Heralded as one of his most beloved plays, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is no stranger to adaptation. The delightful tale of love, fairy’s and mischief, despite its troublesome undertones around consent, continues to mesmerise audiences.
Performed at Sydney’s Centennial Park, the Australian Shakespeare Company have created a beautiful and incredibly humorous depiction of the Shakespearean classic. Adopting a contemporary setting, it was refreshing to see a gender swap to some characters, adding a new perspective and demonstrating the versatility of the original text.
Directed by Glen Elston OAM, the use of physicality and the utilisation of the area was fantastic. Much of the humour was derived from characters running on and off the stage, driving onto the stage in buggy’s and interacting with the audience.
In particular, Elizabeth Brennan as Bottom was brilliant. Achieving the right amount of arrogance for it to be funny, Brennan brings an entirely fresh perspective to this well worn character. Hugh Sexton and Nicole Nabout were perfectly cast as Oberon and Titania, able to draw focus as only the fairy King and Queen can. They are both equally as entertaining as the lesser seen Theseus and Hippolyta.
A surprise stand out was Henny Walters as Snug, one of the performers working alongside Bottom. Although they had very little dialogue and only graced the stage intermittently, Walters brought incredible humour and whimsy to the part. In particular, her depiction of the lion in the final scene was hilariously memorable.
While there is a lot to like about this performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, including the dynamic of the four lovers, Helena (Larissa Teale), Demetrius (Tane Williams Accra), Hermia (Olivia McLeod) and Lysander (Alex Cooper), there were a few elements which just missed the mark.
Modern re-imaginings of Shakespeare can be a great way to interpret an, often thought to be complicated, text into a more palatable performance. However, this version couldn’t seem to decide which decade it was in. There were costumes from the 1980s, songs from the 1960s…. and 1980s…. and techno, and even a reference to Taylor Swift’s recent Eras Tour. While these were all incredibly funny moments that the audience really responded to, I think the best contemporary re-tellings are the ones that focus on a particular era and do it well.
While highly entertaining, A Midsummer Night’s Dream felt like a mash-up of pop-culture references with a Shakespearean plot. This resulted in a performance that felt confused and slightly overblown. However, given the exuberant response of the audience, perhaps this was a clever lesson in giving the people what they want.
THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream will perform at Sydney’s Centennial Park until 28 April 2024.
For more information and to buy tickets head to the Australian Shakespeare Company website.
Reviewer attended on 11 April.
