Immersed in shallow water
⭑⭑⭑
The Bridge Theatre’s immersive production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is tremendous fun. Then again, I recently spent the day at Peppa Pig World, and that was a lot of fun too. For me the question is, is The Bridge’s Dream more than a party? Of course I could ask, do we need an excuse to enjoy a joyous night out inside one of our favourite theatres?
Before I go on, let me be clear: Nicholas Hytner’s production A Midsummer Night’s Dream was better theatre than Peppa Pig World. The acting including J J Feild as Oberon, Susannah Fielding as Titania, David Moorst as Puck and Emmanuel Akwafo as Bottom was excellent; Bunny Christie’s bed-strewn set and Christina Cunningham’s costumes were wondrous; Arlene Phillips’ movement, and the effects, the lighting and the sound were the best you could hope for. Even so, it felt like being immersed in shallow water.
I have no doubt that creating a pseudo anarchy is in the spirit of Shakespeare’s play. Faeries fly above you, characters appear and disappear all over the place, while you are being moved this way and that wondering where the action will erupt next. And yes, swapping the lines of Oberon and Titania sets up even more laughs as the King of the Fairies falls in love with an ass.
And there are lots of laughs, not only the predictable humour of the Rude Mechanicals, but also from everyone else as a punk-like Puck unleashes mayhem. Lysander loses his trousers, there are accidental gay encounters, modern phrases enliven the Elizabethan text.
The problem for me is, what is lost when everything becomes an excuse for a laugh or a party is an involvement in the characters and their fate. There is little sense of a major theme of the play- what happens to people’s emotions when their world is turned upside down. In every production I’ve seen until now, the Athenian women are genuinely upset when their lovers swap affection, the King of the Fairies, or Queen in this case, shows remorse at the effect of their magic.
I had the same feeling when I saw Punchdrunk’s The Burnt City. The feeling of wonder at what I was seeing, and the almost thrill of being lost as I stumbled into the mixed up scenes was fantastic, but I didn’t give a jot about the Greek tragedy that was unfolding.
Guys And Dolls, another immersive production at The Bridge, worked, for me, because, no matter how impressive the fluidity of the set was, the characters, book and music were allowed to speak for themselves. So, no matter how much the audience were lost in the action, we never lost ourinvolvement in the love stories.
I can see why for many critics it was a 5 star party. Sharing laughter is good for us, and I would totally recommend getting one of the not-very-expensive promenade tickets. But when I go to the theatre, I am also expecting to come out changed, if only a little bit, by what I have experienced, and on this occasion I wasn’t.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream can be seen at The Bridge Theatre until 20 August 2025. Buy tickets directly from the theatre
Paul paid for his ticket
Click here to watch this review on the YouTube channel Theatre Reviews With Paul Seven