Comedic Character a Change of Pace for Actor

Angela Scappatura, The Standard
Published Friday 8, 2011

For local actor Glen McCann, this year’s Shakespeare in the Vineyard production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is an opportunity to indulge his comedic acting chops.

“I really like to play a nice comic character, it’s really fun,” he said, adding he usually isn’t the first choice for comedic relief. “I think they tend to see me as dukes and kings and mean guys so this is nice.”

McCann — who is also a lawyer — doesn’t quite know why he’s often cast in evil roles.

“I give off that vibe I guess,” he said, laughing. “Until people get to know me.”

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, produced by the Niagara Falls Music Theatre Society (Firehall Theatre), opened Thursday at Henry of Pelham Winery. The beloved Shakespearian play follows the stories of three different sets of characters: The young lovers, members of the fairy world and a group of working men known as the rude mechanicals.

McCann plays Bottom, an overconfident member of the mechanicals who is seemingly unaware of his foolishness. In the story, the men are rehearsing a play they want to present for the Duke.

“They’re not very smart but they’re very enthusiastic,” said McCann, who has been in nine Shakespeare in the Vineyard productions. “They’re really the clowns and are quite terrible actors. They put on a tragedy and turn it into a slapstick comedy.”

While he enjoys acting, McCann said he doesn’t have a lot of time, so this is one of the only productions he does in the year.

And the often dense Shakespearian language isn’t a problem for him.

“It takes a little getting used to but once you learn the part it’s much easier to stick to the script than other things because it sounds wrong if you don’t say it right,” he said. “In other plays you can go into a tangent and no one notices.”

The language is often why people are apprehensive about taking in a Shakespearian play, but director Michael Madden said A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of the most accessible of all the bard’s tales. The majority of the dialogue is rhyme and while the language is poetic, it is more easily grasped than some of the denser plays, he said.

“For someone who is not used to Shakespeare, I always say, come out and give it 15 minutes and you’ll start to fall into the rhythm of the speech,” said Madden, who is also a retired drama and English teacher. “I think it’s a good one because the plot is readily understandable, it’s funny, almost farcical.”

Also, unlike some Shakespearian plays, the weight of the play is spread broadly across a great number of characters, he said.

Because of its popularity, many theatre companies take some artistic licence with the play’s setting and costumes. But, Madden says their company has remained true to the original.

“We decided to go with the traditional version of the production for two reasons,” he said. “First because you so often see it done otherwise and secondly, we’ve revamped the stage this year and a lot of our focus to make sure that works.”

Thorold Lumber donated all the wood for the new stage, which now boasts two acting levels and more staircases.

“It gives us more variety in the height we can place people at and more interesting angles with the stairs,” said Madden.

The Vineyard presentation has been an annual affair for 16 years. Madden has directed the production for six years.

The proceeds from the performances will go to the Niagara Peninsula Children’s Centre.
 

For further information, or to purchase tickets, please go here.