roundtable, hanging out with friends and, of course, shopping—to Singapore earlier this month.

Unsworth said, “After getting past the worst of Covid, I feel society is in a very different place and this calls for something different on stage. I feel a stronger need to celebrate the true themes of the play—love, togetherness, and fun. We need this more than before, we appreciate it more than before, to create something which would celebrate the very thing it is: a piece of live entertainment which brings people together and celebrates love and life.”

My Singaporean BFF and I arrived at the park an hour before the curtain time and the temperature was pleasant as it’s quite cloudy. Seeing a massive and realistic set of a power plant from behind after walking through the historical Gothic Gate, my first question to her was “Is this permanent?” 

Sitting down on a plastic mat over the lawn very close to the stage and next to a small thrust, we saw the letters “Athena” on a flue-gas stack. Carrying picnic equipment, as well as food and beverage, audience members—of various ages and nationalities, mostly in groups and families and all mask-free—started to come in as we enjoyed food and drinks she had prepared. 

This was very different from driving for an hour through rush-hour traffic to a performance venue only to find that food and drinks are not available there. 

The show started when it’s not yet dark and the first act proceeded at a fine pace. Thanks to the strong ensemble with both professional and student actors and deft direction, the four-century-plus-year-old play in blank verse we’re all familiar with was still relevant and fresh. Especially arresting was the performance by Julie Wee (Hippolyta/Titania), Vanessa Kee (Helena) and Daniel Jenkins (Nick Bottom). The contrast between the one of the most profiting businesses in the world today and the magical world was evident—credit here was also due to lighting designer Gabriel Chan and production designer Richard Kent.

Unfortunately, the fairies didn’t get to finish their scene when the drizzle started to change into rain and SRT’s managing director made an announcement that the performance would be paused. With our umbrella open and shoes kept dry under the thrust, my theatre-going partner then started checking for a weather update application on her mobile phone and at one moment said, “It’s only raining in this park!” Some audience members decided to leave while others, including us, remained to enjoy the atmosphere with food, drinks and music, hoping that the show would go on. The managing director returned a few more times to update the rain situation before, about 45 minutes after the first pause, decided to cancel the show and announced that our tickets could be changed to those of a later date.  

Back in my hotel room about 25 minutes later, I recollected the whole evening experience and realized it’s why I still love going to the theatre, more than other arts and cultural events. The opposite to all the screen contents we’ve grown more accustomed to during the pandemic, you don’t know what will happen before, during and after the show.

I also read the director Unsworth’s note in the house programme that the play, for him, is “a reminder to live in the present—to love, to laugh, to be mischievous, to look after what we can easily take for granted—and to celebrate a world which, like the one Shakespeare knew, may not be around forever.”

Although I watched only about 50 minutes of his work, it’s already evident that he really walked the talk and the only thing that will prevent me from returning to “Shakespeare in the Park” next year is Covid-23.

SRT’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” continues daily at 7:30pm until Sunday (May 28) at Fort Canning Park. The main entrance is at the Gothic Gate, a seven-minute walk from MRT’s Dhoby Ghaut station. Tickets are from SGD 60 (THB 1,500) to SGD 138 (THB 3,535), with school group discounts. For more information and tickets, www.srt.com.sg

Photo credit: Crispian Chan and Ruey Loon