A Midsummer Night's Dream

Sadly, this cross-over to the screen of an acclaimed stage production by Adrian Noble, the Royal Shakespeare Company's artistic director, is a nightmare. What impressed about the original was the colour and energy. Here, the colours are chocolate-box garish. The women seem to be refugees from the wedding-gift counter at Peter Jones, and the men look like waiters in a haplessly themed King's Road restaurant. An attempt has been made to open the play out (and unify it) by letting loose a schoolboy in the action. The result's a baffling mix that leaves the action panting behind arch cinematic references to everything from Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz to ET.