Rained Out, SRT's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

I didn't have a choice but to be pulled along to Singapore Repertory Theatre's outdoor theatre event themed 'Shakespeare in the Park' at Fort Canning. At least I don't dislike Shakespearean plays as much as I hate musicals. Also, it's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' this year; that makes it mildly tolerable. The last time SRT staged this series was in 2018 with 'Julius Caesar', so okay, it was nice to see outdoor theatre back in action. 

To be honest, a picnic under the night sky or even on a sunny shaded beach isn't my idea of fun in Singapore. It's as annoying as a BBQ pit thingy at East Coast Park. It's bloody hot and humid, full of mosquitos and with nowhere accessible to pee. And no pets are allowed at this SRT show. BAH. But the friends were way enthusiastic as to fly into town to catch this. FINE. I go. And looking at the weather patterns all week, I was prepared for wet weather and warned the friends to bring brollies or ponchos.  

I live in this city, so I took on the 'heavy lifting'. I brought a giant picnic mat, some nibbles and sando (teriyaki chicken, gyu, spam and egg) from Hello Arigato, financiers and madelines from Patissier Woo and loads of chilled water and beers in a cooler box. Shared the sando before the show began. Those made for a great dinner at this picnic! Left the dessert till midway when the rains came and we were waiting to see if the show could carry on. We had brollies and didn't mind getting a bit wet. 

Directed by Guy Unsworth, this production is massive in terms of choreography and building a stage from nothing. I rather enjoyed the industrial interpretation of it, and the setting. It would have been nice to see the production in its entirety. Unfortunately the rains came forty minutes into the show. The show was halted at 8.15pm, and by 9.10pm, showed no signs of letting up, and SRT had to call it a night. We saw the cast in its fairy costumes and Oberon and Titania before the show was halted. It was sooooo promising. Ah well. Julie Wee and Ghafir Akbar, respectively play Hippolyta/Titania, and Theseus/Oberon. The four conflicting lovers are played by Natalie Yeap (Hermia), Timothy Wan (Demetrius), Vanessa Kee (Helena), and Nicholas Chan (Lysander). The very fun role of Puck is taken on by Krish Natarajan.

Even if the audience didn't mind getting a tad wet or muddy, the performers and sound engineers had no such luck with raised sound booths and a stage that are totally exposed to the elements. Helloooo, lightning risks! Water and electricals are a horrible idea. I'll say it again and again — in Singapore, you can't hold outdoor events without at least a stage and sound booths well-sheltered from the elements. Otherwise you'll just have to be fixing potholes (the matter of refunds, chancing the weather, dissatisfied customers) after potholes.

The friends were flying home in two days and couldn't take up SRT's offer of letting tonight's ticket holders have the option of (re)watching the show next Tuesday or Wednesday. Why not the next night? I understood that the next night was full house, and the weather held up. Arrrrgh. I'm sure if we asked to watch it for next weekend, SRT would agree. It is unfair; it is also what it is. If this is so, then we'll just simply not bother to buy tickets to any Shakespeare in the Park again. Every purchase to an outdoor event is a hedge against the unpredictable weather nowadays.