A Midsummer Night's Dream

Synopsis

On a midsummer's night Hermia and her lover Lysander flee from Athens and Demetrius - the man Hermia's father favours as a son-in-law. Demetrius follows, pursued by Helena who loves him in spite of being spurned in favour of Hermia. On the same night Bottom and his friends leave Athens to find somewhere quiet to rehearse their play which is to be performed at the wedding feast of Duke Theseus. Drawn into the woods they enter a world of magic, mystery and wonder.

Our Review:

14 July 2008

It couldn’t be better timed. In the same week that the government produces a paper saying that children in the first year of primary school should be taught some Shakespeare, Regent’s Park offers a production aimed at children of six and upwards.

And judging by the enthusiastic response to Dominic Leclerc’s pacy production, there are plenty of young children out there happy to spend a morning sitting for a couple of hours in a theatre, lapping up Shakespeare. The audience had a healthy sprinkling of very young children sat reasonably attentively throughout, a tribute to the accessibility of the production.

Leclerc sets the play partly within a children’s nursery where Hermia and Helena are dolls and Demetrius and Lysander are wooden soldiers. The action is presided over by a blue-haired Puck, athletically played by Matthew Hart. The most immediately appealing character is Dale Superville’s ebullient Bottom, although I also liked [Annette McLaugh...

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