A Midsummer Night's Dream

(Fletcher, Hayeck, Bassindale, Wykes, Umerah) 📷Charlie Lyne

Confession time: I’ve always found Shakespeare a little… snoozy. (Sorry, Will.) But every so often, a production comes along that shakes the dust off and makes you remember why these plays are still around 400+ years later.

Toby Hulse’s direction does exactly that. On a notoriously tricky thrust stage, he makes it look effortless, steering the show with such clarity and precision that you can tell he knows exactly what story he wants to tell—and how to tell it.

Set & costumes by Georgie White is a gem. At first glance, the set looks deceptively simple—a cut-out house acting as the backdrop—but it’s full of clever little surprises. Props pop up as multi-taskers, and the stage is draped with paper chains that give it a playful, homemade feel without ever looking cheap. The costumes match that energy: fun, fresh, and perfectly pitched to make the actors feel like kids putting on a play in their backyard. The standout? Puck. That costume is practically a party all by itself—bright, bold, and buzzing with mischief. Even the cast seemed to have extra fun bouncing around in it.

(Umerah, Ilori, Bassindale, Fletcher) 📷Charlie Lyne

If the videography by Borne Motion were a student in this classroom of a show, it’d be the quiet kid who hands in neat work but never quite raises their hand. It looked like a gobo projection—simple, effective, but nothing that left me dazzled.Lighting, however, got more playful. Will Monks uses subtle shifts and textures to add atmosphere, especially in the forest scenes where the light focuses on depth rather than just throwing a rainbow at the stage. And that glitter ball moment when characters fall in love? Pure joy. It’s cheesy in the best possible way, and the audience lapped it up.

Fraser Owen’s sound design kept things ticking along nicely. There were a couple of moments where the soundscapes felt more distracting than atmospheric—like the audio equivalent of someone rustling sweet wrappers in the row behind you—but for the most part, it supported the action without overcomplicating things. Not groundbreaking, but solid.

The book is where the show really comes into its own. At a brisk 80 minutes, it’s a lean, witty version of Shakespeare that feels accessible without dumbing anything down. The framing device—kids putting on their own play and coming back between “acts” to figure out what’s next—works beautifully, especially for younger audiences. It makes the story easy to follow, but also opens up space for humour, improvisation, and a bit of gentle chaos. It’s the kind of adaptation that could win over Shakespeare sceptics while also giving die-hard fans something fresh to chew on.

(Wykes) 📷Charlie Lyne

Martin Bassindale (Arthur) gives a warm, well-rounded performance and sparks nicely off Daisy Ann Fletcher (Nancy), who feels like the unofficial ringleader of the show. Fletcher has real stage presence and some killer comic beats, especially in her interactions with the audience. Fintan Hayeck (Robert), Lara Grace Ilori (Joan), and Andy Umerah (Eric) all deliver strong performances too. However, a few moments felt a touch under-polished compared to the rest of the cast. But let’s not beat around the bush: Dewi Wykes (Cecil) is the one who brings the house down. His comedic timing is immaculate, his running gags never wear thin, and he has that rare ability to make you laugh before he even opens his mouth. Every time he walked onstage, you could hear the audience gearing up for another round of giggles. By the end, people were almost falling off their chairs in stitches. He’s the breakout star, and the show’s most memorable highlight.

This Midsummer Night’s Dream is proof that Shakespeare doesn’t have to be a slog. With clever direction, a playful design, and a cast who clearly relish the fun of it all, it’s both a brilliant intro for kids and a fresh, funny take for adults. Sure, the sound and video design don’t quite sparkle the way the rest of the production does, but when the laughs are this big and the energy this infectious, it’s easy to forgive a few technical flat notes.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is currently running at Southwark Playhouse (Borough) until 27th September. Don’t sleep through this Dream—grab your tickets here: https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/a-midsummer-nights-dream/