Theatre Review - A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM - NORTHERN STAGE - NEWCASTLE

 

Nadine Shah , Titania - Photo credit - Patch Dolan 

It’s Shakespeare, but not as you know it! If you like Shakespeare, see this for an interesting take - an almost Punk Rock version. Different, but with purpose, this production has it own, occasionally rude, voice. If you hate Shakespeare, see it anyway! This is a show that will change hate to love without even the need of a purple flower; maybe a pizza instead? All the usual elements are there: Elizabethan costume, the characters, the storyline, the Bard’s sage words, but something else is hidden in this production - it is the beating heart of theatre and all the possibilities it holds. Created by Not Too Tame in collaboration with Shakespeare North Playhouse, Director Matthew Dunster and Co Director Jimmy Fairhurst have made a show that is innovative, eerie, entertaining, rude, raucous, powerful, but above all else magical.

 

Tyler Dobbs and Rebecca Hesketh Smith - Demetrius and Hermia -
Photo credit Patch Dolan

The story is the same: we have proud Titania, Queen of the Fairies, arguing with jealous Oberon. The Rude Mechanicals rehearsing their show for Theseus’ wedding, unaware of a magical presence. The confusion of the four lovers lost in the wood as Puck meddles, unseen. However, the modern element added into this show by its creator makes it so much more inviting. Characters swear often and break the fourth wall. The immersive feeling of the show is added to by actors popping up from all directions. The stage looks simple, but the moment the show gets going you realise how complex it must be and yet how natural it is made for the cast. The production plays with the way characters behave and uses the four-hundred-year-old lines to affect a very modern point. By having Oberon as a voice recording by David Morrisey it gives a distant and foreboding feeling to the dark presence who controls, unseen. The fairies are more dark and gothic rather than sparkly and with the addition of sinister music it gives a definite feeling that this other realm is not a place in which you should tarry. The lovers bring the reality of heartbreak and friendships betrayed, whereas the Rude Mechanicals make it feel almost like a merry panto for you to join in. The entire cast and crew seem extraordinarily talented. The occasional use of sign language reminds you to really focus on what is happening not necessarily just what is said. Puck, played Louise Haggerty, is brilliantly underplayed, watching those around them and reacting quietly to the effects. The most interesting part was the true reactions from Titania, played by Nadine Shah, as the play unfolds. Not just a wonderful singer, but an extremely powerful actor. Bottom, played by Jimmy Fairhurst, is a riotous performer and, along with his fellow Mechanicals, sets energy levels very high. I must ask - is Shakespeare allowed to be this much fun? 

I entreat you - see A Midsummer Night’s Dream now; it is theatre that reminds the soul to fly.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is showing at Northern Stage until the 12^th November.