Magical Midsummer Night's Dream at the Rose

Yesterday may have been a freeezing winter's night (-4ºc), in riverside Kingston-upon-Thames, but the lucky Rose audience enjoyed a heart-warming performance of Shakespeare's most hilarious work. A packed house reveled in the fantastic ensemble performances of Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Sir Peter Hall. Dame Judi Dench revisited her 1960's role as Faerie Queen Titania - fabulously and fittingly. Dame Diana Rigg's daughter, Rachael Stirling, was magnificent and remarkable as lovelorn Helena; her (real-life) boyfriend, Oliver Chris, was stupendous as hyper-enthused, Brummie-accented, Bottom.

The entire audience appeared enraptured; I truly loved it and found the whole spectacle even better than I had anticipated. Endearingly, 14 local children participated, along with the professionals, as elves. The whole run is pretty much sold-out but 20 tickets will be released, for each performance, on a daily basis - for Kingston residents only, until 6pm, and thereafter any remaining will become available to all. Boy, that Shakespeare had a way with words and wit! If you're anywhere near the Rose Theatre and can get a ticket (it runs until 20th March), don't miss out...

Photo by Nobby Clark shows Dame Judi Dench as Titania and Oliver Chris - resplendent in ass-head - as Bottom.

The Bard is back in Kingston

Love's Labour's Lost, at the Rose; photo credit Nobby Clark

I recently went to see the Rose Theatre's first 'home-grown' production, since their long-awaited opening at the start of the year. Love's Labour's Lost is far from one of Shakespeare's best known works but it's dear to the heart of Director Emeritus, Sir Peter Hall, as it was the first of the Bard's works he directed, at the outset of his career.

Shakespeare had a lot of fun with this work - revelling in wordplay - with many moments of lightness and mirth, in the midst of the more serious message about responsibility and being ready (sufficiently mature) for a relationship. The cast were impressive - the set minimalist (replicating Shakespearean authenticity) - but the fairly complex wordiness of the work requires great concentration from the audience. Unless you're prepared for that, you're unlikely to find it as effortlessly engrossing, as you might anticipate, from the early humour of the piece.

If you're on a budget (who isn't these days?) you can enhance the authenticity of the experience by opting for a pit 'seat', at just £7; all you need to do is arrive in good time and take along a comfortable cushion to sit on. The production runs, at the Rose, until November 15th.