A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Published Wednesday 7 May 2008 at 15:55 by George Hall

Rarely do the various elements of Britten’s opera come together as perfectly as they do in Martin Duncan’s new production.

The fairy troupe of kids is vocally and dramatically strong, sure and certain in their every weird appearance. James Laing’s Oberon could do with some extra vocal heft, but he and Jeni Bern’s scintillating Titania command the stage and their magical kingdom. Tom Walker’s able-bodied Puck provides a virtuoso piece of movement.

Some productions fail to clarify the changing relationships between the lovers. Not here, where every shift and turn makes an impact, and each of the four - Elizabeth Atherton’s Helena, Frances Bourne’s Hermia, Peter Wedd’s Lysander and Mark Stone’s Demetrius - registers clearly as an individual.

The troupe of mechanicals, led by Henry Waddington’s Bottom, and taking in a brilliant collection of comic cameos, strut their stuff to perfection. The Pyramus and Thisbe parody is a brilliantly achieved interlude of visual wit and fresh variations on an old theme.

But two of the main contributions stand out as raising the evening to the heights. One is the designs of Johan Engels (sets) and Ashley Martin-Davis (costumes), a psychedelic sixties extravaganza, wonderfully lit by Bruno Poet. They are entrancing. So is the music-making as a whole, every note given character and definition by the marvellous orchestra of Opera North under conductor Stuart Stratford. A superb evening.