BWW Reviews: THE DREAMING, Union Theatre, September 10 2014

They're all there and, joy of joys, hardly disguised at all. There's young Jack, puckishly flitting about causing mayhem; two boys and two girls, all mixed up about who loves who; a king and queen of the woodlanders, who aren't getting along terribly well; and five appalling (but enthusiastic) actors with a play to put on.

Howard Goodall (music) and Charles Hart (book and lyrics) re-imagined A Midsummer Night's Dream as a musical set in an idyllic, innocent England about to be pitched into the horrors of The Somme. Lads wear the khaki, girls wear high collars and there's not a cloud in the starriest of skies - at least, not yet.

The Dreaming (continuing at the Union Theatre until 27 September) may quote Phillip Larkin's MCMXIV in the programme, but its sensibility is more John Betjeman - a country slowly shaking off traditional ways and cautiously embracing the the new, while retaining its essential Englishness. This theme runs through the songs that range from gentle ballads to patter songs to full-on epic anthems celebrating life for the sake of it. The music, played by an excellent four-piece orchestra under David Griffiths, is lovely and, like the sun on an English summer's day, it never gets too overheated and charms with its changes in tone and intensity.

The young cast are required to dance, sing and act - the triple crown of musical theatre - and the results are inevitably somewhat variable. Michael Burgen is a brash Nick Cheek, singing beautifully; Daisy Tonge is a haughtily regal Sylvia, Queen of the Woodlanders, a seductive presence that captures Joshua Tonks's bare-chested and virile King. One or two other voices don't match these standouts and are slightly lost in the soaring, swooping, melodies but thgat hardly detracts from well over two hours of super entertainment.

Though often presented in youth theatre, The Dreaming is a big, big musical using all the space available in the Union Theatre (and some that seems barely available at all). For the second time in a week, (after Tess of the D'Urbervilles) I'm left full of admiration for the confidence and commitment of a production - and that's plenty enough to offset the one or two flaws that such ambition always brings.

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