A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Birmingham Rep – review

Awash in neon pink and singing Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams”, sturdy drag artist Fatt Butcher introduces themself as Puck and quips “as in what the Puck?” in this avant-garde take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Birmingham Rep feels more like a club night with hits including Queen’s “It’s a Kind of Magic” ahead of the show. Many more pop songs will follow in this main stage directorial debut at the Rep by the venue’s artistic director Joe Murphy, who joined last year from Cardiff’s Sherman Theatre. He co-directs this new production of Shakespeare’s playful comedy with his deputy AD Madeleine Kludje.

The former associate director at the Old Vic promised to make the Rep reflect Birmingham’s diverse multicultural and social make-up, in a city where 40 per cent are aged under 25 and over half are from ethnic backgrounds. He’s gone out guns blazing in this lively, progressive take on a well-worn classic.

There are gender reversals, queer romances, contemporary jokes and pop hits, but it’s still very much faithful to the Bard’s script and language. However, it does open with Hippolyta preaching about climate change.

The main alteration comes from switching genders in the love stories. Lysander becomes love-sick schoolgirl Lysandra, doting on Hermia, but more effort is made to swap the roles of Oberon and Titania. The latter now bids Puck to play a trick on the King of the Fairies, and it’s Oberon who falls for Bottom as an ass. If anything, it further boosts the comedy and the beautifully crafted love scene between the two – to Foreigner’s hit “I Wanna Know What Love Is” – is the feel-good highlight of the show.

Haydn Oakley gives a commanding performance as both Theseus and Oberon and is the linchpin of the play, but it’s cabaret actor Adam Carver who shines brightest. Far from a sprightly Puck, Carver exudes the sprite’s mischief. Between their Shakespearean lines, they chortle along as compere, even leading sing-alongs.

Half the cast are from the West Midlands, yet it doesn’t sound overly Brummie. Even so, it’s refreshing to hear Ellena Vincent’s majestic fairy queen Titania speak with a Caribbean lilt and Omar Malik’s delightful Bottom with Indian undertones and no self-awareness.

Charlotte Wallis, Evie Ward-Drummond, Isabel Adomakoh Young and Qasim Mahmood play highly-strung young lovers Helena, Lysandra, Hermia and Demetrius, respectively. As screaming immature juveniles in school uniforms, they add zest and a frenetic pace against slower comedy from The Mechanicals’ am dram meet-ups.

Here, Malik gets the big laughs for his physical prowess, but Hannah McPake has finely-tuned comic timing as Quince amid Bullring and rag market signs. They are a thoughtful nod to Birmingham courtesy of set and costume designer Carl Davies. Elsewhere, he’s gone for glistening regal columns in the palace that transform into structures filled with leaves as action moves to the wilderness.

Lighting designer Andy Pike uses vibrant neon shades throughout, adding to that clubbing atmosphere, even glowing up The Mechanicals’ hilarious royal performance.

Murphy wasn’t joking when he said he’d shake things up. This fun new Midsummer Night’s Dream feels ultramodern and is sparkling and bewitching enough to appeal to both a new generation and old.