Quirky and magical

11:38am Friday 29th February 2008

Beautiful, strange, quirky and funny, Hattie Naylor's adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream is the perfect introduction to Shakespeare for a young audience - and a delightfully magical treat for the not-so-young.

Clever Hattie Naylor, who adapted the play, keeps the power and allure of Shakespeare's peerless language while cutting the performance to a more family-friendly hour and a half in length. Presented by Shakespeare Unplugged the play is performed by just four actors: Craig Edwards, Jennifer Lee Jellicorse, David Rodgers and Chris Yapp. Particular tribute must be made to Jellicorse for taking on the roles of Hippolyta, Titania, Helena and Hermia (these last two sometimes simultaneously) and even fighting with herself.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The Egg: Bath Theatre Royal

The set with its gloriously painted proscenium arch creates a theatre within a theatre, the lighting is eerie, so much green and white playing on the misty atmosphere, the music is subtly enchanting. Add to this appropriately faery setting a dose of anarchy, a good stirring of slapstick humour and a healthy dollop of love and passion and you have the recipe for a glorious theatrical adventure.

The play will be performed on Thursday and Friday at 1.30pm and 7pm, Saturday 11.30am and 3pm, Monday 10.30am and 1.30pm and Saturday March 8, 11am and 2pm.

Sarah Singleton

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