A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

 A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare

One of Shakespeare's most-performed plays, A Midsummer Night's Dream is an amusing farce.   It is not one of my favorites, but it is very light and amusing and inoffensive.  I found the production of the parts about the fairies to be particularly well done.  I also thought Bruce Dow was incredible as Bottom; he was the perfect actor for that role, and he played it wonderfully well.  I also really enjoyed Adam Green as Puck.  All in all, it was a light, amusing evening at the Shakespeare Theater.

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The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol

The Government Inspector, by Nikolai Gogol

Previously, I had read the Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol, and I consider him one of the greatest writers I have ever read.  His short story, Diary of a Madman, is the most well-written story I have ever read.  However, I feel that much of his writing was inconsequential and useless.  I knew that this play was a satire; however, I didn't know whether I would find the play well-written or not.  Fortunately, I loved the play.  The play was a satire/comedy about life in Russia in the early 1800s, especially how those in positions of any power at all forced the powerless to pay bribes for everything.  Corruption by government officials at all levels was rampant.  The play showed the extreme lengths to which those same government officials would go to cover up their corruption.    I really enjoyed this play.


The Government Inspector

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