Blue Elephant Theatre, London
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A Midsummer Night’s
Dream with no Puck is like a light with no bulb; it just can’t work…or can
it? That was my first question upon realising that only four Sprites and no
famous imp appeared in the cast list of Lazuras Theatre’s production of The Dream at the Blue Elephant Theatre
in Camberwell. This was not the only change to the script of this stylishly
modern interpretation of one of the Bard’s most well-known plays but my first
clue that this was going to be a very different adaptation of the play.
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| Photo: Adam Trigg |
A Midsummer Night’s
Dream is a tale of love, misunderstandings and magic and follows the lives
of four young lovers. Lysander (Joseph Tweedale) and Hermia (Julie Gilby) are
not allowed to wed so are forced to run away to the forest, and are followed by
Hermia’s friend Helena (Ewa Jaworksi) who is unrequitedly besotted with
Demetrius (Stuart Mortimer) and in the same forest a group of mechanicals are
rehearsing for a play: a world of fairies and magic dwell.
Overall the interpretation of this much-loved classic is a
brave one that works. Set in a modern day Athens, the cast don modern, simple
and colourful dress as the play starts at a busy dinner party with a full
ensemble on stage, which creates a very loud and exciting atmosphere. The
staging throughout is interesting yet simple: strategically placing chairs to
create the forest, and snow falling from the ceiling to mark the first
transition to the fairy kingdom all helps to highlight the importance of
seasons within the play too. This play is typically classed as a comedy but in
this case director Ricky Dukes takes a darker, more serious approach seeing the
fairy land as a place of shadows and darkness, making a very clear distinction
between reality and magic, highlighted by Alex Musgrave’s unassuming lighting
design. The use of the whole ensemble to move from scene to scene creates an effortless
flow, which is a pleasure to watch, making use of the whole space effectively.
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| Photo: Adam Trigg |
The four lovers worked beautifully together, particularly in
the fight scene which is well choreographed and slickly executed, seeing the
four move around the space at a constant distance from each other highlighting
the importance of Shakespeare’s words as no physical contact is made. James Thomas’s Bottom is delightfully
obnoxious, providing most of the laughs throughout the play; however the
mechanicals in this case are portrayed as a group of posh polo-neck wearing
amateurs and generally feel underused due to cuts made in the script. Their
play within the play is simply a sequence of tableaux, which, whilst funny, makes
the production feel somewhat lacking. Similarly, it seems at points the visual
spectacle is more important than the plot itself, as many stories seem unfinished.
The fairies, again, create lovely scenic images and their movement is sensual;
they add to the darker tone of the play but at times lack a little characterisation.
If a night of purist Shakespeare is what you want then this
isn’t necessarily for you, but this is a well-crafted interpretation of the
play from a strong ensemble, in which the shadows definitely haven’t offended.
This production runs until 15 December 2012.
For more information: http://www.blueelephanttheatre.co.uk/midsummer-nights-dream
@BETCamberwell @LazarusTheatre
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