Hee-Haw

When two complete opposites are established, very often one side can be taken to such extremes that it actually ends up on the other side--a circular pattern. Presentational theatre and Naturalistic Theatre can sometimes be one of these binaries. The Donkey Show, now playing at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Mass (HARVARD), is a retelling of Midsummer Night's Dream in an interactive way. The confines of the stage are pretty much the confines of the club. People are free to mingle, drinks, costumes, set pieces are functional. Is this purely presentational? The actors address the audience directly. The audience knows that they are being told a story. Or is it purely representational? In a way, the experience functions as a kind of hyper-realism, in terms of stagecraft. Or is this everything and nothing simultaneously? I.E. "The Sweet Spot"?