The interior of the wonderful Shakespeare North Theatre at Prescot is based on The Shakespeare Globe Theatre in London and this production of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ was a part-production by The Shakespeare Globe Company and came direct from a run at their London home. With such a pedigree, everything looked to be in a place for a very authentic and faithful rendition of the Bard’s famous comedy. That was not quite what was served up.
A large table covered in a white cloth set the opening scene below four floating candelabras giving a nice period feel. With a large cast of eleven, there was little doubling up giving the impression of a big production as one by one, cast members entered the stage with a vibrant party atmosphere soon created. This was however as far as the production was to get in terms of a set with the rest of the play acted out on an open stage.
It is rare these days to see a Shakespeare performed in original Tudor costumes, usually either given a specific period theme or performed in modern dress. The costuming in this production ticked almost every box imaginable with outfits ranging from renaissance-style tights and doublet for Theseus, a black goth dress for Titania (even though she is a fairy!), various early 20th century fur coats or Noel Coward style evening dress for several actors and Puck wearing a strange hybrid of a tutu, coat tails (minus one arm) and a long glove. Other cast members wore anything from modern casual clothes to ballerina outfits. If the idea was to have an eclectic mix of costumes from various time periods, it succeeded.
The language of the play was authentic Shakespeare text (although possibly abridged) with a liberal mix of modern expletives which at times seemed to jar a little, although the audience seemed to find it amusing every time Bottom used the F-word. The acting was certainly lively, with virtually every word consistently delivered with gusto and smooth transitions between scenes. Unfortunately, the volume was not always consistent, with Danny Kirrane as Bottom in particular on some occasions difficult to hear.
The Shakespeare North theatre has excellent technical facilities and clear sound effects with emotive musical interludes helped considerably throughout the performance. In addition, there was a curious mix of music played by the cast, with two cast members on separate occasions walking on stage singing to an electric guitar whilst on another occasion, an acoustic guitar led the rest of the cast in Robbie Williams’s ‘Angels’. Most bizarre however was Bottom giving a Capella version of ‘War Pigs’ by Black Sabbath!
It will be apparent by now that a lot of liberties had been taken with the original Shakespeare play but by far the biggest changes regarded the ultimate fates of some of the main characters. To say anymore would be to give spoilers but this version of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ certainly did not end as a typical Shakespearean comedy with some quite shocking changes to the story.
This was a very curious and unusual adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. There were several strong performances including Theseus, played by Michael Marcu, Hedydd Dylan’s Titani, Tara Tijani’s Helena and Hermia played by Tiwa Lade. The overall result a lively show which would probably have benefitted from more consistency in costume and set. It could however also be described as an object lesson in how flexible the genre of Shakespeare has become. The linguistic changes might offend certain purists and as for the changes to the plot, that is certainly a matter of opinion.
The production runs from 5-7th February 2026
https://shakespearenorthplayhouse.co.uk/event/globe-headlong-midsummer-nights-dream/
Reviewer - John Waterhouse
On - 4th February 2026
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