"The course of true love never did run smooth"

Source: A Midsummer Night's Dream (2016) (imdb.com)

I think I mentioned in my BBC Shakespeare Live review (click here), that there was a special production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (AMND) coming up - well it aired earlier this week, and I am going to let you know what I thought of it...

Written by Russell T Davies (the man responsible for bringing Dr Who back in 2005), this TV film version was of course based on the much-loved play by William Shakespeare, written between 1590 and 1597. It is a play which many people know of or are familiar with it in some way, including yours truly from studying it in school (year 8 I think....?); even if all they know is that there are 4 lovers, lots of fairies and one poor soul who gets turned into a donkey; one of those people was Davies, who has been waiting for about 40 years now to make his own adaptation - and it was SO worth the wait!!

Bringing in the team from Dr Who (including composer Murray Gold), they could really go on to town with the sets, make up, score and effects, and it really shows - the woods in which the fairies live in and the lovers have their escapades feels so big and grand, while also having this tone to it which is really dark and menacing!
In fact, the whole tone, is darker than the original play normally is, bringing a bit more realism to the Athens (in fact, there are a few oh-so-subtle references to a certain point in history to make Athens look like a certain dictatorship) and the surrounding forest - but don't worry, AMND is a comedy at heart, and Davies has not lost the comedic chops.

In my opinion, the best scenes were when the mischievous Puck (Hiran Abeysebera) was causing absolute MAYHEM among the 4 lovers (Lysander, Hermia, Helena and Demetrius), and as a result, everybody falling in love with the wrong person, followed with a lot of bickering.
The acting troupe, lead by Matt Lucas as Bottom and the brilliant Elaine Paige as Mistress Quince also brought a lot of laughs to the piece, particularly during their play at the end... I won't go any more in fear of spoilers...
As for the fairies, I've already mentioned Puck, but I also really enjoyed Maxine Peake as a Xena Warrior Princess-esque Titania (her scenes with Matt Lucas were particularly enjoyable) and Nonso Anozie made a particularly menacing-looking Oberon.

I don't know what else to say than well done Davies - I think what he has (hopefully) done with this piece has brought in a brand new audience to Shakespeare, in a way that I think even Shakespeare Live hadn't quite reached. I would obviously recommend to Dr Who fans, but also, if you're a fan of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Once Upon A Time etc etc, this will be right up your street.

Click here to watch on BBC IPlayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07dx7lt/a-midsummer-nights-dream