This is the fifth ELSF production I’ve reviewed and I’ve been gradually getting more and more biased. In 2024, VK had just started doing their youth theatre and so we knew the actors a little. Last year, VK got to do a monologue before the show and so was effectively part of the production. This year, she’s part of the community cast so I am full-on biased. This show will be amazing, just because my child is in it.
On the flip side though, I’m starting to write this review from a cold and rainy Higham Hill Hub, with my view partially obscured by a very large umbrella. Plus it’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream”, which I am very precious about ever since taking part in it at VK’s age. So I might be biased but with a dose of nitpicking and some very cold fingers. That’s what you call critical balance.
Oh and there is plenty to nitpick with MSND, isn’t there? Much as I love it, the whole thing makes no sense….if Hermia has until the next new moon to decide, how can the almanac say it’s a moonlit night on Theseus’ wedding day? Which was four days from the start of the play but also not.
Dang, I swear every time I review Shakespeare that I will not worry about the plotholes. And yet I still do…!
As you might have guessed, it was also not ideal weather for outdoor theatre. But worry not, despite some light rain in the first half, it wasn’t anything like the torrential rain we saw “Romeo and Juliet” in. I took my choir trolley and stocked it with a giant umbrella, a camping chair, a waterproof coat, a jumper and lots of snacks…that was me sorted, really. If you’re wondering why Roo and Nathan weren’t in attendance, wonder no more – they will be coming to the Lloyd Park show in a couple of weeks. I didn’t end up using the giant umbrella as there were people sitting behind me….but the snacks certainly got eaten and my aging back v much appreciated the camping chair.
VK’s part of this was essentially ensemble, with a group of teens popping up in Theseus’ court and as extra fairies. They also took part in some of the songs, including the opening number which I won’t spoiler here (as I imagine it might be quite the surprise for anyone not on the community cast group chat). It’s been a great experience for her, rehearsing with the professionals. After a tough couple of months, hanging out with her fellow Shakespeare geeks and learning lines and dances has been really good for her. She was part of the youth theatre for a few years and really enjoyed it too. So if you have a similarly dramatic and geeky teen (14+) you might want to consider it for next year’s production.
But enough about my kid – what was the rest of the production like? Well, the first thing to know is that there was a lot of multi-roleing. Community cast aside, there were seven principal actors, including apprentice actor Zora Duric-Speare (Egeus, The Fairy, Philostrate and Starveling). I haven’t counted how many parts there are in MSND in total but it’s definitely more than seven – in the first scene alone, there are the four lovers, Egeus and Theseus and Hippolayta. Excluding school productions, where you want as many parts as possible, there is nearly always an element of multi-roleing in MSND but seven is pretty lean. I’ve seen it done with a cast of four – in Broadgate Circle – but that was a distinctly un-serious production and I seem to remember Hermia was literally just a wig at one point. The ELSF take was a full version of the play but with some intense combining of roles. It’s quite usual for Theseus/Hippolyta to also be Oberon/Titania but this Theseus (Jack Bence) was Bottom as well as Oberon. Hippolyta (Miranda Braun) was not just Titania but also Puck. That is a lot of lines between the two of them. When I first saw the casting, I wondered how they’d pull off Puck/Titania as I could have sworn they were sometimes in the same scene. Turns out it’s only the one scene – Act 4, Scene 1 – but it was quite dizzying the speed at which Miranda changed both costume and character. Oberon and Bottom are also both in this scene but that was dealt with by some stage trickery.
The rest of the cast were just hardworking, covering the four lovers, the four fairies and most of the mechanicals between them. Kalifa Taylor played Hermia, Snout and Peaseblossom and Annabelle Blake was Helena, Snug and Cobweb. Benedict C Jones played Demetrius, Quince and Mustardseed and Kareem Alexander Yousri was Lysander, Flute and Moth. None of the actors were ever off stage for long and their energy was amazing, considering they’d done a show the previous night as well as the very soggy matinee that afternoon. Maybe it was the red wine that Bottom stole from an audience member that kept them going or maybe it’s just the love of the arts. I loved the little improvised moments, such as when Oberon commanded Puck to “overcast the night” and he glanced up at the dark grey clouds and muttered “that was quick”. ELSF do put little asides into the text, which was used to great effect by the community cast in the first scene, as they expressed which of Hermia’s beaus they preferred (spoiler: it wasn’t Demetrius).
