Character, charm & 60s vibe: Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Opera North

Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – James Newby, Peter Kirk, Siân Griffiths, Camilla Harris – Opera North, 2024 (Photo: © Richard Hubert Smith)

Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream; James Laing, Daisy Brown, Daniel Absalom, Camilla Harris, Siân Griffiths, Peter Kirk, James Newby, Andri Björn Róbertsson, Molly Barker, Henry Waddington, Dean Robinson, Nicholas Watts, Frazer Scott, Colin Judson, Nicholas Butterfield, director: Martin Duncan/Matthew Eberhardt, conductor: Garry Walker; Opera North at Grand Theatre, Leeds
Reviewed 24 October 2024

A cool 1960s vibe in this revival of Martin Duncan’s wonderfully imaginative production, support by a fine ensemble cast strong on character and charm, with some delightfully disturbing fairies

As part of its Autumn season, Opera North has revived Martin Duncan‘s 2008 production of Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, revival director Matthew Eberhardt, with three of the cast, Henry Waddington, James Laing and Daniel Absalom returning the production.

We caught the 24 October 2024 performance at the Grand Theatre, Leeds, conducted by Garry Walker. With sets by Johan Engels and costumes by Ashley Martin-Davis, the production really leans into a 1960s vibe. Oberon and Tytania (James Laing and Daisy Brown) in glittery yet slightly scary full length outfits, and the lovers, Helena, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius (Camilla Harris, Siân Griffiths, Peter Kirk and James Newby) all vibrant swirly colours and floaty fabrics. The mechanicals, Bottom (Henry Waddington), Quince (Dean Robinson), Flute (Nicholas Watts), Snug (Frazer Scott), Snout (Colin Judson) and Starveling (Nicholas Butterfield) were the only ordinary looking mortals on stage, with Andri Björn Róbertsson, Molly Barker as glittering Theseus and Hippolyta. Daniel Absalom’s Puck was most definitely a close relation of Pan with his hairy legs, whilst the fairies, some 18 boys and girls, wore uniform outfits and blond wigs that made them seem something out of The Village of the Damned (released in 1960).

Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Henry Waddington, Daisy Brown, James Laing – Opera North, 2024 (Photo: © Richard Hubert Smith)

Engels’ sets were simple yet effective, simply sheets of translucent corrugated plastic along with similarly translucent inflatables, yet with Bruno Poet’s lighting, the results could be anything from eerie to seductively magical. Our first and last visions was of the fairies pressing their bodies against the translucent drop, horror film style.

James Laing sang Oberon with a deceptively soft-grained tone, yet brought an underlying feeling of manic intensity to the character, he liked getting his own way and clearly regarded the lovers simply as a social experiment. Daisy Brown was a similarly imperious Tytania, her voice glittering like her costume, yet she was delightful in her love-drunk scenes with Henry Waddington’s Bottom. Daniel Absalom was a rough-voiced, very active Puck, definitely with an adult edge to him and a gleeful love of mischief and more. Highly physical, it was the combination of athleticism and raspy vocal tone that really brought this particular Robin Goodfellow alive.

The Lovers were an attractively appealing group, their behaviour not quite matching their hippy-ish clothing. Camilla Harris and Sian Griffiths as Helena and Hermia made the two women nicely differentiated, Harris made Helena more balanced than is often the case whilst Griffith’s Hermia was perhaps not as pugnacious as some, the result was to make these lovers seem more approachable. It helped that they had terrific partners in Peter Kirk (Lysander) and James Newby (Demetrius). Kirk’s Lysander was anxious and nervy with an edge to the tone, whilst Newby’s Demetrius had a streak of fun which made him charming rather than annoying (as the character can be). The production was full of nicely observed detail, so that all four singers were suitably youthful yet brought their characters alive rather than making them cyphers.

Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Nicholas Butterfield as Robin Starveling, Frazer Scott as Snug, Nicholas Watts as Francis Flute, Henry Waddington as Nick Bottom, Colin Judson as Tom Snout and Dean Robinson as Peter Quince – Opera North, 2024 (Photo: © Richard Hubert Smith)

By the confrontation scene in Act Two, Duncan had managed to get all four lovers’ clothes off, so that this crucial scene took place in their underwear (a nice 1960s touch), with James Newby rocking an amazing pair of bright orange briefs. The confrontation of the two men had been preceded by some play-wrestling (whilst they watched the two women argue) and Duncan brought a feel that the whole was less than really serious.

The Mechanicals also benefited from Duncan’s nicely detailed approach, you felt you were watching six distinct characters. Henry Waddington managed to combine pomposity, self-belief and charm as Bottom, so that though he was annoyingly willing to believe he could do anything, the other Mechanicals’ belief that without him, the enterprise was doomed, was quite understandable. His plunge into the fairy realm was nicely bemused and his ass-headed Bottom wasn’t too gross. Dean Robinson made Quince an anxious fusspot, keen for everything to go right and constantly checking his notes, whilst Nicholas Watt’s Flute had a naive charm about him, with strong support from Frazer Scott’s appealing Snug, Colin Judson’s uptight Snout and Nicholas Butterfield’s Starveling, who was clearly kept busy with the costumes. 

Pyramus and Thisbe was a complete delight, just awful enough to be funny without pushing things too much, so that the dramatic action matched Britten’s loving musical send-up of opera. Flute made a fine Thisbe, milking his/her climactic mad scene, whilst Waddington’s Pyramus had all the madness that it needed, yet it was the character’s sheer self-belief that was funny.

Andri Björn Róbertsson and Molly Barker made the most of Theseus and Hippolyta, their costumes having a nod to those of Oberon and Tytania (hinting at Peter Brook’s doubling of the roles). Róbertsson was dignified and noble, yet charming whilst Barker managed to bring real character to the underwritten role of Hippolyta

Kitty Moore, Dougie Sadgrove, Lucy Eatock and Jessie Thomas were the admirable solo fairies, interacting politely with Waddington’s self-centred ass-headed Bottom, whilst the whole troupe managed to combine strong individual musical character with that uniformity of behaviour that highlighted the Village of the Damned vibe, they neither looked nor sounded like innocent choir boys. Priceless.

In the pit, Garry Walker was in charge of quite a large band (the Grand Theatre is a hell of a lot bigger than the Jubilee Hall in Aldeburgh where the opera premiered) yet all the players managed to spin the music’s sonic magic. In Walker’s hands, Britten’s score had great presence, with strong character to individual lines.

Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Daniel Absalom & the fairies – Opera North, 2024 (Photo: © Richard Hubert Smith)

This was a production that did not have any particular axe to grind, and simply presented us with an imaginative take on the opera reflecting its 1960s origins (in ways that might have surprised Britten), helped by a strong and appealing ensemble cast.