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:

21 May 2004

Few Shakespeare plays can be as seriously enchanting as A Midsummer Night's Dream, as witness Edward Hall's all-male Propeller production seen in the West End last year; but few of the Bard's plays can also be as unremittingly tedious, either, as witness Chichester Festival Theatre's new modern-dress production of the play that seeks to underline the play's other-worldliness (since the umbrella title for this year's summer season is 'Out of this World'), but drains it of romance, charm, wit and magic in the process.

This production is shoe-horned not just into fitting the season's concept, but also into fitting into Alison Chitty's "installation set" that has been designed to accommodate all of this year's shows. There isn't a moment when the solid, wide two-level grey façade feels specific to this production; instead, it's a blank space into which a mostly blank reading of the play is projected. The only extra design intervention (also by Chi...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com (205.188.117.22) - 13 June 2004:

For a teenager who hates Shakespear, this was lovely and magical enough to overwhelm this cynical audiance member....

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