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Footsbarn Theatre

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

by William Shakespeare

Directed by Patrick Hayter

Victoria Park, Tower Hamlets

7 – 30 November 2008

ay Couzen

A review by Colette Gunn-Graffy for EXTRA! EXTRA!

Even before the lights come up on Footsbarn Theatre’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there is a sense of having entered another world. In the semi-darkness, the set – which consists mainly of a large tree on a raised platform – possesses a subterranean glow. A small band of musicians play an unlikely combination of eastern and western instruments to produce a beautiful, eerie music that creeps under the skin. Then the actors begin to emerge; only they don’t appear to be actors at all, but oddly built troll-like creatures that smile and giggle to themselves.  From this moment forward, the audience is catapulted into what can only be described as a dream: a cast of fantastic characters, a melting pot of theatrical traditions, and a somewhat disjointed story that bears at least a passing resemblance to the play taught in high school.

The fact that the production takes place under Footsbarn’s iconic big top circus tent only adds to the magic and intrigue. Renowned internationally for its touring adaptations of classic plays by the likes of Shakespeare and Moliere, Footsbarn Theatre’s unique style and approach stem from its multi-national cast and crew. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, for instance, incorporates a range of theatrical traditions, including Commedia dell’Arte, maskwork and Kabuki. Throughout the show, the text is spoken with a variety of accents, occasionally in more than one language, and often with a great deal of license-taking.

With its mixture of comic and fantasy elements, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays, and it is these two aspects that Footsbarn’s brand of physical theatre strives to emphasise. In addition to trollish fairies, eerie music and maskwork, the production includes a hilarious band of rude mechanicals, led by Patrick Hayter as a truly grotesque Nick Bottom. Sporting prosthetic hair pieces and, in Bottom’s case, an incredible set of teeth (in all, resembling a set of illustrations by Quentin Blake), the actors portraying these wannabe thespians are experts of slapstick and comic timing. Indeed, they nearly steal the show. Next to these clowns, the plight of the more “realistically” portrayed (it’s all relative) lovers seems almost commonplace – which is saying rather a lot, seeing as how their problems are caused by quarrelling fairy royals. As the woebegone Helena, however, Muriel Piquart shines. With her mournful face and talent for hysterical grimacing, Piquart never lets us forget the absurdity of love; a lesson driven home most obviously by the queen of the fairies falling for an ass.
If the show disappoints it is, surprisingly, in its portrayal of the world of the fairies. Although the production gets off to an excellent start, creating a strong sense of otherworldliness, this feeling gradually dissipates as we are exposed to the heightened portrayals of both the mechanicals and the lovers. (The latter are initially presented in feathery capes and beaked masks, squabbling like chickens.) Although the troll-like masks and physicality used to create the fairies (though not Oberon and Titania who were portrayed as having human form) are highly evocative, they are somewhat overshadowed by the similarly extreme nature of the human characters. In effect, the show feels perhaps ‘too full’ of magic and spectacle. Instead of presenting us with the consequences of a supernatural world driving natural forces and human actions, this production tends to blend these two worlds together into one great carnivalesque frolic.

That being said, this ‘frolic’ still manages to awe and inspire, and certainly it tickles the funny bone. Though Shakespeare purists should stand warned, Footsbarn’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream offers fabulous spectacle and genuine fun.

Tues – Sat @ 7:30pm, Sun @ 5pm
Additional matinees Saturday 22nd & 29th @ 2:30pm, Tuesday 18th @ 1:00pm

Tickets £25 / £15 concessions / £12.50 children under 16 / Groups 10+ £15.00

Box Office: 0844 755 0017; www.seetickets.com

Venue: Footsbarn’s Big Top in Victoria Park, Grove Road, London E3

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