A Midsummer’s Night Dream – Atri Banerjee and Maimuna Memon – more please…
A beautiful stage and setting for one of Shakespeare’s most dreamy, romantic and playful (and slightly confusing) creations…
QUAINT and deliciously comedic in places, and performed with gusto and flair, the Atri Banerjee directed ‘A Midsummers Night Dream’ with music by Maimuna Memon offered something original and entertaining – to a first time viewer, it has to be said.
It finishes its run tonight (July 18) and it’s a reminder that in the very heart of London there’s an open air theatre, sometimes quite as magical as the productions that show there.
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre offers a production like this many rich possibilities, and Banerjee’s staging and Naomi Dawson’s minimal set makes good use of them.
The highest part – a galley at the very top, sees a couple of the characters look down on the action on the stage and this resembles a puppeteers vantage point and this isn’t lost in a drama that weaves, bobs, feints and ends…well (?)
This isn’t the easiest of Shakespeare’s works to follow – some might say, which is?
Set in an enchanted forest, four star crossed lovers are given potions (or cast with accompanying spells) and their affections and desires are transferred and confused.
Of course, trouble and strife ensue, and no one quite knows how it is all going to end – let’s not say any more for fear of further muddying lines Shakespeare has already played with…
The plot, for those who need a little more anchoring, begins in Athens, where Theseus (Oliver Huband) and Hippolyta (Jenny Rainsford) preparing for marriage and another young woman, Hermia (Hiftu Quasem), is told she must marry Demetrius (Terique Jarrett), though her heart belongs to Lysander (Misia Butler). Helena (Mary Malone), meanwhile, loves Demetrius, and so the four young people flee, chase and collide in the woods, where the rules of the court give way to the mischievous, more dangerous logic of fairyland. Don’t worry, seeing it is easier than describing it…
Oberon (Huband) and Titania (Rainsford), the fairy king and queen, are locked in their own domestic and cosmic dispute, and Puck’s (Georgia Bruce) meddling with a love-in-idleness flower sends everyone further off course.
It’s another of Shakespeare’s plays within a play – though here it is longer and a more substantial part of the play than in ‘Hamlet‘.
Alongside this, there is a drama to be performed – and a troupe rehearse their play-within-a-play for the royal wedding, with Bottom’s (Nadeem Islam) transformation into a theatrical star/comedian, giving the night its broadest laughs (is his comicality deliberate or just a byproduct of him being out of his depth as an actor?)
Banerjee’s direction leans into a warm, playful, contemporary register rather than a heavily dark one, while Memon’s gentle tunes with inflected fairy band vibes – gives the production much of its distinctive atmosphere, while Anjali Mehra’s movement direction also adds to the otherworldly feel of the show.
Islam is charismatic, funny, and flamboyant as Bottom – as Shakespeare surely intended and it’s great to see Neil D’Souza back in comic action as Snug and Eseus.
Banerjee’s lighter touch is much in evidence and serves the play well – there are moments of drama and tension but the overall mood as it reaches its conclusion is suitably correct and well-pitched for this production – which aims at broad entertainment and the mystery and magic of romance dancing to a light rather than a darker and more manipulative tone and atmosphere.
The music is a delight with an all-woman fairy band troupe excelling both in sound and having a presence – the only slight point of note is that while the music has an Elizabethan and what one assumes is a 17th century feel, the cast wear modern contemporary clothes.
A lot depends on whether you like this Shakespeare and this play – the setting has a lot going for it: the sense of romanticism, dreams and desire on a balmy summer night are massively enhanced by being outside and surrounded by real trees.
There was much to admire and enjoy and one hopes that the creatives involved in this will come together in the future to produce work which is similarly engaging and entertaining.
ACV rating: **** (out of five)
All pictures: ©MarcBrenner – main picture – cast of A Midsummer’s Night Dream including Nadeem Islam and Neil D’Souza
Tickets available
Last night – Saturday, July 18, 7.45pm Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre | Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4NU |
https://openairtheatre.com/production/a-midsummer-nights-dream
Next Show – Cats (July 25-September 19)
