Midsummer Night's Dream at the Bridge, London

[juliet]

On Tuesday P & I went to see Midsummer Night's Dream at the Bridge (which is conveniently a 15 min walk from me, now they've re-opened the St Saviour's footbridge), and it was AWESOME.

(Note: I don't think 'spoilers' really apply for a 400+ year old play, but I'm going to talk about staging details & at least one significant script decision & so on, so if you are going to see it and want to come to that stuff fresh, don't read on.)

The Bridge is very newly built and has obviously been built with an eye to doing interesting staging things. This production is staged in the round, with standing tickets available in the pit where you're surrounding the action and at times nearly part of it. (I didn't fancy standing for 3 hrs so we had actual seats). There's bits of floor that pop up and things wheeled in and out and beds hoisted up and down and fairies doing acrobatics on silks and all sorts of similar excitements. Which I suspect some might see as gimmicky but I thought was all great -- and it's such a daft play really that going OTT with the bells and whistles is an excellent fit.

The big change is that Titania (Gwendolyn Christie) and Oberon (Oliver Chris) swap lines throughout. So all the trickery is done by Titania and Puck, and Oberon gets it on with Bottom. I really liked this, to the point of preferring it to the textual version. There was a bit more queering it up in the four-lovers woodland scenes as well (which obviously I was also in favour of); and the whole thing had a gender-fluid vibe. Plus assorted fairies in sequinned hot-pants. There was also an interesting switch in the power dynamics between Theseus and Hippolyta, from the first scene where she was literally in a box and obviously a captured prisoner; to the last one where she was visibly the one in control (and got Theseus' last speech, to underline the point).

Bottom (Hammed Animashaun) was fantastic to the point of scene-stealing at times, and the play-within-a-play was very funny (I often dread it a bit), though possibly dragged out a bit too long. (There is only so much of that sort of humour that I, personally, can take.)

P was slightly critical of the textual additions -- not swapping lines around, but the occasional modern interjections. (e.g. some business with Puck losing the flower he was sent to fetch; a bit where the Rude Mechanicals borrowed an audience member's phone & made a joke about Google & selfies, a couple of other occasions. Only a couple of words at a time, nothing huge.) I was fine with that; all the additions were short enough that they was only slightly more than stage business (which is definitely legit), and in general I thought they worked well. I am not terribly purist though; I'm more inclined to "if it works it's fine".

Overall though it just felt really fun, and immersive (even from the seats), and magical. As they got to the last few speeches I found myself feeling genuinely sad that I was going to have to leave this place they'd created -- and it did feel like leaving, not just sadness that the story was coming to an end. I'd very happily go back again (I mean, I probably won't, because time & money are constraints and there's lots of theatre to see, but I would).

Comments

[rydra_wong]

Okay to link? This is an excellent review and might be of interest to people in London and Shakespeare nerds generally.

[juliet]

Yes, you’re very welcome to!

[stultiloquentia]

I really enjoyed reading this,even if it made me pout about being on the wrong side of the Atlantic.

[kore]

I really enjoyed reading this,even if it made me pout about being on the wrong side of the Atlantic.

YES.

[satsuma]

Same! So jealous I am not in London right now to see it

[juliet]

Glad you enjoyed it!

I believe NTLive are doing it on (or from?) Oct 17th, if you're able to get to a participating cinema. (http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/ntlout35-a-midsummer-night-s-dream)

[kore]

The big change is that Titania (Gwendolyn Christie) and Oberon (Oliver Chris) swap lines throughout. So all the trickery is done by Titania and Puck, and Oberon gets it on with Bottom. I really liked this, to the point of preferring it to the textual version. There was a bit more queering it up in the four-lovers woodland scenes as well (which obviously I was also in favour of); and the whole thing had a gender-fluid vibe. Plus assorted fairies in sequinned hot-pants. There was also an interesting switch in the power dynamics between Theseus and Hippolyta, from the first scene where she was literally in a box and obviously a captured prisoner; to the last one where she was visibly the one in control (and got Theseus' last speech, to underline the point).

Oh, this sounds amazing. Thank you for writing such a neat review of it.

[juliet]

It was so much fun! I really am tempted to go back...

