A Midsummer Night's Dream

'The course of true love never did run smooth’ is a famous quote from Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.

And the intricate plot of this charming play - successfully presented last week by Hucknall’s Lovelace Theatre Group - makes it seem very much an understatement. An enthusiastic cast, blending youth and experience, rose impressively to the occasion of the group’s first foray into the world of the Bard. As Shakespeare might have put it, methinks ‘twas a very good production forsooth.It all amounted to a delightful evening’s entertainment for large audiences at the three performances in the John Godber Centre.

The comic highlight undoubtedly revolves around the play within a play, ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’, which a group of Athenian handymen are to present for the wedding of Duke Theseus (Roger Knowles) and Hippolyta (Cherry Chance).Becki Morris was in truly rumbustious form as one of the group, weaver Nick Bottom, who is given an ass’s head in a spell cast by the King of Fairies, Oberon (Ed Turner). Using a flower with magical properties, Oberon gets his estranged Queen, Titania (Jess Wall), to fall in love with the bewildered Bottom.The same device is used in a bid to resolve a tangled love situation involving four young people, Hermia (Angela Pushpa-rajar), Demetrius (Richard Sharpe), Helena (Beth Garwood) and Lysander (Tom Morley).

But a case of mistaken identity by Oberon’s sprite, Puck (Jenny White), only adds to the chaotic confusion. Director Pat Richards had to step into the role of carpenter Peter Quince for part of Friday’s performance. This was because Jamie McBride, who was cast as Quince, found himself caught up in traffic returning from a business trip to London. Flamboyant costumes for the fairies did much to enhance the magical sequences.

by Denis Robinson