The Fairy Queen, Glyndebourne, July 2012

A  Midsummer Night’s Dream as Gesamtkunstwerk, with actors, singers, and dancers in Purcell’s remarkable semi-opera, is given here in an eclectic production by Jonathan Kent combining the seventeenth century with modern times — linked of course by the fairies.

Titania, changeling, fairies, all images Richard Hubert Smith

It all starts in a Restoration drawing room with a Restoration version of Shakespeare. His play within a play is extended by musical interludes and four musical masques, the one before the long interval showing the delights of sensual love. This involves giant bunnies having it off every which way, including reversing roles in a pantomime that would confuse the children. But there is a pantomime spirit about the whole thing, including the way Finbar Lynch plays Oberon, and when conductor Laurence Cummings appeared for curtain calls at the end his bunny tail and huge white feet reflected the great enthusiasm and energy he had already shown in the orchestra pit, producing a lively performance from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

The lovers united by fairy magic

Anyone who has been to the Globe Theatre will be used to hearing bits of music and dance with the plays, but here it entirely takes over from time to time, and Kim Brandstrup’s imaginative choreography was a joy to watch. That is the one thing I would happily have seen more of, but on the other hand anything more in this production would surely tip it over the top. As it is, Paul Brown’s designs gave me more than I bargained for, and when the seasons came on towards the end, Autumn looked like a Mayan god. It was almost too much. That was followed by the best vocal performance of the evening by bass David Soar as Winter — he was super.

Puck and fairies

Other fine performances were given by actors Jotham Annan as Puck and Penny Downie as Titania. Annan’s lithe body made it look as if he could transport himself anywhere in the forest, and Penny Downie gave a rendering of Titania that reminded me of the quality Judi Dench brought to the role in a recent production. The Rude Mechanicals are cleaners whose abrupt appearance in the seventeenth century drawing room was something of a coup de theâtre, but this production was not short of such sudden theatrical changes in costume.

The double wedding

So many changes, so little time, but this is not a short work, so be prepared for laughter and confusion.

There will be a cinema screening on Sunday, July 22, and performances continue until August 26 — for details click here.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, English National Opera, ENO, London Coliseum, May 2011

Three worlds: the fairies, the lovers, and the rustics, all together here in a secondary school. Oberon and Tytania are teachers, Puck one of the older boys, and the other fairies smaller boys; the lovers are sixth formers; and the rustics are janitorial staff.

The tall visitor with Puck, all photos by Alastair Muir

It all starts in silence. A tall young man wanders the school grounds, hunches down and slumps in a sitting position, his back against a wall. A boy appears. The music starts. Only by reading the first sentence of the synopsis can you understand what’s going on: On the eve of his wedding, a man returns to his old school. Long-forgotten memories of his schooldays come back to him in the form of a dream … . Small boys step silently along school corridors. It’s a little unnerving, and the visitor is spooked. But is this a ‘long-forgotten memory’ or something suppressed in a hidden chamber of his mind? An essay in the programme about paedophilia describes, in the first person, a case of the latter.

Benjamin Britten’s music creates an aura of sleepy magic that becomes discomforting in Christopher Alden’s new production. The spookiness is broken slightly by the appearance of a teenage girl in school uniform, hitching her skirt up. This is Hermia, soon united with a teenage Lysander behind the large waste bins, and later, Demetrius comes on with other boys in rugby kit, pursued by Helena.

Helena attacks Hermia

Our mysterious visitor inhabits the stage throughout, sometimes staggering in a dream-like stupor, sometimes asleep, as when the rustics, in the form of the janitorial staff, prepare their play. Willard White as Bottom is quietly sewing costumes, and when they do put on the play in Act III it’s a riot of colour against the grey background of the school, and very funny.

Acts I and II are run together without an interval, giving an intense atmosphere to the first part. In the second part, after the lovers’ problems have been put right and they are welcomed by Theseus and Hippolyta, his bride to be, the six of them occupy one of the audience boxes and enjoy the rustics’ spectacle. But Theseus has been there all the time … we never knew it, but he was the silent dreamer revisiting his old school, and Hippolyta already appeared in one of his dreams. Now all is well, or so we think. As the fairies are left on stage to give their blessing, Theseus takes leave of Hippolyta and is once again spooked. Will he ever escape?

Oberon and Tytania love the same boy

Britten’s music was beautifully conducted by Leo Hussain, the boys’ chorus was excellent, and the individual performances were all strong. Willard White was superb as Bottom, showing excellent stage presence, as did Jamie Manton who was a wonderful Puck. Anna Christy sang a fine Tytania, and William Towers did remarkably well as Oberon, coming up from Glyndebourne at the last minute to take over from Iestyn Davies who acted the part on stage — he was unwell, and so was his understudy. Apparently Allan Clayton rose from his sick-bed to sing Lysander, performing brilliantly, and I particularly liked the voice of Tamara Gura as Helena. Paul Whelan as Theseus was remarkable — as the visitor and dreamer he was a fine silent actor, and as the king of Athens he sang a strong bass.

