A MIDSUMMER
NIGHT'S DREAM

Tour 2008

2008 reviews

‘A triumph’ The Duke of Norfolk

“Just wonderful - the actors know how Shakespeare should be spoken” Imogen Stubbs

“Crisp, clear, outstanding. A wonderful show. A great performance” Sir David Frost

“The show was fabulous and fitted beautifully into the venue” Marsha Fitzalan

Shakespeare bounded back into the Arundel Festival with an outstanding production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the perfect setting of Arundel Castle’s new Collector Earl’s Garden.

And the bard’s return to a festival which was founded on his work 30 years ago was as successful as it was welcome, after a three-year absence from Arundel.

Two sell-out nights, with audiences increased to 800 for each performance after demand for the initial 500 tickets was overwhelming, a well-deserved reward for a fine staging of this mystical, magical comedy by the British Shakespeare Company.

Coming just a few years after a memorable Arundel Festival production of the “Dream” by the outanding Tour de Force company, this was a bold choice of play to bring back, but any fears of unfavourable comparisons were quickly dispelled by the quality of the acting.

Luminaries in the audience including Sir Trevor Nunn, Imogen Stubbs and Sir David Frost must have enjoyed their night beneath the West Sussex sky, surrounded by palm trees, fountains and other amazing structures in this remarkable garden, none more so than Oberon’s Palace, the fabulous green oak tower inspired by this very play.

All these features cast their own mysterious shadows and added to the other-worldly realm of Shakespeare’s unfolding story of fairies, spirits, moonlit assignations and dreamy hours deep in the woodland.

The mischievous meddlings of king of the fairies Oberon (David Davies) and his sidekick Puck (Richard Morrison) compound the complex love lives of Helena (Catherine Lake), Demetrius (Luciano Dodero), Hermia (Jacqueline Wilder) and Lysander (Oliver Farnworth), summed up by Lysander’s words to Hermia, “The course of true love never did run smooth.”

Wilder and Lake were particular strengths of a very good cast of 15. They lived the parts, whether sharing the hopes and fears of young love, fighting and even hair-pulling as rivals or pouring out their hearts to the objects of their affection.

As if all this wasn’t confusing enough, Shakespeare tosses in the bunch of bumpkin actors with their play-within-a-play to entertain the guests at the forthcoming wedding of Theseus, also played by David Davies, and Hippolyta (Daniela Lavender, appearing as queen of the fairies Titania, too).

Barrie Palmer, Anthony Acosta, Robert J Williamson, Kevin Brannagan and Robert Crumpton were in fine form as the bumbling “rude mechanicals”, so much more than mere comic interlude, Williamson’s attention to detail as director shining through in beautifully staged scenes.

Fairies Peaseblossom (Rebecca Wicking), Mustard Seed (Elyon that’s her name) and Cobweb (Amy Smith), and five-year-old Mackenzie Rowswell as the Indian changeling child, completed the cast.

The effects of the magical love potion dispensed by Puck were, mercifully for the mortals, short-lived, but the spell woven by this “Dream” will live long in the memories of those fortunate enough to witness it.

And the word is that both the castle and this excellent company are keen to mount a longer run next year to satisfy demand.

ROGER GREEN , LITTLEHAMPTON GAZETTE

Click to view Photographs of this show

Open to all the Shakespearean

'The bard would have been well pleased with the location for this most whimsical and light hearted play.

The garden in Arundel Castle - a tribute to Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel, nicknamed "The Collector" - provided a magical and idyllic setting.

The centrepiece is the rockwork 'mountain' planted with palms and rare ferns to represent another world. It also features a green oak version of Oberon's Palace, a fantastic spectacle designed by Indigo Jones for Prince Henry's Masque on New Year's Day 1611 - just five years after A Midsummer Night's Dream was first presented.

Appearing as part of the Arundel Festival, The British Shakespeare Company is second only in size and reputation to The Royal Shakespeare Company and the largest outdoor performer of his work.

Part of the reason that Midsummer is one of his most popular plays is its unique combination of farce, comedy, poetry and drama.

The 15 actors caputured all these elements perfectly, within the limitations that outdoor performance imposes.

There was nothing in the way of the special effects, lighting and gimmicks that indoor interpretations often offer. However, this did not detract from a joyous, humorous and physical rendition which delighted the audience on a beautiful and peaceful evening.

The play contains some of Will's best soundbites, including "the course of true love never did run smooth" "Cheek by Jowl" "the long and the short of it" and to "fall out" (with each other).

