TIM SUPPLE PRODUCTION

2006A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

Acted out by a Sri Lankan and Indian cast and featuring no fewer than seven different languages, Tim Supple's sensational and sexy version of the play incorporates song, dance and acrobatics. – The Guardian –LYN GARDNER

http://www.dasharts.org.uk/archive/midsummer.html

• ACT 4 SCENE 1

• TITANIA COME SIT THEE DOWN UPON THIS FLOWERY BED• BOTTOM (JOY FERNANDES) AND

TITANIA (ARCHANA RAMASWAMY) SURROUNDED BY FAIRIES IN HER BOWER.

Act 5 Scene 1Pyramus O! kiss me through the hole of this vile wall.Pyramus (Joy Fernandes) and Thisbe (Joyraj Bhattacharya) communicate via the Wall (Umesh Jagtap).

Act 5 Scene 2Titania Hand in hand, with fairy grace / Will we sing, and bless this place.Oberon (PR JiJoy) and Titania (Archana Ramaswamy) perform a blessing.

Act 1 Scene 2Quince Is all our company here?The Mechanicals meet in the forest. Peter Quince hands out roles for the play.

CHARACTERSOBERON

BOTTOM

TITANIAHELENA

LYSANDER

PUCK

DEMETRIUS

HERMIA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs_5CHL4LRk

SETTING The setting soon takes over when the spirits burst through a thirty foot high bamboo back wall that gradually disintegrates through the first half, as actors make entrances and exits. They also athletically clamber all over it.While this might seem unsafe, many also have circus skills, which enable them to climb robes with the facility of monkeys and hang almost unsupported, seemingly unaware of the existence of gravity.This is all stunning and the exotic effect is enhanced by assorted Eastern music played by a trio suspended above the playing area. This is set up as a deep thrust with the audience in a semi-circle around it, giving the feel of an amphitheatre. That effect works well at the Roundhouse and will sadly be lost on tour where for the most part the theatres chosen boast proscenium arches. BRITISH THEATRE GUIDEThe story is so familiar that one soon acclimatises to the linguistic shifts, and

the visual imagery is stunning, with swags of red curtain twisted into cocoons. The superb music and dance coalesce in the transportingly lovely close, where the entire company joins in a song of gentle, hypnotic thoughtfulness. PAUL TAYLOR – THE INDEPENDANT

CRITICS QUOTATIONS• ELSEWHERE IT WAS A CASE OF FOUR STAR REVIEWS ALL ROUND, WITH MOST OF THESE READING LIKE FIVE. OUR OWN MICHAEL

BILLINGTON WAS BOWLED OVER BY THE "VISUALLY RAVISHING RECREATION OF THE PLAY" AND STRUCK BY SUPPLE'S ABILITY TO BRING OUT THE "DEMONIC OTHERNESS" OF THE ATHENIAN WOOD. BILLINGTON'S ONLY WORRY WAS THE ACOUSTICALLY-CHALLENGED NATURE OF THE ROUNDHOUSE'S HIGH CEILING. BUT NICHOLAS DE JONGH, WRITING FOR THE EVENING STANDARD, PRAISED THE VENUE, CROWNING IT "AN IDEAL ARTS CENTRE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY" THAT "FORGES A FRESH, INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACTORS AND AUDIENCE". HE PRAISED SUPPLE FOR RECOVERING A SENSE OF MAGIC AND ENCHANTMENT IN THE PLAY THAT HAD BEEN "PURGED BY ANGLO-SAXON DIRECTORS". DE JONGH ADMITTED THAT THE "ENGLISH SPEAKING IS NOT UP TO MUCH" BUT SAID THE VISUALS MADE UP FOR IT. LYN GARDNER• “APART FROM THE SPECTACLE AND THE FUN, BOTH OF WHICH ARE CONSIDERABLE, HOW MANY REVIVALS COME WITH ACTORS

SPEAKING SHAKESPEARE IN NO FEWER THAN EIGHT LANGUAGES, HINDI TO TAMIL, BENGALI TO ANCIENT SANSKRIT TO THAT GREAT UNIFIER OF THE RAJ, ENGLISH ITSELF? EVEN THOSE UNFAMILIAR WITH THE PLAY SHOULDN’T BE CONFUSED. MOST OF THE FUNNIER AND MORE SIGNIFICANT LINES ARE THE BARD’S OWN AND, WHEN THE ACTORS MOVE INTO THEIR OWN LANGUAGES, THE EXCITED BODY LANGUAGE MAKES THE MEANING CLEAR…. CAROLINE ANSDELL• THE PRODUCTION CREATES A STARTLINGLY VIVID SENSE OF THE ANARCHIC POWER OF LOVE AND MAGIC PAUL TAYLOR

http://www.whatsonstage.com/west-end-theatre/news/03-2007/review-round-up-supple-receives-dream-reviews_21330.html?.html – this website has all the reviews on it !