A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM: till 17 June

MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: William Shakespeare
RSC (Swan) Part of the Complete Works Festival
Runs: 2h 30m, one interval, till 17 June
Review: Rod Dungate, 8 June 2006

What a total joy this production is.
An Indian cast, seven languages used, rendering the familiar unfamiliar. Sounds a bit worthy eh? A bit arty. Nothing could be further from the truth, this production is a true delight from the moment it starts till well after the moment it finishes. The languages are not a barrier (just as the cultural differences are not); they enrich the play, we simply must tune in to it in a different way. A grand metaphor for our modern living if ever there was one.

Supple’s direction is big and bold, the production has a roughness and raw energy about it, ensuring it’s always a million miles away from the sentimental or effete. As I watched the opening scenes I was struck by the backcloth – scalloped, it lit quite beautifully. No sooner had I thought this than my illusion was shattered – through it burst the fairies, ripping it apart. Not fabric, the ‘curtain’ was made of paper.

Behind the paper is revealed a rude kind of scaffolding up and down which mortals and immortals scamper. As the play moves into chaos, so the set is taken further into chaos. It’s untidy and messy, it’s thrilling, it’s beautiful. No more so than when the lovers squabble in the forest – a squabble exacerbated by Puck. Here Puck criss-crosses the acting space with fabric tape; the lovers must climb over it and under it to reach each other; it keeps them apart and makes their meetings hard work. Never have I seen the web Puck spins made so manifest.

Supple’s play is dangerous theatrically, it’s matched by it’s physical danger too as actors swing on ropes, are cocooned in swathes of fabric. It’s so magical, fabric becomes wings, ropes become branches and creepers wafting in front of our eyes. The world is wild and unpredictable.

There’s a brilliant bonus to this Indian setting – and for me it’s huge. The working men don’t look like patronising caricatures, they seem like rural Indian people, naïve maybe, but not stupid. The production treats them with great respect and a startling beauty is revealed. So much so that I’d be tempted to cut those horrible sneery lines the aristocrats have as they watch the workers’ play – ‘I’m aweary of this moon. I wish he would change’ et al.

Great performances all round. Fiery young lovers, especially Yuki Ellias and Shanaya Rafaat (Hermia and Helena). Striking Theseus/ Oberon and Hippolyta/ Titania (P R Jijoy and Archana Ramaswamy). A tough, very masculine Puck – Ajay Kumar.

Philstrate: Ajay Kumar
Hippolyta: Archana Ramaswamy
Theseus: P R Jijoy
Egeus: J Jayakumar
Hermia: Yuki Ellias
Demetrius: Prasanna Mahagamage
Lysander: Chandan Roy Sanyal
Helena: Shanaya Rafaat
Peter Quince: Ashwatthama J D
Nick Bottom: Joy Fernandes
Francis Flute: Joyraj Bhattacharya
Robin Starveling: T Gopalakrishnan
Tom Snout: Umesh Jagtap
Snug: Jitu Shastri
Puck: Ajay Kumar
Spirits: Faezeh Jalali, M Palani, D Padmakumar, J Jayakumar, Tapan Das, Dharminder Pawar
Oberon: P R Jijoy
Titania: Archana Ramaswamy
A Boy: Ram Pawar

Directed by: Tim Supple
Set and Costume Designer: Sumant Jayakrishnan
Music Director: Devissaro
Lighting Designer: Zuleikha Chaudhari
Choreography led by: D Padmakumar and M Palani
Assistant Director: Quasar Thakore Padamsee
Consultant: Ananda Lal

2006-06-09 17:12:23