The play itself is a typically convoluted comic love story, which comes across occasionally as a medieval version of home and away. Shakespeare probably sums it up best, when one of the characters refers to "the pert and nimble spirit of mirth"

Brighton Argus 30.08.08

"The British Shakespeare Company will set the new Collector Earl's
Garden alight with A Midsummer Night's Dream" The Guardian

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

Tour 2008

‘A triumph’ The Duke of Norfolk

“Just wonderful - the actors know how Shakespeare should be spoken” Imogen Stubbs

“Crisp, clear, outstanding. A wonderful show. A great performance” Sir David Frost

“The show was fabulous and fitted beautifully into the venue” Marsha Fitzalan

Shakespeare bounded back into the Arundel Festival with an outstanding production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the perfect setting of Arundel Castle’s new Collector Earl’s Garden.

And the bard’s return to a festival which was founded on his work 30 years ago was as successful as it was welcome, after a three-year absence from Arundel.

Two sell-out nights, with audiences increased to 800 for each performance after demand for the initial 500 tickets was overwhelming, a well-deserved reward for a fine staging of this mystical, magical comedy by the British Shakespeare Company.

Coming just a few years after a memorable Arundel Festival production of the “Dream” by the outanding Tour de Force company, this was a bold choice of play to bring back, but any fears of unfavourable comparisons were quickly dispelled by the quality of the acting.

All these features cast their own mysterious shadows and added to the other-worldly realm of Shakespeare’s unfolding story of fairies, spirits, moonlit assignations and dreamy hours deep in the woodland.

Wilder and Lake were particular strengths of a very good cast of 15. They lived the parts, whether sharing the hopes and fears of young love, fighting and even hair-pulling as rivals or pouring out their hearts to the objects of their affection.

As if all this wasn’t confusing enough, Shakespeare tosses in the bunch of bumpkin actors with their play-within-a-play to entertain the guests at the forthcoming wedding of Theseus, also played by David Davies, and Hippolyta (Daniela Lavender, appearing as queen of the fairies Titania, too).

Barrie Palmer, Anthony Acosta, Robert J Williamson, Kevin Brannagan and Robert Crumpton were in fine form as the bumbling “rude mechanicals”, so much more than mere comic interlude, Williamson’s attention to detail as director shining through in beautifully staged scenes.

Fairies Peaseblossom (Rebecca Wicking), Mustard Seed (Elyon **that’s her name**) and Cobweb (Amy Smith), and five-year-old Mackenzie Rowswell as the Indian changeling child, completed the cast.

The effects of the magical love potion dispensed by Puck were, mercifully for the mortals, short-lived, but the spell woven by this “Dream” will live long in the memories of those fortunate enough to witness it.

And the word is that both the castle and this excellent company are keen to mount a longer run next year to satisfy demand.

ROGER GREEN , LITTLEHAMPTON GAZETTE

Click to view Photographs of this show

Open to all the Shakespearean

'The bard would have been well pleased with the location for this most whimsical and light hearted play.

The garden in Arundel Castle - a tribute to Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel, nicknamed "The Collector" - provided a magical and idyllic setting.

Appearing as part of the Arundel Festival, The British Shakespeare Company is second only in size and reputation to The Royal Shakespeare Company and the largest outdoor performer of his work.

Part of the reason that Midsummer is one of his most popular plays is its unique combination of farce, comedy, poetry and drama.

The 15 actors caputured all these elements perfectly, within the limitations that outdoor performance imposes.

There was nothing in the way of the special effects, lighting and gimmicks that indoor interpretations often offer. However, this did not detract from a joyous, humorous and physical rendition which delighted the audience on a beautiful and peaceful evening.

The play contains some of Will's best soundbites, including "the course of true love never did run smooth" "Cheek by Jowl" "the long and the short of it" and to "fall out" (with each other).

The play itself is a typically convoluted comic love story, which comes across occasionally as a medieval version of home and away. Shakespeare probably sums it up best, when one of the characters refers to "the pert and nimble spirit of mirth"

Brighton Argus 30.08.08

"The British Shakespeare Company will set the new Collector Earl's Garden alight with A Midsummer Night's Dream" The Guardian

A MIDSUMMER
NIGHT'S DREAM

Fairies Peaseblossom (Rebecca Wicking), Mustard Seed (Elyon that’s her name) and Cobweb (Amy Smith), and five-year-old Mackenzie Rowswell as the Indian changeling child, completed the cast.

"The British Shakespeare Company will set the new Collector Earl's
Garden alight with A Midsummer Night's Dream" The Guardian