We round up the reviews for Emily Lim’s production, which continues to play at the theatre until the 29th August.
The Guardian: “I can’t remember the last time I got the giggles in the theatre but director Emily Lim’s joyful take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream just about undid me. It’s generous, creative and clever, always with an eye to making the audience feel included.”
London Theatre.co.uk: “It’s true that we never feel the nervousness of the lovers alone in the forest, nor any of the potentially unsettling aspects of the text. But shying away from the darker sides of the play feels more than appropriate for these troubled times, and this Dream is perfectly frivolous summer fare.”
WhatsOnStage: “Dream is never the easiest to follow plot-wise, and the production is not the most lucid you’ll see from a storytelling perspective; it feels the narrative is sublimated to the showmanship, the darker and more poetic aspects of the play drowned out in a (literal) sea of bubbles. But this is forgivable in a version that feels unapologetically fun, escapist and, I daresay, well-judged for the current times.”
Time Out: “Grady-Hall is clearly the star, but it’s well cast all round and Adrian Richard is particularly fun as a Bottom who registers less as a spectrum-y oddball, and more as a charismatic but overearnest Tom Cruise type.”
Theatre & Tonic: “Like its title suggests, one of the defining qualities of A Midsummer Night’s Dream lies in its dreamlike atmosphere. When the audience can fully believe in what unfolds before them, yet still sense that it might dissolve like a dream, the production has succeeded. In this staging, director Emily Lim weaves for her audience a dream that is, unmistakably, one of joy.”
The Arts Desk: “It’s a Dream that’s very much in the Globe’s tradition of crowd-pleasing entertainment, filled with music, laughter, and appropriately absurd audience participation.”
The Stage: “Frivolous, folksy and family-friendly take on Shakespeare’s comedy.”
The Reviews Hub: “It caps off a delightful evening of midsummer mayhem that really reflects how possible it is to frame Shakespeare’s comedies so that the humour works for 21st-century audiences. Through Lim’s emphasis on bringing the audience in through membership of the rude mechanicals’ company, the Globe has a Midsummer Night’s Dream that is a crowd-pleaser in all the best ways.”
Broadway World: “Still, this is a Dream that embraces the text’s silliness and excess and doesn’t try too hard to prove a point, unlike the Globe’s deliberately dark takes on the play last year and in 2023. What’s more, if you prod a little harder at all the fluff, some interesting ideas about why exactly we tell stories remain.”
West End Best Friend: “As the London sun sets over the thatch and the “starry, summer skies” mentioned in the text become our literal ceiling, the production reaches its apex. It is a rare thing to witness a Shakespearean comedy where the laughter is so constant, yet the stakes feel so high. I cannot recommend this enough.”
London Theatre 1: “From its energetic opening to its exuberant conclusion, this production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a delight. It captures the essence of Shakespeare’s comedy while making it feel fresh, inclusive, and thoroughly entertaining. An exquisite performance from beginning to end and one not to be missed.”
British Theatre Guide: “This thoughtful, entertaining show includes the words of the original Shakespeare play and follows the sequence of its plot, apart from the rather sombre conclusion that is perhaps more in tune with the ruthless tyrants that now haunt our world.”
Theatre Weekly: “Audrey Brisson oozes primal sexuality as Titania, which heightens the impression of an emasculated King Oberon, played by Enyi Okoronkwo. “Though she be little”, Sophie Cox delivers a fierce Hermia, while Mel Lowe is equally outstanding as Lysander. Romaya Weaver and Gavi Singh Chera, as Helena and Demetrius, also make a dynamic stage couple.”
To book tickets visit: https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on/a-midsummer-nights-dream/