It might have been the biggest night in British football, but judging by the rapturous applause at the end of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, most of the Globe’s audience wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else. For director Jonathan Munby has taken Shakespeare’s much-loved comedy of errors, bound it in a tapestry of music, magic and madcap ebullience, and launched an irrepressible crowd pleaser.
Following a slow start, Mike Britton’s austere design and Munby’s initially subdued production is transformed. Heroin-chic fairies in tattered tutus plant bright pink flowers to recreate a mythical wood, the lovers shed their sumptuous black gowns to reveal light, summer frocks and the high-velocity magic begins.
Like his memorable production of ‘Nakamitsu’ at the Gate last year, Munby (working here with composer Olly Fox) reminds us of his skill in creating luscious, multi-sensory theatre. Here, the sense of otherworldliness is underpinned by an ethereal score, where celtic folk collides with chimes, gongs and foot-tapping big band swing.
Munby’s cast turn out some great performances, particularly Laura Rogers, whose Helena is a feisty heroine unafraid to knee her beloved Demetrius (Oliver Boot) in the goolies when she thinks he’s taking the proverbial. The Mechanicals’ re-enactment of ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’ is hilarious, with Paul Hunter’s madcap Bottom stealing the show.
Purists may object to its wild, almost ‘Carry on Shakespeare’ energy, its unforgivably giant, luminous condom (I think it’s meant to be a moon) and the fact that beyond the laughs there’s little else here. But you’ll probably be having too much fun to care.
