I know, I haven't been on for months and I haven't reviewed any shows for more than a year, but this week I went to see this new interpretation of the classic Shakespeare play starring Little Britain comedian David Walliams and the lovely Sheridan Smith with my Sixth Form and I'm here to review it!
Starring: Sheridan Smith, David Walliams, Katherine Kingsley, Susannah Fielding, Stefano Braschi, Padraic Delaney, Sam Swainsbury
Rating: ****
This adaptation of the classic Shakespeare comedy is given interesting modern interpretations while keeping the original dialogue intact, something similar to Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, and what director Michael Grandage does with it is very creative, imaginative and surprisingly erotic. Although some darker scenes are cut out for the sake of the comedic tone, it doesn't necessarily create any plot holes and nothing really feels underdeveloped with the plot still being cohesive about young lovers and how a bit of magic can create massive consequences.
Sheridan Smith (of Gavin and Stacey and Two Pints of Lager fame) was a joy to watch in the dual role of Titania and Hippolyta, but I enjoyed her more as Titania because she showcases her versatility and sensuality, as well as her fiesty side in contrast to Hippolyta, wearing pant suit a with her hair in a tight plait. Another actor in a dual role was as Oberon and who was good, but not as enjoyable as Sheridan/
David Walliams just shined as the comedy relief Bottom, with a notable stage presence which had me in tears of laughter with his flamboyant demeanour and hilarious breaking the fourth wall moments to the audience being perfectly timed. However, the only issue I had with him was I felt like I was watching another one of his Little Britain sketches rather than a Shakespearean play, but it didn't stop me from enjoying his performance, especially at the end as Pyramus in an amateur play opposite Alex Large as 'Thisbe', who also made me chuckle.
However, the actor who surprised me the most was Katherine Kingsley as Helena with how funny, touching and over the top she was, especially during the scenes involving her and Stefano Braschi as Demetrius spending most of his time showing off his six pack torso in white boxers. But whenever the mortal lovers were together onstage and quarrelling, that was when they shined both with the physical and adult comedy with how childish they can be.
The set designs were minimal, but effective, merely consisting of a painted background of the forest with the dominant moon shining on the action. The costumes designs were also creative and colourful to contrast the characters between the hippy-like fairies, and the 1940s influence on the human protagonists.
Despite the number of praises I have given, there are a few flaws, mostly involving whether the time setting was in the 40s because of the costumes worn by the mortals, or the 70s because of the hippy-style of the fairies (with the dances reminding me of the musical Hair). Moreover, I felt the pacing was way too rushed, especially during the first act which went by really quickly.
Overall despite those flaws, it's sexy, imaginative, engaging and very funny. It definitely felt like a dream with Grandage's faithfulness to the original manuscript, while putting in his own creative twists to make it a wonderful night.
