Michelle Terry’s Puck is an agent of chaos. She slinks and scurries around the stage, revelling in the mess she has made. There is something of the Grinch to her green-gold costume, which makes her look like a creature dragged up from deep beneath the forest floor. Her unnerving performance steals every scene, and will be sure to haunt a child or two’s dreams.
Elle While’s giddy production attempts to tread the line between Shakespeare’s glittering humour and the dark undertones of abused power. While Terry’s unruly Puck gets closest to this uneasy balance, the rest of this woodland comedy largely tips over into genial jokes and easy laughter.
