A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
© Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photo: Tristram Kenton
I am amongst those lucky enough to have seen this beautiful Peter Hall production of Benjamin Britten’s stunning telling of the Shakespeare fantasy when it was first produced back in 1981. To underestimate the impact of that experience would be criminal, the magic created on that small stage, this was of course in the old house, was immeasurable, and to come out into the beautiful gardens as night fell… well it was beyond expectations. Needless to say I have returned and seen every revival since, and I have never been disappointed, the production retains the magic and the impact of that first time.
All this said, returning once again does fill one with anticipation and, in a sense, fear. Will it still live up to my memories and my expectations? And will my friend, a Shakespeare scholar and actor be as won over as I have been? The answer is a clear yes. This remains a faultless interpretation of the bard’s masterpiece. The magic remains from those hauntingly discordant string glissandos and the sparkling arrival of the fairies, to Puck’s final words.
It is a work built on fine music but from that comes a work of collaborative genius. John Bury’s extraordinary set and magnificent costumes remain unchanged and rightly so, Oberon is a majestic and towering presence, bewigged and glistening in the night air. Puck is a demonic sprite, fiery haired and mischievous, and each of the fairies are dressed symbolically but not overtly so, a whisper of cobweb, a sprinkling of mustard seeds, where many might have gone crazy Bury deals his imagery with delicacy. In contrast of course the crude mechanicals are robustly comic with Bottom wearing grossly oversized and baggy pantaloons, again comedy dealt without silly exaggeration, and the asses head is wonderfully real.
Of course the real coup de theatre is the animated woodland, shrubs and trees played by actors, a gradual reveal, a shifting forest of visual delights that finally transforms seamlessly into the Duke’s palace. The whole is magically lit by Paul Bryant, a designer not afraid of using darkness as well as light. And so far not a word written here about the stunning singing and deft revival direction and choreography from Lynne Hockney, choreographer of the original production.
© Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photo: Tristram Kenton
First then to the fairies, beautifully played and sung by the Glyndebourne Youth Opera and Trinity Boys Choir, a host of tiny delights swarming the stage. Nils Wanderer makes a darkly sinister Oberon, slightly underpowered in the first moments but soon finding his voice and soaring. Jennifer France’s Tytania is solidly seductive and imperious and her dramatic presence is as powerful as her vocal prowess.
© Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photo: Tristram Kenton
The love crossed Lysander, Demetrius, Hermia and Helena, played by Robert Lewis, Samuel Dale Johnson, Stephanie Wake-Johnson and Alexandra Lowe again match their vocal talents with fine dramatic skills, so important when playing Shakespeare, after all the story here has to be treated with the same respect as the music, fine as that music is.
© Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photo: Tristram Kenton
The mechanicals are wonderfully comical and Joshua Bloom’s Bottom is powerfully and pompously sung with great clarity, again so important with a libretto so closely attached to the original play.
Dingle Yandell’s Theseus deserves special mention, such a beautiful bell like clarity to his vocal tone and such strength too.
© Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photo: Tristram Kenton
Finally and by no means last we have Puck, one of two performers but on this occasion Saxon Fox, who leapt and bounded across and above the stage with such vibrant energy and wicked charm, and delivered every line with meaning and clarity, quite quite delightful.
Bertie Baigent’s conducting of The Glyndebourne Sinfonia is both delicate and impactful when needed and of course the playing has the precision that we have come to expect.
This production may be 44 years old but I can see no reason why it would not be being revived for at least another 44 years and more.
Andrew Kay
12 October
Glyndebourne
Rating:
Hello Andrew
Thank you for writing this perceptive and delightful review. (We were there too last Sunday and were enchanted by the music and the magic and everything else.)
I’m so glad you wrote as you did about Saxon Fox and his playing of Puck. I say that because the final paragraph of the review on the Mark Aspen website:
https://markaspen.com/2025/10/13/midsummer-dream-glynd/
… says “It’s only a pity the boys — especially Puck — could have been more convincing. Surely this must be a dream role for a talented young actor?”
I think that’s both mean and plain wrong!
Anyway, here’s to another 44 years and more of performances as joyful as the one we saw last Sunday.
Best wishes, Bob Young.
PS: Some of the young actors who played the fairies were girls I think. If so, Bravo!