A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

UK, 2014, 95 minutes, Colour.
Nonzo Anozie, John Hannah, Maxine Peake, Matt Lucas, Eleanor Matsuura, Bernard Cribbins, Richard Wilson, Colin Mc Farlane, Kate Kennedy, Elaine Paige, Matthew Tennyson, Hiran Abeysekera, Charlotte Blake, Paapa Essiedu, Prisca Bakare.
Directed by David Kerr.


For more than 400 years there have been many performances of this Shakespearean play, filmed in 1935 by Max Reinhardt with a Hollywood cast, filmed in 1999 again with a Hollywood cast.

This version, pruned to 90 minutes, was made for television, utilising many cinematic techniques and effects, making it very different from the filmed stage version. The screenplay was written by Russell T. Davies, well-known British writer, especially for episodes of Dr Who.

Immediately, the audience senses quite a difference when Athens is presented as a more contemporary fascist state, uniforms, military guards, flags and hangings with fascist emblems. Theseus himself (John Hannah) is a tyrant, preparing for his wedding to the captive Hippolyta, brought in bound with the Hannibal Lecter like mask on her face. His assistant, Egeus, is also fascist in his behaviour, very concerned about his son, Demetrius, and his wooing of Hermia who is in love with the young man, Lysander. Helena, a rather gauche young woman to very good comic effect, taller than Demetrius, is nevertheless infatuated with him.

Then the magic begins with the appearance of a giant Oberon and his elves (Nonzo Anozie) and a confrontation with his queen, Titania (Maxine Peake) attended by her fairies. There is no love lost between the two and quite some expressions of antagonism and magical rivalry.

A key character in the play, of course, is Puck. He is at Oberon’s beck and call and commissioned to wreak some mischief leading to revenge on Titania, getting the potion, dropping it in her eyes as she slept, so that she would be enamoured of the first person that she saw on waking. Puck is also commissioned to put the drops in the eyes of the lovers who have now taken to the woods and encounter each other with some emotional tangles. this time, Puck makes a mistake.

In the woods, the two pairs of lovers encounter each other, and with the drops in their eyes, Lysander becomes infatuated with Helena and Demetrius with Hermia. There is quite a lot of comedy of errors in the speeches, declarations of love, declarations of disdain, taunting speeches. Interestingly, Hermia is played by an actress of African descent and Demetrius by a black actor. Lysander, on the other hand, is very white, with spectacles, something of a nerd. The tall Helena is an enjoyable gauche character.

In the meantime, those who were going to perform the play within the play assemble at a pub, The Mechanicals. Celebrated singer, Elaine Paige, is in charge of the casting and rehearsals with Matt Lucas as Bottom and veteran actors like Richard Wilson and Bernard Cribbins as part of the entourage. The scenes in the pub provide some comedy, especially with Bottom and his speeches, trying to make sense of the play with Pyramids and Thisbe as well is with the Lion, the Wall, and the comedy continues when they go out into the woods and all kinds of miscues during the rehearsal.

The action then focuses on Bottom and his being transformed by Puck into the ass, his encounter with Titania, her being enraptured by him, his response – and Oberon and the elves enjoying her discomfort.

Eventually, the play within the play takes place in the Castle, Theseus presiding. One of the modern touches is that Theseus’ advisor has an iPad and is able to watch what is going on – with Theseus disgusted with a lot of the performances and the exaggerations and putting a red cross on his iPad for their executions. Hippolyta is brought in, still bound. Theseus then has an attack, leaves the hall after his disparaging comments on the play and the players but is seen having a physical turn and collapsing.

Hippolyta is released and it turns out that she is a fairy and rises up with Titania.

The writer, Russell T. Davies, is noted for introducing gay and lesbian themes into his adaptations – evident here when, at one stage, Lysander wakens the first person he sees is Demetrius and is attracted to him; when Hippolyta is released, she embraces Titania; and, amongst the guards and the mechanicals, there is a gay couple dancing.

This version preserves the core of the text but also shows how the action and characterisation is enhanced by visual ingenuity.