Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
4 stars
The snow is falling throughout most of director Matthew Lenton's
refreshing new look at Shakespeare's darkest of rom-coms. While this
takes literally the bard's own scripted notions of how the seasons are
out of whack, it opens with a sorry-looking Bottom tending to a
terminally ill wife, his only distraction a TV talent show that might
just help him and his fellow wannabes live the dream. Given his wife's
blessing to chase his muse following a mercy call from Peter Quince,
Bottom does exactly that, led on his way by a gaggle of blonde-wigged
fairies who resemble peroxided Harpo Marxes.
This is accentuated even more when the mechanicals are conjured into
similar apparel by Cath Whitefield's wide-eyed Puck, who sprinkles
her star-dust with abandon. The quartet of confused lovers, meanwhile,
are too wrapped-up in themselves and their colour-coded space-age
winter warmers to connect, and Flavia Gusmao's lusty Titania is
seriously on the prowl.
Taking place on Kai Fischer's huge lop-sided set, Lenton's Dream
injects even more fun into the play as it stands. When Hermia and
Helena bitch at each other while their prospective partners go
bare-chested for a fight that's more cuddle than punch-up, Whitefield's
Puck watches while munching on popcorn as if at a movie.
For the Mechanicals' final star turn, Jordan Young's hilariously
deluded Bottom goes all Hollywood Method, and when his troupe win the
competition, their eruption of orchestrated pleasure could be something
straight out of an X-Factor finale. It's only when Bottom returns to
his ailing wife, however, that things hit home. When the dream fades,
the image suggests, reality bites harder than ever.
The Herald, October 25th 2012 ends
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