REVIEWS REVIEWS
The theme of the 2004 Chichester Festival Theatre’s season is “Out of this
World”. Gale Edwards, the Director, and Alison Chitty, Designer, have
provided us with a glorious and inventive production. The backdrop to the
open oval stage is dominated by eight enormous grey doors set in a
semicircle, representing the Court, and flanked by spiral staircases which
are linked by a balcony. The main props in the forest are three enormous
hoops and three floating planets or spheres.
All Shakespeare’s plays have both serious and comic elements which are
addressed to certain sections of the audience. This production of Midsummer
Night’s Dream excels in the comic department.
The play opens at the Court of Theseus, Duke of Athens, where we meet his
bride, Hippolyta, dressed in bright red, with Hermia, Helena, Lysander and
Demetrius all in evening dress of black and white. The story unfolds with
Hermia declaring her love for Lysander and refusing to marry Demetrius, much to her father’s anger who therefore, according to Athens’ laws, wants
her dead. The lovers decide to elope, but Helena tells Demetrius and they
follow the lovers into the forest.
The forest is where we meet Oberon and Titania, played by Jeffrey Kisson
and Norma Dumezweni, who also play Theseus and Hippolyta. Titania is
accompanied by her fairies. What a delight they are dressed in bright
psychedelic pink, purple and yellow tutus, with matching leg warmers, and
bright blue wigs. They are in charge of the hoops which are used most
effectively as obstacles, trees, and by attaching them to ceiling wires, are
raised to act as view points. Whilst the story of the lovers unfolds the
fairies watch everything from above by acrobatically swinging and sitting from the hoops. Their reactions to the lovers’ problems is excellent.
And then there is Puck, superbly played by John Marquez. He is a lively,
agile and mischievous character who puts the magic drops on the wrong
person. These magic drops are portrayed by the use of fingertip lights which light up when the characters touch index finger and thumb together; very clever. It was wonderful and magical to watch; they come on and go off
as if by magic.
However, the best part of the production is the fools, or Mechanicals as
Chichester calls them. The six men are portrayed as artisans who want to
help celebrate the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta by performing a play.
We first meet them in Act 1 planning the play. In Act 2 they attempt to
rehearse it and later, with all the lovers finding their correct partner,
they perform it before all three couples, at their wedding nuptials, and
their guests. The tragic comedy is incredibly funny and made all the more
so by the superb and very funny acting as they strive and fail, and yet
strive and succeed. Like all great comedy the Mechanicals are based on
reality and consequently we connect with them.
This is a delightful, ingeniously modern production. Very different from
the traditional setting but I’m sure Shakespeare would have approved. One
not to be missed. © JMB
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is in repertoire at Chichester from the 8th of May until the 23rd of September, 2004.
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