REVIEW: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Curdridge Amateur Drama Group

The Reading Rooms, Curdridge.

A company’s first foray into Shakespeare must be a daunting one, so wise of CADG to choose his best-loved comedy for starters, and a confident go they made of it in Co-Directors Teresa Pitt’s and Liz Plumridge’s contemporary Athens-set production.

With an array of modern costumes, iPads and mobiles in evidence, and dance moves encompassing traditional folk and hip-hop, an initially slow start was soon forgotten as The Lovers (Sam Hussey, Chris Oliver, Anna Gandhe and Anna Hussey) got their quarrels in the forest under way. So too did The Fairies, led by Stuart Hillman’s commanding Oberon and Tina Sheriff’s striking Titania, hindered only by the cheeky misbehaviour of Jane Barker’s balletic Puck, complete with soft Irish brogue.

In the key role of the overbearing Bottom the Weaver, Ben Fricker brought his evident comedy experience to bear, and the capacity audience loved his scenes with The Mechanicals and with Titania.

Ed Howson