A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM | 4MBS And Brisbane Shakespeare Festival

This weekend I had the absolute pleasure of going to see 4MBS and Brisbane Shakespeare Festival's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in the amphitheatre at Roma Street Parklands. Looking around the crowd before the show started, it was so lovely to see so many families and small children residing in the seating banks, eagerly waiting for the magic and the mayhem to unfold onstage. I cannot express how much I love it when I see parents supporting their children's education in the arts.

Everyone knows the storyline of a Midsummer Night's Dream so I shan't waste words summarising the plot and if you don't know the plot then I'd highly recommend reading the play itself as the prose is divine. You may have also, like me already seen three adaptations of the play this year online and be far too familiar with the storyline. Instead, I thought I'd talk about the performance itself. Director Eugene Gilfedder did a fantastic job, making the complete use of the space by designating different parts of the stage to the different worlds, so to speak, of the characters. Xanthe Jones costumes were divine and I especially loved the fairies colourful attire and Oberon and Puck's woodland nympth-esque attire was spot on for the way I perceived the characters would look.

Now to the performers themselves. The actors playing The Mechanicals could not have been cast better. I loved all of their use of physical comedy, their mispronunciation of words and slapstick routines none more so than Francis McMahon's dying routine which had me in hysterics. The Fairies were also brilliant with Johanna Lyon (Pease-Blossom) and Amelia Pitcher (Cobweb) playing off of each other so wonderfully. They were the duo that I didn't know I needed. Andrew Hearle commanded the stage as Oberon and had such an air of regalness around him from his tone of his dialogue to his gait. Whilst admittedly he didn't have as much to do in the plot as others, Jeremiah Wray added a different dimension and ambiance to his character of Theseus that I hadn't seen done before. I could also listen to Wray talk all day as his voice was soothing, like a good quality Audible book.

If you love the Bard or you'd like a lovely night under the stars lost in a world of dreams, mischief and love, make sure you book your ticket for the following weekend. Brilliant cast, superb direction and did I mention that it's free?

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Production | A Midsummer Night's Dream

Producer | 4MBS and the Brisbane Shakespeare Festival

Director | Eugene Gilfedder

Tickets | www.BrisbaneShakespeareFestival.com.au

Performance dates |

Roma Street Parkland, Brisbane City - Sat 14 & Sun 15 Nov, 5.30pm

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