Abstract
A female-directed production with a predominantly female cast, non-binary performers, and an actor with dwarfism certainly makes this version of A Midsummer Night's Dream an inclusive production. Shakespeare's plays are often under scrutiny from a feminist lens looking at the patriarchal cultures in his plays, and while the script did not change, Shakespeare's Globe's 2023 production does champion other voices speaking the lines. Director Elle While cast Francesca Mills, a little person, in a leading role as Hermia. The play's lines do support a shorter actress in the role as her stature is compared to Helena's in 3.2 including the famous quotation, ‘And though she be but little, she is fierce’ (3.2.325). This line is often one of empowerment for women, but when Lysander says a few lines later, ‘Get you gone, you dwarf’ (3.2.328), the audience gasps. The insult from other productions would probably go on without much notice, but it felt wrong this time when directed at Mills. Under Puck's spell, Lysander (Sam Crerar) has changed his feelings about loving Hermia but insulting her height when all the actors literally tower above her has a different impact. It made me question if the inclusiveness here was one to celebrate or brought too much negative attention to Mills's size (see Alice Marion-Ferrand’s review of this same production in this section).
Artistic Director Michelle Terry appeared in the production as the mischievous Puck, and her image was used in advertising the play. The alluring promotional photo of Terry is quite different from her actual appearance on stage. Terry is unrecognisable in her Puck costume as her hair is made of tree branches and even has twigs growing out of her fingers (Figure 1). A roaring sound effect, fog, and crying sounds alert the audience to the trap door where a creature resembling Swamp Thing appears. A green and gold mask covers Terry's face, but in her epilogue, Puck removes her mask and head covering to reveal the actual player behind it. Following the initial shock of her unusual look, Terry gives a magical performance in 2.1 interacting with Oberon (Jack Laskey), who also has branches growing out of his head but in a spiky hairstyle that is more modernised and less of the natural world than Puck's. The two exchange the purple flower potion in an optical illusion with a zinging sound that wows the spectators.
Puck (Michelle Terry) in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare's Globe. Photo by Helen Murray.
Consistent with the natural world theme, the changeling child Titania adopts has an interesting feature in this production. Oddly, Terry provides the crying sounds for the baby, who is always completely swaddled in a grey blanket. The boy becomes more like an insect when Titania (Marianne Oldham) wraps the child in her web-like bed in 2.2. The netting descends from the musician's gallery to the stage floor, and the fairies surround their queen, who seems to have embodied the role of a spider as she lays down to sleep. Later in 4.1, Oberon enters with the baby on his back still wrapped in a cocoon and seemingly just released from Titania's web. When Puck delivers the epilogue, she enters carrying the blanket, which has previously represented the child, but Terry drops the blanket and drags it across the stage revealing there is no baby. This action is in line with Puck's reminder to audiences in the epilogue about the difference between appearance and reality.
Always a popular character, Bottom (Mariah Gale) creates laughter and crowd interest. Frightened of Bottom's new appearance with donkey ears and a tail, the players scatter away, and Gale delights the crowd saying, ‘This is to make an ass of me’ (3.1.114). She makes donkey sounds and sings just before Titania awakes and almost immediately straddles Bottom before the fairies push Gale up the web. This interaction occurs just before the interval, but the sensual interactions between the couple resume in the next scene. The simulated sex onstage becomes more graphic when Bottom straddles Titania, and the couple roll around making sexual motions. The stage right and left lower galleries were filled with young students, who were surprised at the education they were receiving at Shakespeare's Globe. The commotion of pointing, gasping, laughing, and whispering to their friends created quite an uproar that may not have been much different from the original Globe audiences, who did not react quietly to stage action.
Bottom is not insulated in providing great comedy as the Mechanicals all performed well especially with the play within a play. The tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe, as I anticipated, was one of the hilarious highlights of the play. Snout (Tanika Yearwood) performing as Wall is entertaining even when Bottom tries to overtake her stage presence. A paper fell to reveal Yearwood's face, which Bottom tried to cover in order to remind audiences Pyramus is the protagonist. Then, Bottom as Pyramus and Flute (Molly Logan) as Thisbe kiss Wall's hand; Yearwood promptly wipes her hand off in a fashion making this lover's kiss appear gross to her and comical to those watching. The large Moon and Lion headdresses added to the humour of the scene.
The production is enjoyable but not without fault. Lizzie Schenk appeared as a last-minute fill-in for Helena's role. It is obvious the actress was unprepared as she carried a script while wearing a black t-shirt, leggings, and trainers. My later discovery that Shakespeare's Globe rarely employs understudies made me think differently of Schenk, who tried her best under less than desirable circumstances. However, seeing a professional production without a prepared understudy did hinder my full enjoyment of the show. It was difficult to look at the other young Athenian characters in their early modern outfits with a twenty-first century punk twist interacting with Schenk, who is without a costume and reading her lines. I would like to see another performance where Isobel Thom performed her role as Helena, which would likely increase my opinion of the show's quality.