‘Midsummer Night’s Dream : Nap time at the Cutler Majestic
Photo Credit Simone Annand. David Ricardo-Pearce as Oberon.
Reviewed by Jane Baldwin
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, now playing at Boston’s Cutler Majestic is the second show produced by the Bristol Old Vic Theatre Company in collaboration with the South African Handspring Puppet Company. The first, The War Horse, adapted from a children’s novel was a renowned prizewinner dominated by its large and beautifully choreographed puppets.
Shakespeare’s play is directed and choreographed quite differently, conceivably because of the stylistic incongruities. The romantic comedy takes place in three different realms: the world of the rich and powerful, fairyland and its magic, and the laboring class. Like most of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies, it is convoluted, revolving around three seemingly separate but related plots. To further complicate matters, many of the roles are double cast so as to accentuate similarities rather than variants. Theseus, the Duke of Athens and Oberon, the king of the fairies are both played by David Ricardo-Pearce while Saskia Portway enacts the Duke’s wife-to-be Hippolyta and Titania, the Queen of the fairies.