Bard on the Beach: A Midsummer's Night Dream

This was a modernised version of the play, but only really in the context of costuming.  I'm not too sure why they updated the costumes, but the gentry was dressed in a kind of timeless late nineteenth century aristocratic garb, the Mechanicals in early twentieth century costumes with a steam-punk flair, and the fairies were dressed as nineties candy-ravers.

The other main time-bridge was the music.  The play was punctuated by short samples of contemporary music, from last summer's Robin Thicke hit "Blurred Lines" to Prince's "Kiss" to Nina Simone's 1956 "I Put a Spell On You".  The music was almost a cast member on stage, and while it definitely added to the humour of the piece, I felt it was a bit hollow after watching the live string band and vocal work which brought the Tempest to life.

This presentation focused on the Mechanicals in a way that makes me want to revisit the text.  It felt that they were the focus of the play, with extended scenes that I had a hard time paying attention to. Bottom and Puck absolutely stole the show; no disrespect meant to the other actors, but they definitely had the meatiest parts in this presentation.  Hermia also had a good scene when she finally snapped and got angry at Helena, which drove home the comical aspects of their appearances.  The fairies and the rest of the aristocracy were under-presented  however, especially Titiana and Oberon who appeared to have only very supporting roles on stage.

This isn't my favourite play, but I enjoyed the presentation.  I'm eager to revisit the 1990's film to see if a different presentation also highlights the role of the Mechanicals as the A plot, or if the A plot is indeed the war between Titian and Oberon as it is in my reading of the play.