After The Applause

5 STARS ISN’T ENOUGH FOR THE MOST FLAMBOYANTLY FUN SHOW IN TOWN!

Well I am on a bit of a roll with finding some of the best shows on in London at the moment, my 3rd five star in a row! However I have to say that this production of Shakespeare’s classic fantastical romantic comedy deserves more than 5 stars, it simply isn’t enough. I would go as far to say that this show is the best Shakespeare production I have EVER seen (and I have seen a lot trust me!). I saw it in 2019 (same production) and when The Bridge announced it was coming back I just couldn’t wait. Ever since I left the theatre that day in 2019 I have never stopped going on about it, wishing I could relive it. My wish was granted and I have to say it came back bigger and better.

I love the way The Bridge have formulated how they do Shakespeare, by using the adaptable space of the theatre to turn these productions fully immersive. The seats have been ripped out of the stalls and it is now a pit where the crowd meanders around the rising and falling blocks of stage and set pieces. The set by Bunny Christie is brilliant and allows the audience to filter around, but it would be nothing without a stellar stage managing team herding us around and pushing us back when something needs to rise or be brought in. When I saw it in 2019 I was seated, however being in the immersive pit was ten times better. I felt such a part of it and felt more connected to the actors as they were so close to me!

Midsummer Nights Dream is not a sad play at all but I often think you can put on a really bland and generic production of it easily as directors choose to direct actors in the safest and most obvious way. Hytner says ‘no way’ to that, the decision to flip Oberon and Titania’s roles is hilarious, the decision to have Puck make Demetrius and Lysander momentarily fall in love and make out passionately is camp but just genius. It is a version that I feel would make people who hate Shakespeare love it, it brings in modern elements as well such as Bottom imploring the audience to give them a phone calendar to check whether ‘the moon doth shine the night they play their play’ (this was a hilarious scene). I just can’t actually describe how good this was!

Now in 2019 they had a stellar cast with Oliver Chris as Oberon, Gwendolyn Christie as Titania and one of Britain’s best up and coming comedy actors Hammed Animashan (who I saw in Dealer’s Choice) as Bottom. The whole cast was so great in 2019 and I am sure that this new company was very much aware of the shoes they had to fill. However those shoes were too small for them because they all absolutely smashed it! JJ Field as Oberon is brilliant, he is camp, moody and full of energy in his passionate rows with the sassy Susannah Fielding who plays a commanding and aggressive incarnation of Titania. Fielding is hilarious as she orchestrates Oberon to fall in love with a donkey and she is equally supported by the brilliantly cheeky David Moorst (a returner from 2019) as the animalistic Puck. He flies over our heads doing acrobatics and elegantly falls down to meddle with the lovers in the woods and jumps into the arms of the stage managers as he disappears into the darkness. I met David at the end and managed to get a photo with him, he was absolutely lovely even after just performing for 3 hours and doing many acrobatic routines, a real class act!

Our lovers were good, they have to navigate the more raw and emotional moments of the play as they revel in the confusion of Puck’s curses. Paul Adeyefa returns as Demetrius and plays it brilliantly again, he is up against Divesh Subaskaran in fighting for Hermia’s hand. Divesh is the classic lover, he carries a guitar and passionately sings to Hermia played sternly by Nina Cassells. I have to give credit to Lily Simpkins who makes her professional debut as Helena and absolutely smashes it, she was certainly the best out of the four and I feel she has a very strong future in theatre.

I loved the Rude Mechanicals (as they have been renamed) with a lot of the gang returning from 2019. The play at the end to Theseus was so funny to the point where I was in tears, they add in light saber’s, a battery operated dog and a Christmas tree that starts singing Jingle Bells and it just makes it prolonged but ever so funny. However the man I have to say who steals the show for me is Emmanuel Akwafao who definitely had the hardest job trying to replicate the hilarity of Hammed Animashaun’s Bottom from 2019.

He doesn’t do that at all. No, he takes Bottom and ignores everything Hammed did and makes it his own. He is brilliant, his Bottom isn’t as clumsy and dopey, more passionate and excitable demonstrated through Akwafao’s decision to have him singing Shakira or reciting a speech from Downtown Abbey. He was just sublime, he is the best Bottom I think I have ever seen (I know how it sounds) and I didn’t think I would be saying that. He brings his own personality and whacks it all over Nick Bottom’s dialogue and mannerisms and it is just a marvel to watch.

MY VERDICT:

Listen guys, I always say ‘try to go watch this’ , ‘have a look at this’ but no this is a demand. Take your grandma, your uncle, your auntie, your dog, take anyone because there is something in this production for everybody. If you hate Shakespeare go and see this and come out and tell me you still hate him. It’s loveable, well crafted and just beautiful. I actually cried at the end of the first half, just seeing the quality of all the actors and production design and being caught up in the middle just made me feel emotional. I never usually cry out of joy but I did. I have never experienced such pleasure and excitement and it is such a unique feeling that I want to relive again and again. I forgot to mention the spectacular acrobatic fairies that twirl above my head in their glittery gowns or the floating bathtub that Bottom and Oberon fly in on!

You know what, I won’t spoil anything more for you because you’re going to go see it right? and be quick as it runs until 20th August, however unless they are stupid, I am sure we will see it run again in the near future.

Book now at : https://bridgetheatre.co.uk/performances/