Theatre is a living and breathing medium, language a lively form, and Shakespeare a playwright for all times. Yet too often it can be stifling, rigid, and uniform as it follows rules and plays at being ‘proper.’ But when it comes to seeing an art form you know well, it’s not enough just to have to have it replayed. Instead, as Lee McGowan said about locative literature,  ‘Like a Hobnob in a hot brew, I want to dunk all my other senses in it too.’

Creation Theatre take A Midsummer Night’s Dream and make it a reality, all on the streets of Clapham with Omnibus Theatre. Part performance and part treasure hunt, we become both actors and audiences in the build up to Theseus’ and Hippolyta’s wedding.

Few productions have the audience sent on cryptic quests, required to sing for freedom, bundled into vans and carry gifts to the happy couples – but that’s part of the magic of this dream. Few productions also have adults weeping with laughter and sheer silliness and spontaneity. Boundaries broken, it does start to all feel a bit fantastical.

Inhibitions and purism won’t really be welcome here, as scheming fairies and talented actors twist and contort the text.  A clever use of digital makes the magical scenes even more evanescent than a traditional theatre space, and technology becomes an enhancing medium. Even though Rolos, estate agents and Clapham aren’t in the original Folio Shakespeare did shift and change things for his time, responding both to current events and the groundlings the company performed in front of.

Bottom and Patsy Quince are played outstandingly well by Rhodri Lewis and Shelley Atkins, Giles Stoakley is convincing and engaging as Egeus, and brilliant energy comes from Natasha Rickman as Helena and Lucy Pearson in the role of small yet fierce Hermia.

Far from a passive audience, we become energetic parts to the performance. Director Zoe Seaton describes it as ‘free range’ theatre and it’s certainly more exhilarating and expansive than most immersive theatre. Cleverly done, our group of four – Hippolyta’s second cousins and thus wedding guests – were given clues and meeting places to solve, and followed our own trail without tripping over any other ‘guests’ until we all joined back together for the finale wedding picnic.

Creation have done something rather magical in their offering of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It’s not just interactive, but engaging, visceral and bold. Tricky to describe without giving it away, let’s just say that your trip to Athens will challenge all your preconceptions about theatre, Shakespeare, and Clapham.

Running from June 16th – 30th at Omnibus Theatre, Clapham. Tickets are available here.

]]> https://andsoshethinks.co.uk/creating-a-midsummer-nights-dream-in-clapham/feed/ 0 https://andsoshethinks.co.uk/so-this-is-what-happened-stories-of-the-everyday/ https://andsoshethinks.co.uk/so-this-is-what-happened-stories-of-the-everyday/#respond Thu, 10 Nov 2016 16:26:45 +0000 https://andsoshethinks.wordpress.com/?p=6680 First published on State of the Arts

There are numerous speaking events these days, where famous and high profile people tell of their adventures and exploits. But even lowly individuals have stories to tell. So, This is What Happened offers an opportunity for all of us to tell those tales, and the audience to appreciate just what we all have to offer.

The format is simple. On the last Thursday of every month at the Omnibus space in Clapham, six people have ten minutes each to tell their story. The only rule is that they must be true and it must be from their own lives. These people look like you and I. And they are. Their stories are life affirming and poignant, and show how in ordinary lives extraordinary things happen. Started by Laurel Lefkow in 2014, after she was inspired by similar events, it’s an opportunity for connection, celebration and participation. An actress herself, she says that she finds many of the stories ‘more memorable than a lot of theatre that I see. Human beings are endlessly fascinating, and the sense of wonder, inspiration, and community that these evenings have are inspiring.’ Creating something so powerful at the same time as being laidback and intimate is no small feat, but one that Laurel has succeeded in.

Sudeshna Choudhury told an inspiring and heart-warming tale of how simple feedback to the manager of a call centre employee who sold her a mobile phone went on to change his life. She describes her greatest joy as “helping and mentoring others to make a difference in their lives”, and her ten minutes showed just how simple that can be. This really was a case of the magical happening in the every day.

Some stories were a little bit more epic. Travelling the world with three children is quite an undertaking, especially when the time between a throwaway comment and the first train journey was only six months. Juliette Grassby-Lewis and her husband took their children around the world and gave them a real education in the process. She has been Buddhist for 27 years, and believes that putting your vision out there will help the universe bring it to reality.

It was not always about things that people have done, but also how they’ve felt. Yaron Engler, an ‘out-of-the-box coach, musician and speaker’ has lived all around the world, and explained in a tear-stained speech how love, hope, and tenacity rescued him from depression. A candid explanation of the ferocity of mental illness and the resilience of human beings to triumph over it, his vulnerability on the stage warmed the audience. It’s this type of story that continues to wow Laurel and who she believes are the “most memorable because they are so entirely themselves”.

Another tale of love came from Frederik van der Zeeuq, who has been in London for three years after following his heart here. Roddy Gye has done apparently everything, and continues to do it. A volunteer and consultant at Omnibus, he’s a storyteller who embodies what the venue is about. Thomas Quinton explained what keeps him coming back to the bar and how it feels to defend the truth in the name of justice—and just how hazy the truth can be.

It seemed such an apt location, in this old library that resembled a cosy living room in a large house. The intention of the Omnibus is to bring the literary canon alive to a contemporary audience, and it’s the perfect place for So, This Is What Happened. The locals saved the library from being converted into commercial premises just three years ago. Aiming to celebrate its historical roots and everything they do is intimately linked with the spoken word. We all have a voice. We’re all the stars of our own stories.