A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (Shakespeare Happy Hours)*****

 

By Louise

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVJWYHxajHs

Available until: Indefinitely

I enjoy all the Zoom productions I have seen in lockdown, but one thing which makes Shakespeare Happy Hours special is the fact they cast their plays from the same small group of actors. Not all the actors are in every production, but they all seem to perform regularly. It is really nice that I can watch the opening credits and see who’s playing who and get excited because I remember them from a previous role.

Sometimes the actors play the role as I expect them to and sometimes they don’t. I’m equally happy about being right and wrong. I like being right because it’s good to feel I’m starting to know the actors and I like being wrong because I like to be surprised. Shakespeare Happy Hours is good at both living up to my expectations and surprising me so I always enjoy their productions. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is my favourite Shakespeare play so I was especially excited about this one.

The play follows three entwined storylines and most people who enjoy the play have a favourite group of characters. My favourites are the lovers. The fairies tend to have the best costumes, the Mechanicals are amusing and they’re also doing something I love – putting on a play. But the problems of the lovers are the most familiar to me because liking someone who doesn’t like you back, changing your mind about who you like and arguing with your friends about it are the kinds of things that happen every day at school. There are also days which seem really traumatic and you don’t know how you’ll get through it, but the next day, everything is somehow fine and everyone is friends again. I really relate to what happens to the lovers.

There are different ways of playing the lovers, but there are conventions and I really liked seeing the actors’ taking the roles in new directions. Lysander is usually the geeky one, but Joel Iwaskiewicz played him as a much tougher and more aggressive character and it worked – after all, Lysander’s plan to run away with Hermia is quite bold and he doesn’t lack confidence when he’s pursuing Helena so it works to give him these characteristics.

It could have been a problem if he was too similar to Demetrius, but that wasn’t the case. Tom Kanji makes Demetrius tough and aggressive too, but this actually emphasises the differences in their character if anything. Demetrius is the less intelligent one and the one who finds it more difficult to control his anger. Demetrius usually seems conceited and a little bit silly and that’s okay as he is very funny, but this production made me think about how it would hurt Demetrius’ pride, at the very least, to be rejected in favour of Lysander. Demetrius’ conceit actually seems like a cover for more vulnerable feelings and I found I liked him more than I usually did.

Danielle Nigro is a very sweet, sensitive Hermia – until her temper is roused, when you really need to watch out! It can be difficult to show height on Zoom (though this is a good thing as it means actors can play roles that wouldn’t normally be an option), but a Hermia who looks like a teenager, with a quieter, more anxious personality, does give the impression of being small. Ella Mock’s Helena is loud and persistent (Demetrius seems almost scared of her), but she chases Demetrius with a surprising amount of dignity. It’s as though she knows she and Demetrius are right for each other and she’s confident he’ll see sense in the end.

I liked the other characters in the lovers’ world too. Deb Kinghorn is a very glamorous, very chilled Hippolyta, Celeste Perez’s Theseus manages to be really kind as he talks of putting Hermia to death and even Egeus and Philostrate both made me smile in different ways. Egeus is apoplectic with rage and Philostrate is adorably camp. The credits didn’t say who played them and I don’t want to guess in case I get it wrong, but they are both ever so good.

I did like the Mechanicals and the Fairies too. It was good to see some of the Mechanicals genuinely upset and worried by Bottom’s disappearance – and not just because they wanted to do the play. Colin Hurley is an understated and very earnest Bottom. It always surprises me how well this works. Bottom can jump around and make a lot of noise, but he doesn’t need to. He is a very versatile character.

The play-within-a-play isn’t quite what you’d call well-acted, but the Mechanicals all play their characters with sincerity and worked really hard and it was actually really moving. I also really loved the reactions of the characters in the audience. As this is Zoom, they are onscreen the whole time. Hermia actively enjoys herself while Helena wonders what on earth she’s watching. Lysander is pained, Demetrius is slightly scared. Philostrate is moved, Theseus rouses himself enough to be mildly curious and Hippolyta is completely impassive and really could be thinking anything. I love the fact they all react in such different ways and I wish I could hear the couples discussing the play together later.

Another character who isn’t played according to the usual conventions is Puck. Puck is usually full of energy, but Alex Hernandez looks like he’s been full of energy all night and doesn’t have anything left when the fairy gets him out of bed. But he soon wakes up and starts enjoying himself in a really infectious way. I like the idea of Puck as a roguish adult rather than a cheeky child. It’s nice to see different interpretations and this really works. He’s still funny and naughty and he enjoys messing with the lovers’ heads so much, I can’t help wondering if confusing Lysander with Demetrius was really an accident.

Natasha Magigi (Oberon) and Casterline Villar (Titania) are both beautiful, elegant and very feminine. I’m used to seeing women playing men in Shakespeare and usually, I just accept they’re men and don’t think any more about it, but I couldn’t help being aware of Oberon’s appearance. I’m not sure if Oberon is actually a woman in this production or if he is a transvestite or if fairies have different genders, but it didn’t have any effect on the plot for Oberon to be glamorous and curvaceous, rather than the very masculine character I’m used to. I’m sure there were times when Oberon was referred to as a man, but I really didn’t notice it. It worked and I enjoyed the story.

I really liked the other fairies too. As everyone was in lockdown when these were filmed, the actors mostly have to make do with clothes they already own and customise them themselves. It works brilliantly because each fairy is an individual with their own unique style and I find that realistic because we are all individuals and if fairies exist, I’m sure they’re all individuals too.