A captivating, dramatic and at times, humorous play which gives the classic Shakespeare story an unique supernatural twist. The Director and production team intertwine the supernatural elements seamlessly into the main, well-known story. Despite actors playing multiple roles the use a actions (to demonstrate a character being possessed) , sounds and music cleverly enables them to take the audience with them, easily knowing when a character changes from one role to another. This transition is done throughout the play and is even managed perfectly at the end during the wedding scene when in the original and this play all characters come together in the same scene. The decision to stick to the original text also worked well as the exaggerated non-verbal acting put across meanings which otherwise may have been lost to such an extent that Shakespeare language seemed bizarrely familiar and easy to understand. Even the decision to cast a woman as both Egeus and Oberon did not you detract from the story or the audiences enjoyment, it as an adaptation after all.
The venue I saw the play at was in the gardens of Keat’s
house, in Hampstead. This was an outdoor performance which create a ‘Theatre in
the Round’ whereby the actors came on to the stage from multiple directions and
performed in the centre of the garden (stage) with the audience seated around
them. This stage choice created a connection between the actors and the
audience where you really did at times feel a character was talking to you
personally. This no doubt created an added challenge for the actors who needed
to rotate their posture and voice about the stage to capture the attention of
all audience members. This was done particularly well by Midnight circle
productions.
The play got off to a strong start with lots of action and
noise, drawing the audience’s attention and letting everyone know the play was starting.
This same subtle technique was also used after the interval. The complicated
love story or the original play was used and built upon with fantastic acting
from the characters of Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius who showed us the
traits, weaknesses and interwoven relationships of these friends and lovers.
From the moment Hermia was told she couldn’t just choose who she wanted to be
with, the audience was invested but not just with her with also with both men
and Helena.
This uniquely was a play where roles, importance and time
on stage were shared equally amongst all the actors. Casting was faultless with
each actors personality and skill perfectly matched to the role they were playing.
Of particular note were Nadia Lamin (Helena/snug/goblin)
and Jed McLoughlin (Bottom/Goblin). Nadia seem to note the difficult acoustics
and made the extra effort to project her voice, use exaggerated expressions,
move and look around so everyone could see and hear her and did on occasion
make full eye contact with audience members close to her, as if they too were
part of the play. Jed demonstrated much appreciated comic timing in almost all
the roles he played, drawing laughter from the audience. His diction and voice
projection was also one of the best in the cast.
There were very few negatives in this performance one being
the difficulty to hear some actors when birds or planes were flying overhead.
It would have also added to the atmosphere if seating, even if just bean bags,
had been provided. Venue assistance to explain to people where to sit would
also have avoided some of the confusion when people arrived of where you could
and couldn’t sit
This production is on for another month travelling to Essex
with more locations and venues to be added. This was a fantastic performance
and adaptation by Midnight circle, consistent with the reputation that precedes
them.
Original book/play by: William Shakespeare
Adaptation by: Midnight Circle Productions
Director: Cecilie Fray
Produced by: Niamh Handley-Vaughan, Nadia Lamin and Miles Blanch
Runs at various locations (as touring) until end of June 2025 although more dates are being added
Reviewer - Julie Freedman
On - 15.06.2025
