Interview: Glenn Elston OAM on PETER QUINCE PRESENTS: A MIDSUMMER MECHANICAL'S DREAM at Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne

Last week I was lucky enough to sit down with Australian Shakespeare Company's Artistic Director, Glenn Elston OAM. We chatted about his latest production, Peter Quince Presents: A Midsummer Mechanical's Dream. If you skim read the title, like I did the first time, you may believe you are going to see Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. While this current production uses the comical band of actors from A Midsummer Night's Dream, called the mechanicals (Peter Quince, Snug, Nick Bottom, Francis Flute, Tom Snout and Robin Starveling), the current production encapsulates far more than just one of Shakespeare's plays.

When I asked Elston what audiences can expect, he elaborated that through a series of vignettes, this production encompasses "Hamlet - the MasterChef of Denmark ... A boot scooting song from Much Ado [About Nothing] ... Romeo and Juliet - The Ballet with shadow work... King Lear, a rap version... Othello - The Opera, in four minutes, Seven Stages of Man from As You Like It, as a race call... and Anthony and Cleopatra - The Musical at Caesars Palace."

Clearly, it is safe to say that there is a comical twist given to all the plays incorporated into this production, including the tragedies. I also couldn't help but notice that while A Midsummer Mechanical's Dream sounds entertaining, is also sounds educational for a novice Shakespeare audience member.

The idea of condensing Shakespeare's works is certainly not new but having them played out by characters from a Shakespeare play appears to be. As Elston explained, for example "It's Peter Quince [a character and not an actor] playing different roles... Gertrude [from Hamlet] ... Lady Macbeth [from Macbeth]."

I went onto ask Elston if he has a favourite vignette that a Midsummer Mechanical's Dream explores. He replied, "Anthony and Cleopatra.... it's just so completely over the top and I think it's got lovely surprises for the audience.... the way we've done it I think it just keeps surprising the audience as it develops, I always enjoy watching that one immensely, it's good fun"

I then asked about how the decision was made on which Shakespearean plays to include, to which Elston remarked, "Macbeth was essential to do because it's so easy to have fun with.... Hamlet, I knew I wanted to do, I didn't quite know how I wanted to do it until we started in rehearsals and then came up with the idea that it was in the kitchen. I asked him again about his favourite vignette, to which he responded "I thought Anthony and Cleopatra would be good, and it was one of the actors .... who suggested we could take it into a music theatre area, so we did, and it just exploded and became really joyful to work on."

Given the current devastating world events, A Midsummer Mechanical's Dream sounds like the perfect show to take our minds off what is happening. The fact that you can watch it in Melbourne's Royal Botanical Gardens as the sun sets and the stars come out, is the cherry on the top.

The show is playing until 12th March. Make sure to get your tickets before they sell out fast! More information can be found at www.shakespeareaustralia.com.au.