"There’s an uneasy edge to the gleeful comedy of Elle While’s production of Shakespeare’s play. Quite right too. Though often rolled out as a merry romp, this is a story of romantic derangement and control...The darkness never overwhelms the comedy in While’s staging but it’s always there."
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"At the end of the day, this play gets done so much...that it’s hard to bring something genuinely new to it, artistically. It’s perhaps a little frustrating that there’s an original route that this one might have taken that it ends up shying away from. But it’s hardly by-the-numbers tourist fodder – it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it does have a jolly old time spinning it."
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"The temperature didn’t quite feel like midsummer this evening, but, yes, the fantasy realm did seem suitably off-kilter."
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"The vibe suggests a rave that could perhaps turn at any minute and that gives particular pride of place to the brass-intensive band who knock James Maloney’s score out of the park...Make merry, it seems to be suggesting, and feast on what mirth you can before the madness of the world, like the broom-wielding Puck, sweeps it all away."
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"Elle While’s striking folk-horror take on Shakespeare’s romantic romp is a much darker Dream – closer to a hallucinatory nightmare."
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"Not every moment is slick, not every idea properly pursued. But this is potent enchantment, equal parts darkness and moonshine."
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"With midsummer near enough to take the still lingering chill off London’s air, this production has plenty to admire in its boldness and inclusivity...the play is more open to question as you exit not so much a dream of a show as a hit-or-miss new vision of this ever-vivid play."
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"...Elle While’s 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' has moments which detract from its overall appeal. Nevertheless, the sheer charisma of its core players and the command of the artform on display from the array of creatives helping to hone these fine performances is deeply impressive."
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