From the creators of 'Cluedo: The Interactive Game' comes 'The Midsummer Carnival' – an immersive theatrical experience and adaptation of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.
Brisbane Immersive Ensemble's twisted tale of love and hypnotism will be a truly interactive event where four young lovers are tanged together by a meddlesome mesmerist to the tune of gypsy jazz.
It all builds into one side-splitting grand finale, so roll up, let the games begin and expect the unexpected.
Here, Jackson McGovern – who plays Demetrius – lets us in on a little more about the show.
What can you tell us about 'The Midsummer Carnival’?
’The Midsummer Carnival’ is an immersive contemporary retelling of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. It’s a lot of fun and is something that will engage audiences in ways they may not have been engaged before, drawing from some of the most fascinating and layered characters ever written. Oh, and Lysander too. That’s a character joke, you’ll get it when you come see it.
What will you be bringing to 'The Midsummer Carnival’?
Well, hopefully a decent performance, for a start. I play Demetrius. He’s one of the four 'lovers' from the original play, and his character is one I think we can really resonate with today. Maybe that says more about me than anything else, but he’s basically a lost boy trying to figure out how to become a man, and he’s grown up all his life seeing the older men in his family and in his general circles basically take what they want whenever they want it, and one of those things they tend to take is women. He’s basically a really good dude at heart who just hasn’t figured out yet how to best communicate his feelings, which I think is something a lot of people his age (but males in particular) can really relate to. He has a beautiful, maturing journey throughout the play, and I hope I can help audiences go through that with him.
It's an adaptation of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. What makes this story so iconic?
Yeah, I think it is important to say that this is an adaptation. If you’re a purist hoping to see the original text played out, that’s not what you’ll get. But you will absolutely get more than a tip of the hat to the original, in a way that’s exciting and that I don’t think has really been done before with a text this complex. And what an amazing way to bring in and inspire new audience members who may otherwise not necessarily choose to go along to a Shakespeare play. There’s been a fair bit said over the last few years about shelving classic works like Shakespeare’s to make way for new Australian works, and there’s absolutely a lot of merit to that argument. But I definitely think there is still so much to learn from these great classic plays – and they’re classics for good reason – and putting this story in a contemporary setting in an uber contemporary style of theatre is a really good way to do it. As for what makes the story iconic, I think it’s something that’s true of a lot of Shakespeare’s works: so many of his plays are iconic because he writes about real people, and people don’t really change when you think about it. The observations and questions this play raises on gender, free will, love. . . Are still just as relevant today as they were when Shakespeare wrote the thing, if not actually more so. We connect with stories most when we can connect to the dilemmas faced by the characters, and 'Midsummer' does that so well. It shines a light on the absolute walking train wrecks of society: people who are blinded by love and act foolishly because of it; people who have crippling insecurities and overplay their hand in trying to prove the opposite; and people who seem to have it all under control but their lives are just as chaotic as anyone’s. By the way, 'train wreck' is anything but an insult; we’ve all got a bit of 'train wreck' in us. That’s what I love about people, and that’s what I love about good theatre. Like this play. It’s a seriously good one.
What is your favourite thing about Shakespeare's work?
Well, I sort of touched on that before in saying that he writes about real, flawed people. But I guess in extension of that, the way he takes us through a character’s train of thought is second to none, even when put alongside the great playwrights who have followed him. He doesn’t write linear, because we don’t think linear. We think in bubbles, and then sometimes we reach a conclusion in relation to the thing we were originally thinking about, and sometimes we don’t. Look at “To be, or not to be. . .” He finishes by basically saying 'g’day' to Ophelia, after taking us through one of the most profound yet directionless collections of thoughts ever written. Shakespeare was the master of that, and you’ve still got amazing playwrights trying to do it quite as well.
And what kinds of things (without giving too much away) have been changed about the tale for this performance?
In terms of the story, not a whole lot to be honest. Xanthe Jones, writer of the adaptation and our director, has done an amazing job in staying true to the original characters and plot, while giving us a setting that is more relevant for today. And I guess that’s the main 'change'. The chaos of that contemporary lovers’ story falling before the backdrop of this timeless, mystical sort of carnival with magicians, fortune tellers, acrobats and the like makes for a lot of fun. You really get the sense that the lovers in particular are in this crazy, unfamiliar place where anything could happen. Probably because there’s artists there, and we all know artists are weird, right?
What makes Brisbane Powerhouse a perfect venue for the show?
The Powerhouse is my favourite venue in Brisbane to perform. It’s so diverse. For this in particular, we are in the Stores Building, which is an underused space for live performance. The way the creative team has set the space up is really cool, and allows for audience members to actually have a bit of freedom in where they want to go and which sub-narratives they want to stay more in touch with. There will be action taking place basically anywhere you look. It’s even something I would consider seeing more than once just to watch from a different lens second time around.
Have you faced any particularly curious challenges preparing for 'The Midsummer Carnival’?
I’ve never actually done immersive theatre before, so that’s brought its challenges for sure. It’s a really unique process in that you can rehearse these scenes ten million times and still not quite know what’s going to happen on the night, with the audience literally in the playing space with us. As Demetrius, I could end up having a lovers’ quarrel with Helena with five or six audience members sandwiched between us. So, yeah, it’s a challenge, but a really fun one, and I think it’s crazy cool that no two shows will be remotely the same. Audiences love that as much as performers do.
What has been a highlight when it comes to being involved?
This cast is phenomenal, and so much fun to work with. The Mechanicals are some of the finest comic actors we’ve got; the physical theatre performers just have me gawking at their talents every rehearsal; and you’ve got one of the great showmen in Brisbane in Stephen Hirst being his usual cheekily sexy self as Oberon, the ringleader of the carnival. It’s truly such a diverse group of talents in that rehearsal room, and I think audiences will enjoy that as much as we have.
How are you hoping your audiences react to the piece?
It’s definitely the kind of theatre where you’ll have a lot of fun. The story is funny, and without giving too much away, there’s a few extra little attractions that make it even more fun. But I do hope it makes audiences think quite deeply as well about the society we’ve created for ourselves where, because of external pressures, we find ourselves avoiding doing the things we truly think are best for us, and end up hurting ourselves and others in the process. But most of all, the fun thing, yeah!
