A Midsummer Night's Dream

'Lord what fools these mortals be' declares Oberon in amazement as he watches the antics of the lovers in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and this production in the Round Square provided a feast of laughter at the folly of lovers everywhere.

The main protagonists, Demetrius (Ben Cullen), Lysander (Sam Johnson), Hermia (Sarah Pyper) and Helena (Corina McLauchlan), parodied delightfully the falling in and out of friends and lovers in a fittingly theatrical style. It seemed that changing allegiances happened with the frequency of sleeping and waking.    

Oberon (Seun Araromi) and Titania's (Jessica Davies) scenes provided more humour, both in plot and execution. Titania's obsession with Bottom, who has been transfigured into an ass, and the flower which allows lovers to change allegiance over night, are of course Shakespeare's devices to point out the farcical and notorious blindness and fickleness of lovers, but in addition Seun played Oberon, with some hilarious facial expressions and a magical rapport with the audience. His attendant 'fairies' and their jeans, jackets and fluffy wings added to the sense of farce, whilst Puck (Sarah Trickey and Emma Lambie) made the most of their flying goggles and reappearance tricks.

The mechanicals were led by Oona Castilla Chaplin as Bottom, (appropriately and rather touchingly dressed as Charlie himself, with all his mannerisms). Oona's stage presence was electric and sustained, converting her part into something akin to a complex dance. The other mechanicals had carefully developed individual characters, and their scenes contributed to the sense of a bawdy romp. When it came to the 'performance' of Pyramus and Thisbe, Flute (Freya Eden) played Thisbe with all the melodrama of an old black and white movie.

The dancing, and the music of Burt Bacharach performed by the band, gave this production an added charm, with the air of a sixties musical. In the 21st Century even this, whilst delightful, added to the ironic tone. Carolann Grzesinski as Philostrate, the master of the revels provided much of the background vocals, whilst Jessica, Seun and Sam all performed their songs with professional aplomb. The mood of the evening could be summed up with the words of the song:
'The blues he sends to meet me, won't defeat me. It won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me' and fortunately at no point in any of the three performances were raindrops falling on the audience's head.

Review by Diana Montieth