A Midsummer Night’s Dream by The Whole Pack Theatre Company, with performances in London, Shropshire, Cambridgeshire and Bucks
In a dazzling debut, the all-female theatre group The Whole Pack gladden hearts amid the wintry gloom by bringing their uproarious production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to audiences in Cambridgeshire, High Wycombe, Shrewsbury and Camden. Deftly, they sprinkle modern touches over the play (from the “Athenian knitwear” to the “trigger warning most grave” ahead of the lion’s appearance), supplementing the frolicsome fun of Shakespeare’s comedy with a generous helping of Christmassy pizazz. They achieve their stated aim of making Shakespeare more accessible to modern audiences with flying (and snazzy) colours, while delighting the purists as they revel in Shakespeare’s language.
The metamorphoses in this play see the characters being described as “translated” (“Bless thee, Bottom, bless thee! Thou art translated!”), and in this production, the cast “translate” themselves slickly and seamlessly between the two (or three) characters they each play, with quick costume changes and excellent deployment of accents.
As Oberon, Libby Boyd is regal, exuding power as she chides Puck for his negligence. As Lysander, she is all ‘hail-fellow-well-met’ in preppy sleeveless pullover, embarrassed to admit to being lost (a recognisable trait in men?) yet gamely trying to persuade Hermia that they should bed down closer together.
Jessamy James plays Titania with an unruffled majesty, then wows with her woebegone Helena, convinced that any would-be suitors are merely mocking her. Meghan Louise Taylor dials Bottom up to eleven, bringing exuberance to the role and imposing herself on the ‘play within a play’ just as Bottom should. Heehawing and tramping her hooves convincingly after her equine transition, she takes palpable delight in getting a good scratch from “Master Cobweb” and the other fairies. Bottom ensures that Pyramus’s death is suitably ridiculous, while Anna Stallibrass enriches the comedy of this scene by having Flute rattle off Thisbee’s lines without the merest flicker of emotion. Stallibrass displays impeccable comic timing as a determined Demetrius, too, tumbling over just as she leans in for a kiss.
As the confusion wrought by Oberon’s love potion reaches its climax and the four central characters chase one another behind a screen upstage, woolly hats are flung out amid the mêlée, and Puck, who has been gleefully observing the chaos, tries one on for size like a shopper at a Black Friday sale. Spry and alert, Megan Carter inhabits the role of Puck brilliantly, looking on with wide-eyed amazement as her master’s plans go awry to hilarious effect. Charlotte Frost plays Hermia superbly, going from adored to spurned and back again with a moving sense of incredulity. Frost turns MC later in the play, as Peter Quince, coaxing the audience into some participation as she introduces the lion, the moon and Libby Boyd’s wall (with bricks, chink and all). As if that were not enough, she leads the singing in a virtuosic rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas – though the entire cast sing extremely well in the carols and lullabies (plus the odd modern-day hit!) that feature here.
The Whole Pack announce themselves in style with “these visions” and lay on a festive treat that will blow you away. Don’t be an ass or a patched fool: go and see it!
