Shakespeare's beloved comedy undergoes a dramatic seasonal transformation in a powerful new production that replaces summer warmth with winter's chill. A Midsummer Night's Dream at London's Sam Wanamaker Playhouse presents audiences with a nightmarish vision where comedy and horror exist side by side in a frozen landscape.
A Dark Winter's Tale
Director Holly Race Roughan has completely reimagined Shakespeare's summer tale, transposing it into the darkest of winters for this co-production between Headlong and the Globe. The fairy kingdom's feud over a stolen child has catastrophic consequences, shaking the seasons themselves like a snow globe and leaving the pristine white snow smeared with blood.
Max Johns' spotless white set creates an atmospheric winter wonderland, with candles flickering above the stage. The lost lovers, cloaked in heavy furs, leap at each other's throats at every opportunity. Tara Tijani as Helena and Lou Jackson as Demetrius engage in an aggressive, sultry power play, while a softer, sweeter love moves between David Olaniregun's Lysander and Tiwa Lade's Hermia.
Malevolent Forces at Play
At the heart of this darkness stands Sergo Vares as a truly malevolent Puck, dressed in half tuxedo and half tutu. This crow-like, nimble shapeshifter has chaos in his veins, snatching breath from the lovers' bodies and leaving them frozen mid-sentence under his spell.
Yet Vares' malicious clown is merely the face of the dark deeds unfolding in this frosty landscape. Michael Marcus's Oberon emerges as the vengeful controller, his every action designed to secure the young changeling girl (played by Pria Kalsi) from Titania's care. By shifting the production's centre of gravity to revolve around this stolen child, Roughan brings the play's brutal undercurrents roaring to the surface.
Gothic Imagery and Sinister Endings
The fairies appear as black-tulled ballerinas, their melancholic renditions of pop songs providing the one off-key note in an otherwise aesthetically assured production. The practising players are portrayed as attentive restaurant staff, with Danny Kirrane's head chef Bottom repeatedly stealing the stage.
In a particularly striking visual, Bottom's transformation includes no pointed ears but instead a pair of cloven boots wrestled onto him by Puck, which prompt Hedydd Dylan's gothic Titania to hurl herself at his hooves.
When the players finally perform their show with all muddles resolved and marriages sorted, Roughan delivers a strikingly sinister and surprisingly bloody reinterpretation of the finale. Collapsing the distance between reality and illusion, this chilling conclusion gives a new, electric explanation for Puck's apologetic epilogue.
The production runs at Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, London, until 31 January, offering theatregoers a fresh perspective on Shakespeare's classic that highlights the darker elements often overlooked in more traditional interpretations.
