The Show, July 30, 2012

Phew...we still release a sigh at the utter beauty Chris Gallow's photo from A Midsummer Night's Dream...

With Gemma James-Smith

Yes, this CharPo-Toronto weekly feature is called The Show, but this week we not only want to talk about the annual tradition from Canadian Stage of mounting this loveliest of summer works - a real show it is - but we'd also like to talk about a showman: Gil Garratt, the man flying (as Puck) in Gallow's work above. Garratt is, to our mind, perfect casting in the role of the roguish troublemaker who turns a dozen lives or so into a real night of fun. You don't even have to have seen Garratt on stage to know this: photographers can't resist his physicality. In another highlight of Canadian Stage's season, the difficult (and controversial) Game of Love and Chance, there was Garratt again: all over lucetg's shots of the show.

Back to Midsummer...without a Puck, you don't have a show. The lovers can pine, Bottom can bray, but Puck is the magic. Now, weeks into the run, the magic in High Park should be in place.

Read our review of Midsummer.
Read our review of Game of Love and Chance