Terrific National Theatre Live production! Not counting the movie with Rupert Everett and Michelle Pfeiffer, this is the third production I’ve seen of A Midsummer Night’s Dream – the first was from a no-frills touring Shakespeare troupe, the second was from a high-quality regional theatre, and now here is this production straight from London. And it’s awesome.
A quartet of young Athenians are in a love conundrum. Hermia loves Lysander, but her father insists that she marry Demetrius. Helena loves Demetrius, but he only has eyes for Hermia. When the four encounter one another in the woods one night, they find themselves on the receiving end of some fairy magic that complicates things even more. Meanwhile, the king and queen of the fairies are in a quarrel, and Queen Titania has a clever idea how to get revenge on King Oberon.
Yes, as shown in the summary, this production switches the roles for Oberon and Titania. Given how this production was advertised prominently as “starring Gwendoline Christie” (Brienne from Game of Thrones,) I wondered how that was going to work out – while Titania is an entertaining role once the magic kicks in, it’s not really a starring role. Giving Titania Oberon’s lines and vice versa, though, changes up the dynamic quite a bit, and Christie makes the most of playing the proud, vindictive-but-playful fairy queen.
Before I move onto the rest of the acting, I want to give a huge shoutout to how this production is put together. We’re in the round, with legit groundlings on the floor as the play takes place on a series of rolling platforms like islands in a sea of audience members. There’s fun fourth-wall-breaking, judicious use of music, and fairies on aerial silks. The costumes are fantastic, every lighting cue is on point, and by and large, every aspect of the production is carefully designed to enhance the experience. As an intriguing added feature, the opening scenes are staged in some sort of misogynist dystopia setting, with Theseus admiring his fiancée Hippolyta in a glass case and all the women covered from head to toe (makes sense, I guess, given that Theseus tells Hermia she’ll be either be sent to a nunnery or executed if she doesn’t follow her father’s wishes – I love Shakespeare, but I’m so glad I didn’t live in his time period!) These opening scenes heighten the contrast with the wild, sexy night everyone has in the forest.
In addition to Christie, everyone onstage, from the leads down to the ensemble fairies, are all turning in excellent work. Oliver Chris from One Man, Two Guv’nors and Twelfth Night is back as Oberon, and with the way the roles have been flipped, he’s given ample opportunity to be hilarious. David Moorst is a great Puck, lively and mischievous and just a little bit wicked. All four of the Athenian lovers are great, both before and after the magic starts its work. But honestly, as wonderful as the whole production is, the Rude Mechanicals steal every scene they’re in with utter aplomb. Hammed Animashaun (who was also in Barber Shop Chronicles, and after this production, I saw him pop up again in Amadeus) is Bottom, and he’s an absolute comic riot – love, love, love, from start to finish!
Warnings
Sexual content and a little comic violence.
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