A Midsummer Night's Dream runs at the Open Air Theatre Regent's Park until 27 July 2019.

Get there is you can!

A Midsummer Night's Dream was written by William Shakespeare between 1595 and 1596 - that's five hundred and thirty four years ago!

It remains one of Shakespeare's most performed plays - and surely his best loved - with productions continuing to pack 'em into theatres', large and small, around the world.

And it's no wonder.

With its well known premise, A Midsummer Night's Dream might seem to be merely a light and frivolous tale of fairies playing pranks on a disparate group of humans who have all decided to head off into the woods for the night.

However, and depending on a particular staging of the play, it can proffer a multi-layered exploration of emancipation, sexual tension and harassment, teenage angst and arranged marriage.

The play also wavers between moments of strong verbal brutality and many more of side-splitting hilarity.

This is why A Midsummer Night's Dream rarely disappoints and often exceeds expectations.

And, just occasionally, why a production comes hurtling out of left field to startling effect.

The current production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Open Air Theatre Regent's Park falls, full-square, into the latter category.

Size matters

In smaller venues, the staging of A Midsummer Night's Dream can allow for a more nuanced approach to the drug induced dilemmas of our heroes and heroines.

But in a large tiered auditorium like the Open Air Theatre (where some 1,250 souls sit in that open air, and the actors must compete for attention with the occasional passing aircraft or flock of vociferous parakeets) the production needs to creater greater gusto to grab the audience and hold it captivated.

This is established from the outset, with a boom-box 'disco' pre-wedding party for the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta.

It is here that Hermia, who loves Lysander, takes a stand against her father's insistence that she accept his arranged marriage for her to Demetrius.

Helena, who is Hermia's best friend also happens to besotted with Demetrius to a stalkers extent, and so is the sulky teenager in the room.

When the Duke adjudicates that the choice for Hermia is marriage to Demetrius, death or a life-sentence in a nunnery, she and Lysander opt instead for eloping.

They head into the forest followed by Demetrius and Helina.

This is also where Peter Quince and his fellow players Nick Bottom, Francis Flute, Robin Starveling, Tom Snout and Snug decide to rehearse a play for the upcoming wedding of the Duke and his bride.

And finally, it is where Oberon and Titania - the king and queen of the (in this case particularly gruesome) fairies - are in occupation.

With the ingredients in place, Oberon is minded to stir them up with a little drug induced meddling.

The success of any production of A Midsummer Night's Dream depends in great measure on the interaction of the characters who are in wooded confinement .

In this respect, Gabrielle Brooks (Hermia), Remy Beasley (Helena), Michael Elcock (Lysander) and Pierro Niel-Mee (Demetrius) portray the lovers with a wonderfully uncomplicated commitment to innocent and effervescent young love.

Their verbal sparring is a delight with the physical excursions required verging on the acrobatic.

And Remy Beasley is particularly memorable as a Helena, whose teenage hormones are dragging her emotions every which way in her relationship with the other three.

And then there's Puck, Oberon's faithful sprite.

Myra McFadyen plays this, to great effect and a hint of pantomime, as a world weary punk version of Jimmy Krankie in his dotage.

And then there are the amateur players and we all look to 'Bottom the weaver' who is probably the play's favourite character and one that provides so much of the humour.

In this production, Bottom is played Susan Wokoma and she fits the bill to a 'T'.

As a know-it-all Londoner, Wokoma brings to the role all the misplaced energetic confidence of youth and as a 'child in a sweetshop' in reaction to receiving the head and tail of a donkey and Titania's delirious devotion.

But Gareth Snook gets as many laughs playing Quince as a long-suffering director of the players – in a broad Welsh accent.

There is, literally, never a dull moment in this production of A Midsummer Night's Dream as it roller coasts inexorably to Quince's troop performing their version of 'the most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe'.

This is just so funny.

A Midsummer Night's Dream runs at the Open Air Theatre Regent's Park until 27 July 2019.

The next production is Evita, which runs from 2 August to 21 September.

See also : AllWays Traveller to the Open Air Theatre : https://www.allwaystraveller.com/allways-features-home/the-open-air-regent-s-park-is-a-theatrical-must

Useful links

​ www.openairtheatre.com