Re being on wrong side of Atlantic: NTLive are doing it (on Oct 17 & poss thereafter?) if you're able to get to a participating cinema. http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/ntlout35-a-midsummer-night-s-dream

[kore]

THANK YOU, I always mean to keep up with those broadcasts but keep forgetting!

[vass]

Ooh! *checks* Neither of the theatres near me that do NTLive are doing this one. Just Helen Mirren playing Queen Elizabeth. Boo.

Maybe they'll get it later.

[juliet]

Oh drat :( it says more international cinemas coming, so I will keep my thumbs crossed for you.

[slightlycanted]

(Thanks for the spoiler cut, I saved reading this until after I'd seen it!)
I loved it too - I spotted in Oberon and Titania's first confrontation that they had some lines swapped, but I didn't think through the implications immediately - when I twigged, I wanted to grab my companions and hiss my glee at the forthcoming Oberon/Bottom pair-up.
I was then worried that Bottom/Oberon would be generating humour from them being ho ho two dudes, but somehow (I felt) they staved that off - it was funny because they were from totally different walks of life/genres.

I was in the pit, and it was joyful. I'd love to see what it looked like from above, particularly as some of the things they got us to do were both fun to do, but (I suspect) created a visual spectacle for the people above.
And I also didn't mind the modern interjections - they perked things up nicely.

[juliet]

I definitely felt that the folks in the pit moving around added to the spectacle even when they weren't doing stuff, as well -- something about feeling more involved vicariously despite not being down there myself?

Definitely agree re avoiding the funny-because-dudes thing (thankfully!). I think maybe partly because they both played that aspect of it straight, as it were; and possibly the surrounding genderqueer fairy vibes helped, in that Oberon didn't exactly come across as straight in the other sense. And one didn't get the sense afterwards that that was what Oberon was horrified by when he realised; it was down to the faerie snobbery :)

Really glad to hear you enjoyed it!

[sfred]

That does sound really great.

[rydra_wong]

Belated comment is belated, but a random internet walk just informed me that Demetrius is played by Paul Adeyefa, who is Disposable Demon in Good Omens (under a lot of eye makeup and bunny ears):

https://acrownforaking.tumblr.com/post/186771681141/good-omens-headcanons-disposable-demon

Also in 2015 he apparently went to Comic Con dressed as Troy dressed as Constable Reggie, suggesting he is a true nerd -- One Of Us!

https://twitter.com/darianflowers/status/602407616057364480

[juliet]

OH right! I feel like I should have spotted that, but, y'know. Faces. And actors doing things with them, as per discussions else-DW :)

One Of Us!

[rydra_wong]

I feel like I should have spotted that, but, y'know. Faces.

SRSLY. Even without actors doing things with them, I have a hard enough time recognizing people, let alone being able to go from "this person's face is vaguely familiar" to identifying whatever context I've encountered them in before.

ETA: I just thought I'd mention it because of how much I personally enjoy going "Oh, this person who was in this good thing! Was also in that other good thing! Yay!"

[juliet]

YES! I very much enjoy that too, so thank you for pointing it out :)

[braisedbywolves]

I'd agree with P that most of the interjections are more than just stage direction, but I think I'd disagree that they're bad - there's in the plays both humour as in a well-constructed sentence, but also just jokes that get a quick laugh from you, one that you can't get if you have to translate the joke in your head at the same time. Shakespeare would totally have written a selfie joke, IMHO.

My favourite non-scripted part last night was Puck* trying to leap down from one of the stages to cross to the other when there was an audience member in the way.

"Move!"
"Mooeuve!"
"I need you to move so I can get down"
(audience member moves, Puck leaps down and moves past him)
"Thaank yeuw"
(Puck moves over to the other stage)
"Londoners!"

*it's arguably also consistent that it was Puck that seemed to be extemporising the most, but this might just be because I went home and read the same-named Sandman story:)

[braisedbywolves]

Also: it was great.

[juliet]

Oh yes, P is correct, I just don't mind them & thought they worked well.

Puck did the "Londoners!" joke when I saw it too (and similar "move! I need to get through!" stuff), so not-Shakespeare-scripted maybe but not wholly unscripted :)

Glad you enjoyed it too!