At first sight, the Roundhouse should be an appropriate venue for Tim Supple's sumptuous production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. This, after all, was the 1960s' temple to hedonism and free love – just the place to showcase all the production's sexuality; and there's plenty of it, at times it looks like a staged version of the Kama Sutra.
On top of that, there's ample space to show Sumant Jayakrishnan's design to best effect, as well as allowing the actors to display some gravity-defying ropework. No-one could accuse this multilingual ensemble of lacking ambition: Supple pulls off a near conjuring trick as he brings together actors, musicians and dancers, speaking seven different languages, into a coherent whole.
But while applauding the brilliance of the conception and the visual treat served up for us, something doesn’t quite gel. The Roundhouse's acoustics don’t help: when only half the text is in English, it's even more important that every word is understood, but too much disappears into the cavernous reaches of this former railway shed. It's strange because the production had its origins in open-air theatres in India - perhaps a winter night in Camden doesn't have the same exotic allure.
That's not to say that it this is a poor production; far from it. From the fairies bursting through a paper backdrop to Titania wrapping herself in red silk until she's sleeping inside a flower bud, this is a production full of visual delights. There are some wonderful performances too: notably from Joy Fernandes' Bottom who manages to extract laughs without resorting to the over-the-top comic gestures and the frantic mugging that so many British actors feel compelled to do. Indeed, the whole troupe of rude mechanicals is, for me, far more appealing than usual, as there is a touching simplicity about the work.
This is a fascinating production that brings fresh insights into this much-produced play. I'm not sure how many Dream virgins will appreciate it, though; it's definitely a production for people who at least vaguely know the play. Those who do, and go to this, will be amply rewarded.
- Maxwell Cooter
Reader Reviews
Score
Comment
Date
all are politics but good to see.i agree with you .no fiove star - kathi
13 May 07
all are politics but good to see - jone
13 May 07
Very good production, AWFUL venue. The pillars and their acoustics try their best to ruin the whole show but the magic of the performances and staging win through. I recommend seeing this only if you have a detailed prior knowledge of the play or can just let the images swim past you without understanding the story.
- josh
11 Apr 07
What on earth were they thinking about? One of the worst interpretations of a Shakespeare play I have ever had the misfortune to see. As most of it was delievered in several languages other than english, which they spoke for only a very small part of the show, they were clearly going to be on difficult ground. But the performances, particularly the women, were played at such a monotonous intensity they gave their characters no depth. It was a really a provincial touring show well suited, I'm sure, for the sub-continent but not here and at Chalk Farm. A real disappointment. - rds
23 Mar 07
Very disappointed.Booked early on ,at second top price and ended up with what I would call a view from the slips and a pillar.A good few people nearby were not there for the second half.I did not find it particularly magical and the Pyramus play was far less funny than I have seen.Having seen"Othello" and "Richard 2" in German and "Titus" in Japanese at Straford this year,all which made profound impressions,I did not expect the multi language idiom(?) to worry me.It did and seemed totally pointless,losing the wit and magic of the original text.Also,thought the knees up at the end(though this is becoming commonplace in Shakespeare comedy productions)totally out of place ruining the magic of the final scenes;though in this case.the irritating Puck would have done that anyway;the sing song delivery of the final speech was awful.For me,the Peter Brook (1960s)-now that was a revelation_ and the Edward Hall "Propellar" productions remain in a totally superior league. - Maurice C
22 Mar 07
Just appalling. I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed. Thoroughly disappointed, as I was really looking forward to this. I don't think the space helps - we booked middle price seats, but were outside the 'magic circle' of pillars: it felt like watching a play being performed in the next room. The multi-language aspect was something I thought could have been really interesting, but was actually just impossible to follow, whether they were speaking English or not. I know the play backwards, and found nothing in this performance that was remotely original, interesting or insightful. The set of paper was OK and impressed for a minute or two, but that's not really enough for a show that has been touted as being so spectacular. I only hope it improved as it went on - we snuck out discretely as Bottom was about to get his Ass' head, couldn't even stick it out until the interval. And we weren't the first to go - we saw plenty of being leaving before us and a few more followed. Really disappointing, and a total waste of money. - theatreboy06
18 Mar 07
What is with these people who are going around this site giving no stars at the moment?!?
Wonderful production, moving, funny, visually gorgeous and not a walkout in sight. Some people should actually find out what they are going to see Ifeel. - Julian
17 Mar 07
I don't know the 'Dream' very well and having watched 20 people walk out before me (and I couldn't even count the number who had left at the interval) this was a massive disappointment. The multi-layered languages and the Roundhouse's pillars only helped to create distance from the characters on stage. I actually couldn't engage with the show. The tableaux images in the programme were better on the page than on the stage. - Matthew Cartwright
15 Mar 07
An absolutely fantastic production. The Indian mystical realism genre fits the Dream like a glove and it's doubtful if I will ever be able to tolerate the mechanicals in productions where they are not treated with the seriousness and dignity that they are in this production again. The humour of "english" productions is maintained but Supple adds huge doses of eroticism, dignity and humanity to the piece. Quite fantastic and certainly the best version of this frequently produced play that I have seen. This is an absolute MUST SEE production. I cannot rate it highly enough, although I concur with the reviewers who have noted the poor acoustics of the Roundhouse. But do not let that put you off. SEE IT NOW. - Welthorpe
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