The Roving Show a moveable feast
In Shakespeare’s time, you paid more to sit. The Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan tent affords that luxury to all audience members. But the Roving Show provides something more akin to the standingroom pit of the 1600s, a.k.a. the cheap seats. And aren’t the cheap seats always more fun?
The company introduced a third show to its repertoire this year and it couldn’t be more different than its polished mainstage shows. To begin, four modern-day tradespeople — a painter, plumber, mechanic and an electrician — arrive at the Shakespeare site expecting to join the cast of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. When they are rejected, they forge ahead with their own show. They ask for audience suggestions, but only for show. It’s a lowbudget, condensed Tempest (“Temp-ish”) with just four actors that audiences can expect.
Created and directed by Joshua Beaudry, the hourlong play that meanders around the Meewasin Valley is a refreshing change from Shakespeare performances that take themselves too seriously. The Roving Show isn’t aiming for high art, but it has entertainment in spades.
Rob van Meenen, Greg Ochitwa, Aaron Hursh and Dalton Lightfoot play a dozen or so characters, shifting surprisingly seamlessly from one to the next. Since the players weren’t prepared, their props and costumes are things found in their work trucks. The set includes duct tape, tarps, cardboard and a hockey stick. The resulting esthetic is hodgepodge and hilarious, but the execution is also pretty slick. The only cheap thing about the performance is the $11 ticket price.
The performance has a little bit of everything: betrayal, romance, magic, a montage and even a splash zone. But amid the silliness are four very professional actors with fantastic comic timing. They seem at ease in an unusual setting, which features five scenic locations along the riverbank. The cast commits wholeheartedly to the show, even with challenges like background noise, curious onlookers and ticket holders who accidentally stand on the imaginary stage.
As an audience member, one starts out feeling a bit like a cow in a herd, but the whimsy of the show soon takes care of any hesitation. Plus, if you don’t often explore Saskatoon’s stunning riverbank, the Roving Show is a wonderful excuse.
The Roving Show doesn’t feel rushed or dumbed down, but rather made accessible through its unique format. On opening night, with an audience of a few dozen people, audience members could easily observe one another in the early evening light. It was challenging to find someone without a huge smile on their face.
It runs select nights until Aug. 19.