David Purkey hopes to draw audiences into the fantasy of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," on stage soon at the High Desert Music Hall in Redmond, with the goal that they will come away thinking, "Oh, so this is why people love Shakespeare!"
The play is a farcical comedy involving humans and woodland faeries who set out to manipulate their loved ones. Throw in some magic faerie dust and a group of workmen rehearsing a play of their own in the woods and you have multiple opportunities for comic situations – and for a sly peek at the elusive mechanics of attraction and love.
Purkey says starting a theater company has been a dream of his since he can remember.
"Long story short, life circumstances found me working for my dad in February," he explains. Being the supportive parent his dad was, Purkey says, "When I said, hey, I want to start a theater business — do you mind if I take some hours off to pursue my dream? Of course the answer was, 'yes, go do it!'" Purkey officially launched Meadow Sky Productions in April.
The director was especially inspired by a show he saw last summer at the Globe Theatre in London, he says, where slightly modernized language and audience participation were incorporated into a production of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing." He went hoping to glean some new methods for bringing Shakespeare to present-day, mainstream audiences. "What can we do so that the beauty and wit and the pacing of Shakespeare can be appreciated in today's culture?"
Purkey noted how the players interacted directly with their audience. "They were literally walking through the standing crowd," he says. "Even if you didn't understand the words, the way they acted invited every audience member in. That was hugely informative and definitely inspired the route we're taking things, trying to push the envelope on audience interaction and engagement.
"Shakespeare wrote shows for the common folk," Purkey says. By bringing the language of the play forward to a 21st-century level, he aims to create that same feel. "I think Shakespeare would have written differently for this time," he says. "Just as beautifully, but in credence with our day." Purkey feels the mission remains the same: for theater to be accessible for all people, whatever their life experience.
And after "Midsummer?" In the short term, Purkey will be directing "Cinderella" in January. As for the bigger picture, he says, "Central Oregon is so poised to take the next step. My pie-in- the-sky goal is a Central Oregon center for the arts. To be a part of building a new venue, to elevate local actors along with the performing arts community. It's going to be a road ahead and I'm excited to be a part of it, whatever that may look like."
Watch video previews of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" on the Meadow Sky Instagram page.
And don't miss these Central Oregon theater events also happening in October: