Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan thinking outside the tent
Though Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan always tries for some sort of twist in their productions, for their 32nd season they’ve tried something drastically new with great results.
Instead of two plays, the comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the drama J. Caesar, they’ve added a third show called The Roving Show. The male actors of the troupe, feeling left out of the all-female J. Caesar crew, decided to perform their own hasty version of The Tempest along the Meewasin Trail.
Prospero, an exiled duke, uses a massive storm to bring his enemies from home to the island he now lives on. Once they shipwreck, the crew is lost and manipulated at the whim of Prospero and his minion Ariel. There’s romance and revenge as the crew comes closer and closer to realizing what’s going on, and Prospero learns what it means to be a ruler.
Though it’s only 45 minutes long and lacks the elaborate staging of the other shows, The Roving Show is the highlight of the season. It’s a fun jaunt around the trail with a hefty amount of physical comedy. With only four actors playing multiple roles without the benefit of a backstage to change their costumes, the changes and scene transitions become just as funny as the antics of the story.