A Midsummer Night's Dream - Shakespeare's Globe ★★★★★

The Globe opens its summer season with William Shakespeare’s ever-popular romantic comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. But how do you entice new audiences while luring back those who’ve already seen this Bard favourite more times than they can count?

Simple: embrace the spirit of ancient folk tradition, add a flourish of pantomime, sprinkle in some well-judged modern vernacular, and involve the audience from the outset. And then hire director Emily Lim, whose large-ensemble work at the National Theatre (The Odyssey, Pericles) makes her a natural fit for pulling it all together.

The result is a raucous, vibrant and irresistibly engaging romp through this much-loved story of fairy mischief, star-crossed lovers and the perils of amateur dramatics.

Before going further, a brief reminder of the plot is probably in order – although its complexity doesn’t really lend itself to brevity.

Hermia and Lysander flee Athens to escape her father’s insistence that she marry Demetrius, who pursues them into the forest, trailed by Helena, who is hopelessly besotted with him. Nearby, a group of well-meaning tradesmen, led by Peter Quince, a carpenter, gather to rehearse a tragic play to celebrate Duke Theseus’ wedding. In the same woods, the fairy king and queen, Oberon and Titania, quarrel over custody of a human child, prompting Oberon to use the potion from a magical flower, which makes the sleeper fall in love with the first creature they see, to punish Titania. He instructs his mischievous sprite, Puck, to use the same charm on Demetrius. But Puck mistakenly enchants Lysander and then, in trying to fix things, doses Demetrius as well, causing both men to fall for Helena and leaving Hermia abandoned. Puck also transforms Bottom, the weaver (and one of the amateur players), into a donkey, and the enchanted Titania promptly falls in love with him.

After a night of confusion and misdirected desire, Oberon orders Puck to restore order. By dawn, the lovers are correctly paired (Hermia with Lysander, Helena with Demetrius), Oberon and Titania are reconciled, and Theseus overrules Hermia’s father so that the marriages may proceed. The play ends with the tradesmen’s gloriously inept performance of Pyramus and Thisbe and Puck’s invitation to imagine the night’s chaos as a dream.

This production is a joyful, funny, immersive and thoroughly communal experience. Shakespeare’s script is buoyed by sharp comic timing, the occasional unexpected modern reference, just the right amount of slapstick, a smidgeon of adult humour and some glorious attention to comic detail (most notably the slippery floor warning, Puck and Oberon’s props as they spy on the confused lovers, and the fun with Ninnie’s Tomb!).

The story’s trippy vibe is vividly realised in Fly Davis’ design concept (her credits include Othello at the Globe and The Ocean at the End of the Lane for the NT). A riot of rainbow-coloured flowers conjures a magical forest without overwhelming the Globe’s lovely wooden stage. The costumes are flamboyant and exuberant (think big frills, iridescence and a generous dose of shimmer), to the point where the fairies seem to be channelling a new genre of ‘sweet-wrapper’ couture. And the old folk songs, reimagined by composer Jim Fortune (a Globe and NT regular), deepen the mysticism of the forest and seem to heighten the surreality of the characters’ experiences there.

Michael Grady-Hall (multiple RSC and Theatre Royal Stratford East credits) is wonderfully understated as the mischievous Puck, orchestrating trouble from the shadows before accidentally dosing himself in the process, with comic repercussions that ripple through the rest of the play.

Audrey Brisson (Olivier-nominated in 2020 for Amelie, the Musical) is tremendous as Titania, especially while lavishing Bottom with adoration. Romaya Weaver (The Cabinet Minister at the Menier Chocolate Factory) brings powerful vulnerability to Helena, who feels rejected and then mocked, as her two magically besotted suitors suddenly lavish her with attention. And Jamal Franklin (Pinocchio at the Globe) balances humour with poignancy as Snug, the shy joiner struggling to summon his inner roar to play the lion in Pyramus and Thisbe.

But it’s Adrian Richards (Midsummer Night’s Dream for the RSC, The Winter’s Tale, Macbeth and The Suicide at the NT) who steals the show. His Bottom is perfect, a glorious combination of physicality and comic timing, and he makes a complete ass of himself exactly when required!

And crucially, the audience becomes an integral part of the play too, drawn in as the performance gradually moves them from passive observers, through moments of shared interaction, to active participants woven into the action itself.

Purists may not find this production to their taste. But those who like their Shakespeare with a difference, this is a barnstorming and delightfully bonkers production, where Shakespeare meets Sergeant Pepper, and fun is delivered in abundance!