https://youtu.be/HPAIPAcdz5o (German only)
This was rather a curate’s egg albeit with some originally, and well-considered effective touches like having Oberon and Titania (played by the same two performers as is now really the norm, but gender swapped for Oberon and Titania. I thought this was an excellent idea which made much dramatic sense; the magic of the other-worldly wood being well-shown by this. But this was really the only sign of magic in production. The two worlds were distinctively shown, the court by a spare illuminated box, a Godot-style wasteland for the forest with wrecked cars. This was not inappropriate, given the distortion of nature caused by Oberon and Titania’s quarrel but it rather heavy-handedly referenced modern climate change and destruction – at least in the director’s notes if not so clearly as enacted on the stage. I always feel that this sort of emphatic statement by the director is something of an admission of failure, as if what they have put on the stage cannot communicate what they wish without an explication. Rather like descriptions of art which instruct one what to take from the image.
From the start, there was very little if any interaction and eye contact between the performers which had an emotionally distancing effect which for me was emphasised by the language barrier. All the characters in the opening scene were all in one indistinguishable group. There was no sense of interpersonal drama, emphasised by very little eye contact and rather flat delivery. This improved somewhat as play progressed but too often, it looked as if the actors had not been directed effectively. They all remained vocally and verbally very underplayed which had deadening dramatic effect. Even Puck too was surprisingly laid back although there were some signs of vigour towards the end and final the well-delivered final speech.
I did however much like the performance of Titania, a drag queen with towering hair. The best scene was when with Bottom and clearly rather sadly attracted to him; they allowed their dress to slip off the shoulder but when there was no response, it was pulled back up with a wryly regretful facial expression. This sort of imaginative detail was what missing from production and which would have given the production far more dramatic energy.
Their (only) two faeries were twin cross-dressed men redolent of Tweededum and Dee. It was a v very weird image and so effective in being other- worldly but the dramatic point other than this? The Mechanicals play was as unfunny as it too often is – Again, there was no energy from the stage at all Neither was there a sense of celebration at end and only P’s final lines were given, presumably as it was not practically possible to do otherwise, given the doubling
Bottom’s final speech ‘the eye of man…’ was very well done – definitely the vocal highlight of the production – and, to a degree, an emotional on as well.
There was much dreary very repetitive minimalist music throughout although the almost full house and much appreciated the performance.