A Midsummer Night's Dream
Thursday 12th April 2007
Bath Puppet Festival, Theatre Royal & Ustinov Studio, Bath
Samantha Cartmel caught the show...
As you enter the dark, intimate studio the first thing you notice is the eeriness of the stage; strange shapes that look like hanging driftwood occupy small parts. Yet if you look closer you can make out goblin-like faces staring out into the audience, which is a mixture of children and adults.
A woman sits in the corner of the stage on a round stand grasping her electric violin ready to begin. Twinkle lights reflect off her bright clothing and because she isn't moving she reminds me of a street performer. Then the two puppeteers take their cues at the back of the stage to start the show.
At first I'm really confused and I don't think I'm the only one. The two men are miming contemporary gestures and the one who looks like the mirror image of Harry Hill sticks a gold, glittery pod onto his bald head. When they eventually start to speak they are speaking English with a German accent. This alone seems to amuse the children behind me.
I was expecting the show to follow the storyline of A Midsummer Night's Dream more closely yet they dipped in and out of the story randomly and then changed to short sequences about the moon. The entire show seemed very abstract and surreal which made it quite confusing to watch. The four lovers in A Midsummer Night's Dream were represented through moving golden balls and the same mask puppets were used for different characters. The two puppeteers jumped from character to character and it was often hard to pick out who was who. I think those who haven't read A Midsummer Night's Dream would be completely lost by the production.
Although there was no strict storyline to follow, it was an enticing show. The puppets varied from foam hand puppets to those rigged with wires and being pulled along the stage on wheels. On one occasion the other puppeteer placed a foam puppet on each foot, stuck a tail into his mouth whilst stepping around the stage trying to leave footprints on the surface of his 'moon'. They also used two masks, very similar in style to the Dark Crystal by Jim Henson.
The end scene was a repeat of the opening scene; then the woman accompanied them on electric guitar playing I'll Never Fall In Love Again while the two puppeteers danced in darkness on stage. The audience seemed to know instinctively when the show ended and the performers received an appreciative applause.
The show was littered with jokes and even though some were slightly cliched (when talking about places on the moon they used the line 'Houston, we have a problem...') the majority of the audience laughed throughout. So even though most, including myself, were probably confused about direction, the puppeteers balanced this out with amusing visual gags and jokes.
There was a strong mystical eeriness throughout the production; twinkle lights and one stage light being moved around the stage for different effects illuminated the stage. The puppets were grey/blue, had one bony leg, half a body and all seemed to be decomposing; after the performance I still wondered why they chose to present them in this way.
I left the theatre feeling slightly suspended from reality but something one audience member said when leaving the studio sums up the entire show. She said, 'That was different' and I find myself agreeing with her.
For more information on productions taking place at the Theatre Royal & Ustinov Studio in Bath, see their page here on Ents24.
This review was submitted as part of Ents24's Student Writing Competition at Bath Spa University, designed to provide Creative Writing students with experience of writing reviews and valuable help in getting their work published.
