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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Arifa Akbar

A Midsummer Night’s Dream review – regal rockers and a fairy folk band strike up trouble

Two performers stand back-to-back, one playing violin, one in white dress, with costumes on a rack behind them
Lovely melodies … Rori Hawthorn and Jenny Rainsford in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Photograph: Marc Brenner

The magic comes in the music in Atri Banerjee’s production of Shakespeare’s comic romance. “Rock’n’roll, you can’t beat it,” says one character, and it feels like gig theatre in some breakout moments when fairies and Athenians grab a handheld mic for a musical number.

The lovely folk-infused melodies that accompany the drama – sometimes halting it altogether – are composed by Maimuna Memon. Titania’s fairy crew are a supercool four-piece group, variously playing electric guitar, violin, keyboard and other instruments. Theseus is a rock star; so is Puck.

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