Dance Centre's 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' is a show to remember

A scene with King Oberon (Lawrence Ogina) holding Queen Titania (Kayla Hotz), with the fairies in the background, from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" ballet performance by Dance Centre Kenya at Kenya National Theatre. The shows took place on March 30 and 31, 2019. PHOTO | THOMAS RAJULA

What you need to know:

  • The ballet performance was so mesmerising, certain members of the audience could hardly wait for the interludes to applause.
  • Do you have feedback on this article? E-mail: [email protected]

Dance Centre Kenya (DCK) put together a visual spectacle as well as a performance of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

One of Shakespeare’s lighter writes, DCK delivered a ballet performance that was so mesmerising, certain members of the audience could hardly wait for the interludes to applause.

In three shows across the weekend – Saturday’s opening night and Sunday’s matinee (afternoon) shows – we were taken to the fairy tale land of Athens where there are wedding bells in the air as Theseus (Francis Waweru) and Hippolyta (Zoie Ndonye) are to become king and queen of the land.

A scene from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" ballet performance by Dance Centre Kenya. PHOTO | THOMAS RAJULA

In the nearby enchanted woods, the fairies and butterflies watch over their Queen Titania (Kayla Hotz) and King Oberon (Lawrence Ogina).

Oberon is left in the woods, following an argument with Titania over a changeling boy, and he makes himself invisible to see the affairs of two people.

Queen Titania (Kayla Hotz) is hoisted up by King Oberon (Lawrence Ogina) while the enchanted woods' fairies surround them in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" ballet performance by Dance Centre Kenya. PHOTO | THOMAS RAJULA

Helena (Liana Eising) is in love with Demetrius (Anthony Nduva), but he seems to have fallen out of love with her. Oberon sympathises with Helena and asks his sprite, Puck (Silas Ouma), to get the Enchanted Flower. The flower is “Now purple with love’s wounds” and its juice, laid on the eyelids of a sleeping person, will make them fall in love with the first living creature they see when they awaken.

Theseus (Francis Waweru) and Hippolyta (Zoie Ndonye) dancing in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" ballet performance by Dance Centre Kenya at Kenya National Theatre. PHOTO | THOMAS RAJULA

Another couple, Lysander (Henry Mwaniki) and Hermia (Nifa Omondi), wanders into the enchanted woods and take a nap. When Puck finds this couple, he assumes Lysander to be Demetrius and pours the flower’s elixir on his eyes. Helena comes and sees the sleeping couple and proceeds to wake up Lysander, who falls in love with her and it becomes a whole twisted love square.

A scene from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" ballet performance by Dance Centre Kenya. PHOTO| THOMAS RAJULA

The ballet proceeds as the parties involved seek to undo this confusion, all before the royal wedding that is to take place in Athens.

What was beautiful about this show was that there was not only a mix of cultures in the cast, but also in the cast’s social backgrounds.

There was a clear difference in the skill levels of the dancers, however, as well as their ages (the youngest being six years old while the oldest was 27 years old). These differences, though, only went to show the amount of effort put on by DCK’s artistic director, Cooper Rust, and her entire team to make the outcome a wonderful experience.

A scene of the royal wedding from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" ballet performance by Dance Centre Kenya. PHOTO | THOMAS RAJULA

The set’s backdrop, a huge one at that, was done by Naomi Wambui, a class teacher and Head of Art at Rudolf Steiner School. The props, including a giant tree and a throne made of flowers, were done by Palacina Interiors. Added with the lighting done by Joey Roberts, a volunteer theatre lighting technician from the US, they made the set and the performance pop out with vibrancy.

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