Midsummer for Haters is showing June 3-18, 2022! In this collaboration with Nemesis Theatre Company, Shakespeare’s beloved classic gets a new treatment by the people who can’t stand it, resulting in a kidnapped Amazon, mystified mortals, sadistic fairies, and mechanicals gone wild! Will any of them survive four nights in the magic forest?
We reached out to actor Jon Stockdale to find out more about him and his experience working on this unique production!
What do you hate about Midsummer?
I've never seen a version of Midsummer with any stakes. The lovers bicker, Oberon and Titania speechify, Egeus threatens his *daughter* with *death* (!!!), but I've always seen it played as sort of a fun, frothy collection of disconnected scenes with a little slapstick and some fairies running around. That was okay the first couple of times I saw it, but now it can feel kinda pointless. I want something weightier!
What do you love about Shakespeare?
It definitely takes a little training and experience, but once you're comfortable with it, the language gives you *so many* tools and hooks to use as an actor. Having that assistance frees you to make really strong, supported choices with your performance. At this point, modern scripts feel much more difficult to perform than Shakespeare—where's my verse?
Do you have any upcoming projects that we should check out?
It's still a ways off, but I'll be playing Victor Frankenstein in The Frankenstein Rubrics by David Hopes, right here at the Magnetic, October 7–22.
How is working with Nemesis different from working with other theatre companies?
For some companies, rehearsals can be very mechanical: read the scene; stand up and do it; try a couple different blocking options; set it. Whatever emotional connection you manage to bring to the scene and your scene partners sort of feels like a bonus—nice if you manage it, but not the focus. Nemesis is the opposite: everything flows from the character you're playing and the situation they're in, and so everything ends up feeling real and motivated.
And the text work! Starting the rehearsal process by paraphrasing your lines is both simple and brilliant—I don't know why it's not a requirement for every Shakespeare show. Then, getting everyone on the same page about concepts like operatives, phrasing, ladders, etc really means that the audience will be treated to Shakespeare that is extremely clear and understandable. It's a joy to work this way.
How do you feel about not knowing which version of the show you're doing until Egeus says his first line?
Terrified and excited! I think the burst of adrenaline at the top of the show will really get things off to a running start. Managing to hold both shows in my head simultaneously is going to be a challenge, though...
Biography
Jon (Demetrius/Oberon) couldn't ask for a better return to live theater than Melon's take on Midsummer, with this incredible cast and crew. Favorite past roles include Danny in The Submission with Different Strokes, Roland in Constellations at 35 Below, Oliver/Silvius in As You Like It with NC Stage, and Hamlet with the Montford Park Players.
Midsummer for Haters is showing June 3-18, 2022 at The Magnetic Theatre in Asheville, NC. Grab your tickets here: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=134503