Written By: Mark Armstrong
Format: Play
Genre: Comedy
Date: April 12 2018
Location: Epstein Theatre, Liverpool, England
Around a year ago, I covered Daniel Taylor’s version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, held at Epstein Theatre to strong reviews. The show returned last night, and I’m pleased to say that it was another success.
Taylor not only directs the show, but plays an integral role as Bottom, the village idiot who prides himself on his acting – or overacting, according to his fellow characters – and who is greatly looking forward to playing Pyramus in an upcoming production for Theseus and Hippolyta’s wedding, alongside his somewhat simple cast of local performers.
But in the meantime, trouble awaits for Theseus and Hippolyta, as well as their being real issues in the relationships between Demetrius, Helena, Lysander and Hermia. For the bizarrely imaginative and somewhat scary Puck casts a wicked magical spell upon the central characters, which range from putting them to sleep to transforming their appearance completely (Bottom becomes a donkey, unbeknownst to him). It results in confusion, conflict and chaos, but in the end, Puck is convinced – against his wishes, mind – to allow everything to return to normal, and both the wedding and the play go ahead as planned.
The secret to this show’s success is the humour throughout, whether it be Bottom hamming it up in the hopes of being the next major star within his field, to Puck’s clear disdain for the other characters’ happiness, to a piece of unintentional comedy (which I don’t believe was planned at all), which saw Demetrius out cold on the ground, but with his trusty sword positioned in such a way that it gave off a somewhat awkward visual. Hmm …
All of the cast from last year return for this latest production. Aside from Taylor, we have James Templeton as Puck, Sharon Byatt as Hippolyta, John Schumacher as Theseus, Lucy Litchfield as Hermia, Ed Barr Sim as Demetrius, Sam Donovan as Lysander and Chloe Taylor as Helena. The scenery, the body language and of course the script are faithful to the original version of this classic tale, and the humorous moments got some big laughs out of the crowd.
So, if you missed this incarnation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream last year, I would definitely recommend checking it out during its current run at the Epstein.
Overall Rating: 8/10 – Very Good
