The Oxford University Dramatic Society brings their annual international tour to The Mill Studio at the Yvonne Arnaud until August 27th. Nik Myers gives the class of 2016 four Stars
Alex Crook
Madeleine Walker (Cobweb), Tommy Siman (Bottom), Emma Hewitt (Titania) & Misha Pinnington (Moth)
Love, like theatre, requires a bit of imagination. This production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream combines all three. There are young lovers whose obsessions send them out of their wits, vengeful faeries in a dysfunctional relationship that wreaks havoc on everyone around them, and the play within a play, about love of course, that demonstrates that getting too carried away can often lead (dramatically) to a tragic end. Anyone would think that Shakespeare wasn’t quite the great romantic he’s made out to be.
But in A Midsummer Night’s Dream things are rarely as they seem. By signposting a wedding as the play’s destination we get to enjoy the chaos without worrying about the outcome. And when the dream is over, true love runs smooth in the end. The faeries make amends, the tragic play produces tears of laughter, and each hero falls for the right heroine, suggesting the poet was a believer after all, at least in the way a good set of marriages ties up a convoluted plot.
This latest performance of one of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedies is the product of the Oxford University Dramatic Society annual international tour. Don’t be put off by the student theatre tag. This is professional stuff. The OUDS tour is the peak of any Oxford student’s dramatic ambitions, and in recent years has launched the careers of stars the likes of Felicity Jones and Rosamund Pike. There’s plenty here to suggest a bright future for this year’s crop too.
Clemi Collett and Heloise Lowenthal are very convincing as the loved-up Hermia and the lovelorn Helena; well matched to Calum Lynch, as a pompous Demetrius, and Cassian Bilton’s passionate Lysander. Emma Hewitt plays a bewitching Titania, Ali Porteus an exuberant and energetic Puck. Tommy Siman is genuinely funny as Bottom, with and without the ears.
Alex Crook
Cassian Bilton (Lysander), Clemi Collett (Hermia) & Emma Hewitt (Titania)
The intimate setting of The Mill Studio makes for an intense evening. The audience is only arm’s length from the action, with every expression HD-clear. The cast meets that challenge admirably. Quince’s troop are at their best without words. Hermia and Helena do distraught and devoted brilliantly. I loved the lovers as the audience for the mechanical’s play. But being so close also made everything a bit shouty; perhaps the tour was rehearsed for bigger venues.
Will Felton directs at pace, but there’s space for some great physical theatre, and a live band playing choice cuts from Bowie to Ohio Express. There are one or two ‘enhancements’ that Shakespeare probably didn’t need (why is the production ‘set’ in 1920’s Bradford?), but nonetheless the unexpected blended well with the well known, making for some memorable moments; Bottom’s impromptu rock star turn in particular.
All in all this is a performance worth seeing, even if you’ve seen the play too many times before. It’s a terrific exploration of love in all its strength and frailty. Plus of course, in a few years’ time it will probably be a lot more difficult to get your hands on tickets too see this cast perform.
A Midsummer Night's Dream is showing until August 27. To book tickets visit yvonne-arnaud.co.uk
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