It’s the little touches like this that make the text accessible to a wider audience, and the aim of ELSF is very much to put Shakespeare back into the community where it belongs. I’ve always said I’m a purist, but these productions are slowly converting me into someone who can appreciate the insertion of well-placed pop classic in the middle of the Bard’s words. Especially when it features my kid, obvs. The play lends itself well to physical comedy and ELSF excel at that, with Hermia banging both her lovers heads together during the fight scene. Puck leaps into Oberon’s arms at one point and the fairies roam the audience searching for dried peas to feed Bottom. There are a few “talking to the audience” segments, which is where Bottom consumed the wine, or rather spilt it down his lovely satin bedrobe. There was possibly too much audience participation in parts, as some kids near the front decided to heckle and occasionally repeat everything Bottom was saying. But that’s the risk you take with family-friendly Shakespeare – kids are unpredictable.
The set was quite simple, as you’d expect from a production that is touring a mind-boggling number of venues. It represented both the court and the wood, with vertical grassy banks for the lovers to rest their heads on and a platform that served as Titania’s bower. The costuming was very important, with so many different roles, and my favourite look was probably the mechanicals, who all had either fleeces or hi-vis jackets on, printed with “Athens Woodland Trust”. The Pyramus breastplate and the Wall representation were also highlights but, again, no spoilers here.
The fairies were adorned in multi-coloured cords and intricate headpieces, which contrasted with the “Business Week on Project Runway” look that the lovers and the court had. I’m not sure how best to describe it but there were a lot of ties involved. The accents also varied between character, with Miranda using an American accent for Hippolyta, a cheery Cockney accent for Puck and something close to her actual accent for Titania. Similarly, Benedict Jones uses a soft Scottish accent for Quince, which suits the character well and distinguishes his likeable-but-frustrated Quince from his snarling Demetrius. I think Cobweb may have been French. I don’t quite remember.
The characterisation was also important and kudos here especially to Kalifa Taylor, who switches between amiable Snout to heartbroken rageful Hermia and back again with graceful ease. I enjoyed Kareem Yousri’s portrayal of a very self-conscious and reluctant Flute, alongside his charming but shallow Lysander. Annabelle Blake displays great range as Helena, going from naive and trusting to wretched….and also does some great roaring as the Lion. Zora Duric-Speare juggles her multiple parts with ease and confidence. I imagine she has even more work to do when the community cast aren’t involved but she had plenty to learn, even with their help on some of the Fairy lines. I believe she was previously part of the community cast herself so it’s great to see the progression that ELSF champions.
In some ways, the pairing of Miranda Braun and Jack Bence was central to this production and they had some great dramatic chemistry. The way the roles were split meant that they portrayed not just the traditional two different couples but also the Puck/Oberon duo and the Bottom/Titania odd couple. The rapid costume changes and the accent shifts helped ease these transitions but it is really credit to them both that they managed to imbue each of these relationships with a different dynamic. In some ways, Puck and Oberon were the most friendly although the glare Puck received after they “mistook” on the lovers front was a sharp reminder that this was very much a monarch/servant relationship. Miranda is sharing this mega-role with ELSF Founder Ursula Early and I’d be interested to see how she handles all these different aspects of the characters. I imagine that we will catch Ursula’s portrayal somewhere along the way as we’re due to see the show at least once more and possibly twice. There are a lot of shows this year, alright?
The weather may have tried it best to dampen our spirits but truly, it was still a magical evening. The show was two hours in all, with an interval in the middle but it zipped quickly, even in the cold. If you’d like to witness this madcap magic for yourself, then there are opportunities all over London and Kent this year. Click here for tickets and more info.
Disclaimer: I paid for these tickets but, as discussed, I’m pretty biased and ELSF have entertained my kids for the last few weekends so I kinda owe them. All opinions are still honest and my own though.
