A Midsummer Night's Dream
Roger Chapman, Matthew Byam Shaw and ACT Productions present The DASH ARTS Production of
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Tim Supple
Tues 30 Oct – Sat 3 Nov
Press night Tues 30 Oct, 7.30pm
Tim Supple’s much anticipated and highly acclaimed Indian production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream combines the astonishing skills of actors, dancers, martial arts experts, musicians and street acrobats from across India and Sri Lanka.
Created in India with performers and creative team from India and Sri Lanka, this production is the culmination of a project that began in Autumn 2004. The British Council in India and Sri Lanka commissioned Tim Supple to create and direct a theatre production to tour the nation’s major cities. A cast of 23 dancers, musicians, actors and performers from a diverse range of locations and backgrounds came together for a seven week rehearsal process to create a production which is performed in English, Tamil, Malayalam, Sinhalese, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi and even a little Sanskrit.
The result is a passionate, energetic, thrilling and beautiful re-interpretation of the play, which casts aside familiar traditions of performing Shakespeare and replaces them with an epic, visceral and emotional power. This visual spectacle, featuring traditional live Indian music promises to be an unforgettable evening of theatre like no other.
This stunning ‘Dream’ knocked audiences and critics for six when it was performed in outdoor arenas in India, at the Verona Festival and at a sensational sell-out run in June 2006 as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Complete Works Festival in Stratford upon Avon. Now audiences in the North West can experience this breathtaking production prior to a world tour.
“This most magical Dream will be remembered for decades” The Daily Telegraph “It’s Shakespeare brilliantly reimagined: theatre to lose your heart to” The Times
Posted on Monday, 15 October 2007 under Press Theatre Press