ANARCHIC, fun,
hilarious, fast paced, bonkers, brilliant, chaotic, riotous,
imaginative and irreverent. These are just some of the many words you
could and should use to describe Go Theatre People's production of A
Midsummer Night's Dream.
On at the Southwark
Playhouse, it is the latest in a long line of productions of
Shakespeare's classic which are being staged this year and it is like
nothing I've ever seen.
It has a cast of just
seven who delight in telling us right from the off that they will be
doubling and trebling to fill the 17 roles in the original text as
they try to stage the play in a little under two hours.
The cast assemble
around a table on a plywood floor on the traverse stage and discuss
the allocation of roles before the play begins proper.
There is plenty of
bluster not least between Freddie Fox and Freddie Hutchins which
spills over in their roles as Demetrius and Lysander respectively.
They have no set, there
is no special lighting, no music and the bare minimum of props. So
they rope in unsuspecting members of the audience and persuade us to
use a tonne of imagination to tell the stories of the young lovers
and the fairies in the forest.
It is all tongue in
cheek and full of laughs although there are a few times when the
essence of the play gets lost and it all feels a bit much and a case
of trying too hard.
But these are few and
far between and in truth it is a pretty glorious production with some
hilarious moments where the comedy is ramped up to the max - Freddie
Fox morphing into the ass being a case in point.
Other priceless scenes
include those with the audience members - so if you don't want to get
involved I'd advise against sitting on the front row.
Starring Lucy Eaton,
Freddie Fox, Melanie Fullbrook, Maddy Hill, Ludovic Hughes, Freddie
Hutchins and Suzie Preece it is a joyful and riotous take on this
iconic play.
A Midsummer Night's
Dream is on at the Southwark Playhouse until July 1. Tickets cost
£20. Visit http://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/ or call the box office
on 020 7407 0234
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