APOLLO

Sharp Athenian Law Challenged by Left Wing Feminist Lobby.

THE LAW OF Athens was challenged yesterday when a young woman defied her father's right to arrange an unwanted marriage to a nobleman of the city.
She has been told that she must submit to her father's will or, eithersuffer death, or forever abjure from the society of men.
The Duke himself delivered the damning ultimatum after the father who is said to be a friend of the Duke came to the palace, full of vexationwith his daughter.

Royal command performance

In celebration of the Duke's wedding, suggestions are being tendered to provide the entertainments for this momentous occasion. The preferred group will get to perform before the royals after the feast. Tel: 0230 579 864 for details and an entry form. No timewasters please

Mr Conan Doyle has taken a break from his en-thralling detective serial Sherlock Holmes and the Fairies to ask this pertinent question. As the evidence of eye witness reports mounts up, and concerns grow for public safety, this exceptional investigative journalist answers those questions we'd all like to ask;

• Are Fairies a race from outer space, visiting our planet, in preparation for a massive military strike, intended to wipe out all existing lifeon Earth?

• Do all fairies have wings, and if so can they be used for flight,or are they just ornamental decoration for use in mating rituals?
• Can fairies only be seen by young children and those under the influence of drugs, or in the light of recent sightings, are they selectingcertain humans to act as 'channels' in an attempt to communicate?

New cartoon series starts today in The Apollo

Actors with tall TAILS

SOME OF THE CITY's actors are obviously a few cans short of a six-pack, after the stories they've reported to the Daily Apollo
Yesterday the Apollo's offices were invaded by a group of incoherent thespians claiming their fellow actor had been transformed into a donkey whilst rehearsing. I resisted the temptation to label them lunatic freaksand calmly started to type up their story on my magic typewriter
It would appear that none of them have seen Nick Bottom, Weaver (31) since the incident. Although police are making enquiries, this reporter thinks they would do better to put them all in a cell and wait for the effects to wear off. For it seems quite obvious that this bunch of amateurs have gone into the forest with the sole intention of getting ridiculouslydrunk.

Philostrate is always getting into trouble with the Duke, with hilarious consequences! The fun starts (and finishes) on the back page.

THE DIRECTOR SAYS

It is a farce. That's all you need to say really but then my whole column would be blank. I know there's a general feeling that plays called "comedies" at that time were anything with a happy ending, but I believe that the previous Elizabethans expected just as much of a laugh from their plays as the current Elizabethans. The whole situation is most farcically ridiculous and can only be laughed at surely? Then when you examine some of the lines you cannot avoid the vague possibility of them being funny. There is quite a bit of obvious stuff. Some other stuff may not look funny at first glance, but if it is said with a slight difference in inflection or with a particular action, it suddenly becomes obvious that that might be what the author meant. This is where it has been most useful to have an enthusiastic cast with plenty of contributory ideas. Someone will come up with some new slant and everyone else will go "but of course, that's obvious." My main aim is that the actors should enjoy themselves both rehearsing and performing and that the audience should enjoy the performance. We can only guess at what Shakespeare intended his actors to make of this play but I do not put on Shakespeare in a effort to be "authentic" to his intentions, surely one is trying to please the audience? A laugh is always worthwhile AND a lot more fun than some over-earnest attempt at pseudo-authenticity. Shakespeare would I think approve of putting on a play to please your current audience. That is after all what he was trying to do.

And it is in Elizabethan dress. Think about it. Anyway, Shakespeare's lot always did modern dress productions.

THE DIRECTOR SAYS

With special responsibility for the "Play within the play" I concentrated on the tragic elements of the well known legend of Pyramus and Thisbe. I feel that here the bard surpasses his efforts at romantic tragedy portrayed in Romeo and Juliet and reaches the pinnacle of tragic drama. Many a time I have seen productions of this play where the "rude mechanicals" have played their parts for laughs. I have relished the opportunity to set the record straight and after strenuous academic research feel I have been able to approach what Shakespeare surely intended the play within the play to be. The final sharp illumination that clarifies the true meaning of the masterpiece of subtle tragedy that is a Midsummer night's dream, shrouded as it is by a veil of humour. In my earnest intention for authenticity, as preparation, my actors were subjected to the rigours of the Stanislavski method and taken to Wimbledon Common to rehearse by night in the wood as the original rude mechanicals would have done. They seemed to react well (especially when attacked by a particularly vicious squirrel) and the experience certainly authenticated their performance. The dying scene was a particular challenge as none of the actors had previously died. As I could not persuade them to stab themselves for authenticity, the next best thing was to put them in a situation where they felt suicidal. The tortures I have put them through enabled them to portray the true tragedy of the piece. It just remains for me to wish you the real enjoyment that can only come from seeing authentic Shakespeare as he truly intended it.

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Bottom the weaver

Has your bull lost his bellow?
Are your cows not responding?

Come to Flute, the bellows mender
I can fix his moo for you