Mid Summer Night’s Dream

My visit to the Metropolitan Opera House, to watch Shakespeare’s “Mid Summer Night’s Dream”, was very unique, perhaps more so than others’. Primarily, I was late to the Opera House. Yes, I was late. Because I was late, I wasn’t allowed to enter the opera until intermission, which was in a hour. Disappointed, I was led to the viewing room, a small theater like room fitted with a projector to display the ongoing opera, filled with other likely late performance goers. Watching the opera from the viewing room was a nightmare. The camera that was pointed towards the stage was angled from up high, instead of a full frontal view. This way, I wasn’t able to see the performers well, only hear them. Apart from being visually terrible, the room’s audio was just as terrible. The wonderful performance wasn’t nearly as audible as watching the performance live. The viewing room felt more as a punishment than an alternate viewing experience. I couldn’t wait to jet out of there.

I really, and truly started to enjoy the opera after the intermission, when I was able to enter the theater. Honestly, I wan’t expecting to be so enthused about the performance. I once so a different adaptation of the same play in high school, and I was left confused. However, this performance was much better than the last one. The performers were very talented and comedic, and I was left in stitches at the end. The only negative aspects about the performance were the costumes, and the sets. The sets weren’t as extravagant as the ones in operas I’ve previously seen. The costumes were confusing as well. For example, the performers in the play within a play were dressed in more modern clothing than the main characters.

Overall, the trip was a wonderful experience. After watching many operas on high school projectors, actually visiting an opera house was a refreshing change.