Waterloo East Theatre 12 – 23 July. Reviewed by Claire Roderick
CandleFire’s adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is enchantingly engaging. Both plotlines and characters have been excised, resulting in a tighter story with less fairy fluff. The absence of Theseus and Hippolyta does make the reasons for the staging of the play by the mechanicals less explicit and takes some of the jeopardy away from Lysander and Hermia’s flight, but, overall, the adaptation is very smart and effective.
Hermia (Marie Isserman) loves Lysander (Robert Fellman), but her mother, Egeus (Caroline Short) orders her to marry Demetrius (Matthew Harrison-James). Lysander and Hermia decide to elope, telling Helena (Leah Lawry-Johns) of their plans. Helena loves Demetrius, and hoping to win his affection, informs on her friends. Meanwhile, in the woods, fairy queen Titania (Hollie Hales) and Oberon (Martin Sales) are having a tiff. With the help of Puck (Joshua Jewkes) he plots to shame her by using a magical plant to make her fall in love with the first creature she sees. Finding the mechanicals rehearsing their play, Puck, in the finest piece of theatrical criticism ever, transforms the overacting Bottom’s head into that of an ass. Titania wakes and is smitten. Unfortunately, Puck isn’t so accurate dispensing the magic on the young lovers, causing both Lysander and Demetrius to fall in love with Helena.
Lysander, Hermia, Helena and Demetrius are all played sensitively. The death sentence is never mentioned in this adaptation, instead Egeus threatens Hermia with life as a nun straight away, much more in keeping with the feminine incarnation. Lawry-Johns’ Helena is feisty and funny. On a couple of occasions, Demetrius almost succumbs to her advances, and this delightful touch helps make it all the more unbelievable that the men want the, frankly wet, Hermia. It’s not Isserman’s fault, it’s the way she’s written. After being enchanted, the transformation of the men into posturing, proclaiming idiots is handled wonderfully.
The mechanicals are one short in this production, causing the hapless Snout (the fantastic Jon Adams) to play both Wall and Lion. David Gurney’s Bottom is suitably overbearing, making the most of his stature to emphasise the Napoleon Complex of the character. Quince (Charlotte Warner), Starveling (Lorna Reed) and Flute (Darren Latham) complete the troupe with Flute’s Monty Python/Kill Bill acting style as Thisbe producing some amazing reactions from the long suffering Quince. Throughout the production, Latham and Warner provide musical accompaniment, giving it the feel of a country fair or festival.
The fairies are fantastic, earthy and physical. Titania looks like she’s just woken up at Glastonbury, whilst Oberon and Puck look like they’ve just woken up on a dump. Thankfully, Peaseblossom and co are absent, so instead of songs and dances, we get Oberon and Puck’s double act, a bit like the two Stooges. They remain onstage, influencing and watching events to great comic effect. Their faces as the four lovers’ quarrel descends into a brawl are a picture.
Jaclyn Bradley has managed to evoke the woodland atmosphere in this black box, simply with judicious application of ivy and fallen leaves. CandleFire’s adaptation remains true to the original, showcasing Shakespeare’s magical lines. It is traditional and pure, but with lots of delicate, modern touches and interactions making it feel more accessible. This is a charming and intelligent adaptation, full of fun and magic. A very exciting production from an exciting new company.