Tytania indulges in S&M with Bottom

The set design by Charles Edwards emphasised a powerful and claustrophobic atmosphere for the school, well lit by Adam Silverman, and the costumes by Sue Wilmington were entirely in keeping with the production. If you want a traditional take on the story, this is not for you, and the production team certainly received some boos at the end. But if you’re willing to accept a representation of mysterious forces in the otherwise mundane world of human beings, then this is strongly recommended as an intriguing take on Britten’s opera.

Performances continue until June 30 — for more details click here.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, English Touring Opera, Sadler’s Wells, London, March 2010

Jonathan Peter Kenny as Oberon and Gillian Ramm as Tytania, photo by Richard Hubert Smith

The right composer for an opera on Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream is surely Benjamin Britten, and he doesn’t disappoint. He created this work in 1960, having been well seasoned by the dramatic ambiguity of Peter Grimes, and the discomforting theatre of The Turn of the Screw. The first of these distils the opera from a collection of poems, and the second from a novel, but this one from Shakespeare must inevitably involve cutting the dialogue, and the main cut is at the beginning. Shakespeare starts his play in practical scenes at court, whereas Britten takes us straight into the mysterious world of the supernatural. His music is wonderfully evocative of that world, yet with simpler folk melodies for the rustics. It is deceptively simple, played by a relatively small orchestra, but a magical atmosphere is created, and this production by James Conway serves it very well indeed. The sets and costumes by Joanna Parker, with subtle lighting designs by Aideen Malone, are excellent.

Michael Rosewall conducted well, producing lovely sounds from the orchestra and keeping the singers in phase. They all sang with sensitivity, and Gillian Ramm as Tytania, and Laura Mitchell as Helena both did well. The part of Oberon was originally created for Alfred Deller, who could no longer manage the higher register, and it’s a difficult role for a counter-tenor. Here we had Jonathan Peter Kenny, who produced an attractive sound but was underpowered and lacked clarity in his diction — that was unfortunate since there were no surtitles in this production. By contrast, Puck’s Sprechstimme was colourfully done and well performed.

Gillian Ramm as Tytania and Andrew Slater as Bottom, photo by Richard Hubert Smith

While much of the music and action is on a rather ethereal level, an excellent contrast was created in this production by the interaction between Tytania and Bottom as a priapic ass. This was no idle attraction on her part, but a full-blooded sexual union, amusingly portrayed as Bottom falls asleep after the climax. If you don’t know Britten’s Dream, it’s worth seeing on stage rather than simply listening to, and this is a fine production to experience.

After London it will tour to the following venues: 20^th March, Exeter Northcott Theatre; 24^th March, Hall for Cornwall, Truro; 31^st March, Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield; 10^th April, The Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham; 17^th April, Buxton Opera House; 24^th April, Grand Opera House Belfast; 29^th April, The Hawth, Crawley; 8^th May, Snape Maltings Concert Hall; 15^th May, Warwick Arts Centre; 22^nd May, Perth Festival, Perth Theatre; 29^th May, Cambridge Arts Theatre.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rose Theatre, Kingston-on-Thames, February 2010

There is an idea that Shakespeare had in mind Queen Elizabeth when writing the part of Titania, queen of the fairies, whose name is based on the Roman goddess Diana. The play was produced in about 1595, at a time when Shakespeare’s company, the Chamberlain’s Men, were regularly playing to Elizabeth’s court and it’s quite likely she saw it. In any event it was a masterstroke of Peter Hall to have Judi Dench play the part of Titania, and I found her entirely convincing. It is nearly fifty years since she first performed it under Hall’s direction with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1962, but fairies are ancient beings, aren’t they — and fairy queens may be older than most.

The players, who rehearse in the woods and perform at the Duke’s court, were utterly delightful. Oliver Chris as Bottom, with a Brummie accent, was a wonderful ass, and his death scene in the frightful court performance of Pyramus and Thisbe was gloriously over the top. I also thought Timothy Speyer as Snug was superb with his round-eyes and broad Black Country accent, seemingly in awe of his more worldly fellow actors. The hopeless incompetence of the acting troupe was hilarious, and their marvellous comic timing had the audience in stitches.

The lovers were well played, with Annabel Scholey as Hermia, Rachael Stirling as Helena, and I particularly liked Tam Williams and Ben Mansfield as Lysander and Demetrius, the suitors. In the fairy realm, Reece Ritchie was an excellent Puck with his dark features, huge energy and mischievous attitude. The sets and costume designs by Elizabeth Bury, and the lighting by Peter Mumford, were both simple and effective, and the ass’s head gave Bottom an appealing nobility. The Rose Theatre usually has some empty seats, partly because of some poor sight-lines, but Judi Dench has made this a sell-out. If you can get tickets, it’s well worth seeing, not just for her, but because the whole cast gives a wonderful performance. This is the perfect antidote to the winter blues — it’s a riot, and two Americans in front of us were going for the second time that day!