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Show: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Society: Polka Theatre (professional productions)
Venue: Polka Theatre. 240 The Broadway, London
Credits: Performed by Norwich Puppet Theatre
Type: Sardines
Author: Susan Elkin
Performance Date: 25/10/2023
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Susan Elkin | 25 Oct 2023 23:35pm
I suspect I’ve seen more productions of, and takes on, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, than most people have walked into a theatre at all. But this was a first time with puppets – although I’ve seen other Shakespeare plays in puppet versions. And it is one of the most ingenious reworkings ever: a mysterious, atmospheric very beautiful 50 minutes of light, colour and beautifully spoken verse.
Immaculately staged by two actors who also stage-manage with admirable deftness, we start with Professor Nick Bottom. He’s eccentric and forgetful, but he gives the young audience (it’s billed for 6+) quite a lot of information about the play and introduces the characters – treating the listeners, unpatronisingly. as interested young people. Then we’re off to the “dark” magic of the fairies in the wood.
The main tech used in this production is 4 overhead projectors – of the sort we used to use in schools before we had electronic whiteboards – and some torches. A big screen in the middle hides some of the backstage stuff from the audience and allows magical things such as shadows, silhouettes, moving lights which can seem to be caught and thrown about, shimmering colour, stick puppets, leaves which can be dragged across the OHP and lots of other simple but extraordinarily effective devices and it’s enhanced by Bill Vine’s ethereal music and sound effects. And it all sits happily in Polka’s studio space: The Adventure Theatre.
And to my great joy, once they embark on the play itself we get Shakespeare’s language rather than any sort of modern English melange so that in amongst all this visual magic the rapt audience is actually hearing an authentic (abridged, obviously – it’s a 50 minute show) version of the show.
Then at the end we get a very funny Pyramus and Thisbe with audience participation, a broom and a duster standing for Thisbe and then Puck taking the broom to lead into the lyrical final speech. It’s seamlessly accomplished.
When we, as critics, assess a show and attach a star rating to it we’re supposed to judge it as “a show of its type”. Thus you don’t try to compare, say, Hamilton with a two hander at the Brockley Studio or The Tiger Who Came to Tea with Iolanthe at ENO. I can honestly say that this A Midsummer Night’s Dream was one of the best shows of its type I have ever seen and I’m delighted to give it 5 stars.