A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Red Rose Chain Theatre company is making Shakespeare accessible and fun while celebrating 25 years of Theatre in the Forest.
The show, which has run from July 24 and finishes on August 24, is held at National Trust’s Sutton Hoo.
Set beneath a sprawling Sweet Chestnut Tree on a perfectly thought out simple stage, this enchanting and magical performance begins.
An intertwined tale of the love destinies of five couples is succinctly and brilliantly told in cartoon-like format at the back of the programme (excellent work by Katy Latham and Rei Mordue). Make sure to buy one for this alone, as well as a myriad of other useful information.
Audience seating involves being divided up into teams in support of each fairy character which adds to the family atmosphere and engenders audience participation of all ages.
The play was possibly originally created to lift the spirits of the audience when the theatres first opened again following the plague.
This staging is as near in atmosphere and tone to that original aim as can be imagined.
The fairies were represented by some breathtaking puppets, which beautifully captured the idea of peculiar, ethereal creatures, far away from the traditional Victorian “fairy”.
The lovers, young and petulant, were particularly well cast.
A really good performance from Ailis Duff as Helena for her energy, clear delivery and self deprecation, with a smile that really got inside her character's skin and took the audience with her, willing her to win her man.
Evangeline Dickson as Hermia gave a punchy performance, delivering traditional lines of insults with a clearly underlying modern intention. We all knew what she meant!
The multi-talented Ted Newborn made a believable Lysander and a dextrous puppeteer with Cobweb.
Jack Heywood as Theseus was a great ringmaster but as Oberon I would have liked to see him more in tune with the puppet fairies – more ethereal than earthly.
Titania (Emily Jane Kerr) was a more convincing otherworldly queen and was wonderful as Hippolyta, delivering a performance reminiscent of the the Baron and Baroness in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Vincent Moisey gave polished and enigmatic performances as Demetrius and Bottom. Rei Mordue gave a super character performance as nasty dad and an energetic performance as Puck – a difficult part requiring both high comedy and the ability to act as spokesman for the other world.
Devices used to differentiate the fairy world from the real were well scripted, choreographed, and thought out and required formidable dexterity from the actors.
The play within a play was as silly and entertaining as ever and the audience loved it.
The actors were brilliant in translating their acting prowess into operating the fairy puppets.
Nick Barnes, Caroline Bowman and Oli Siminon should be applauded. It was wonderful to see the fairies interpreted as other-worldly, sightly ghoulish, charming yet slightly frightening - much as people of Shakespeare’s time would have seen them.
My favourite was Cobweb for his movement and Mustard Seed for his facial expressions that could change with a slight change of angle.
There is a great treat in store for the audience with these puppets and the audience is close enough to see how beautifully and sturdily they are made. We can praise the actors for the operation of the puppets but I suspect the biggest accolade must go to Laura Cubitt as puppet director.
A huge volunteer team from both the National Trust and the Red Rose Chain made a production of this quality possible.
Backstage Katy Latham has excelled herself quietly, with choreography, design stage management and, with Rei Mordue, the fabulous pictorial synopsis of the play.
All in all no-one stole the show, not even the puppets.
Under Joanna Carrick’s interpretation and direction all were allowed all to shine in their various roles. This is part of her genius in these reinterpretations. Reaching a modern audience with a mix of modern songs and references (some bringing a groan some a smile) whilst adhering to the essentials of the original play, bringing the audience to mix with the players just as Shakespeare’s Elizabethan theatre would have done.
A thoroughly enjoyable evening.
For tickets, visit www.redrosechain.com/theatreintheforest
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