Give me your hands, if we be friends . . .

Personally, I can think of few things more artistically satisfying (as an audience member) than a well-acted comedy by William Shakespeare. Such wit! Such joy! Such randy humor! In other words - something for everyone.

Tonight I had the most wonderful pleasure of going to see some friends perform in Benjamin Britten's operatic adaptation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." This was a fantastic production on the whole. Rather than become bogged down with Shakespeare's difficult and at times archaic vocabulary, the actors (well, singers who had to act - and act they did) clearly had put in their time and knew exactly what they were "talking" about, and were thus able to clearly communicate to us their audience. And every bit of humor came across.

The scene-stealing stars of the show were Bottom & his merry band of common Athenian workers. Their scenes - especially in Act III - were some of the most well-executed bits of stage comedy I have seen anywhere on the local theater scene, and I'm not just talking opera productions. I have not laughed as hard at anything else in quite long time. Well-played, gentlemen!

It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening - and I am feeling delighted and inspired all because of it.