A Midsummer Night's Dream at Arts Emerson

A Puppet Show

by Lucy Opalkova

           A Midsummer Night’s Dream, performed by the Bristol Old Vic at ArtsEmerson, is breathtaking. Using puppets, the actors re-tell William Shakespeare’s classic comedy. The director Tom Morris (Co-director of award winning War Horse) enlists Handspring Puppet Company of South Africa to provide detailed, magical creatures to the performance. And they succeed.

            The characters Titania (Saskia Portway) and Oberon (David Ricardo-Pearce) are played by a head, in Titania’s case, and a head and hand for Oberon. The heads were so carefully made they portray emotions. And Oberon’s hand is fantastic-each finger can move individually. Ricardo-Pearce can easily pick something up, push others away, or tap his fingers. The hand looks like an extension of his arm. It feels natural.

            And that must have been the goal-to make puppets seem natural. The wooden puppets blend in seamlessly with the almost steam-punk theme. In fact, the puppets are the most delicate and intricate things onstage. Tiny little birds flap their wings at quickly, and the flowers that the love potion is taken from become huge, regal jellyfish. Titania’s fairy helpers also become creepy and eerily human-like. All the puppets are just gorgeous.

            However, the real show-stealers are the giant Titania and Oberon puppets in the last scene. These awe-inspiring giants (and I mean like seven or eight feet tall) are graceful. They are the living embodiment of the word magical. Watching the pair walk down together is just sensational.

            This funny, new take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream is wondrous. The puppets are not tacky, the set is not distracting, and the actors make Shakespeare so easy to understand. Here is a play worth seeing, and see it as soon as possible.