– by Jo Barnes –
You’ve spent months practising your lines. You have your props and your costume is perfect. Your heart races as you wait offstage awaiting your cue to enter … and then a stray dog piddles on your gown!
There are always challenges when you’re performing on stage, but the encounter with that dog was one of the many unique experiences that can happen with the Victoria Shakespeare by the Sea summer productions.
This is the fourth season for this theatre company which is bringing the classics “Hamlet” and “The Tempest” to Sidney from September 10 to 13. Victoria Shakespeare by the Sea began in 2012 with “Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Holland Point Park. In 2013 the venue moved to Clover Point Park, two plays were offered and a September tour to Sidney was added.
Now theatre al fresco means dealing with outside elements and Mother Nature has her own ways of vying for attention. Since opening the show, she has brought 35 degree Celsius temperatures, roaring winds off the ocean, periodic rain showers and, yes, the occasional four legged visitor. Performers have alternated between struggling to cool down and putting on extra clothes to stay warm.
A strong wind gusting at Clover Point in mid-July forced a move from Clover Point to a brand new location at Ogden Point. Set against neighbouring cruise ships, colourful painted murals on the breakwater and blue ocean waters, it’s a beautiful seaside setting.
Shakespeare this summer has been quite a journey so far. Cast members haven’t had to contend with audience members hurling oranges or jumping onto the stage like in Shakespeare’s day, but they’ve had to compete with screaming police sirens, music from the neighbourhood ice cream truck, and of course, barking dogs.
Which brings us back to the dog and gown story. Costume malfunctions, missing props, or miscues by other actors are not uncommon. But this pup’s piddle was the first time this actress experienced a canine critic. She turned the skirt to the back and made her entrance. Despite the doggie dampener, the scene went really well. Maybe it was the extra adrenalin from her random encounter with a canine.
The challenges with both the Shakespearian dialogue and Mother Nature have been ably mastered by both the cast and crew proving, once again, that the show indeed goes on.
After a month long run in Victoria, at Ogden Point, the shows arrive in Sidney from September 10 – 13 and will be performed at the Sidney Clamshell, at the end of Beacon Avenue. It’s theatre under the stars, and once again, Shakespeare By the Sea, but maybe you should leave your dog at home.
