Review of Midsummer Night's Dream at The Curve Leicester

Last night I was invited, along with some fellow local bloggers to watch Leicester theatre The Curve’s latest production, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

I must admit I was initially hesitant, I have never attempted a theatre review on my blog and more importantly I had never seen a Shakespeare play.

I hope this review will be relatable to those who like me would usually avoid a Shakespeare play.

Usually in review posts I sum up my overall feeling towards the end however on this occasion I feel overwhelmed to say straight away that I absolutely loved this play and would happily go and watch it all over again tonight.

I have always loved the theatre, however I shy away from anything that appears ‘intellectual’ for fear of not following the play and appearing foolish. Regular readers of my blog will know I have always feared the judgment of others and until recently lived life in quite a narrow comfort zone. Shakespeare was way outside that comfort zone and so in keeping with the theme of my journey to becoming the best version of Kelly there was no way I was saying no to this invite and I am truly glad of it.

For those of you who have never been, The Curve is a wonderful theatre. The building never ceases to impress me both inside and out.

This production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a Curve Young Company and Community Production and is directed by Nick Winston. You could be found guilty of assuming a local production could come across as ‘amateur’ but you would be wrong. The talent displayed here is outstanding, from the acting and production to the set and costume design this could have been a London production.

Let’s start with the play itself. This is a modern take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The modern take came across to me in the set, the music, the dancing and in many of the costumes. It was fun, lively, fast paced, bright and enchanting.

The dialogue is as you would expect from Shakespeare and this is where my fear lay. Would I understand it? Would I keep up? Honestly, I can’t tell you that I followed every word however it is far from the scary experience I imagined. I kept up with the storyline easily. The cast portray the characters so well and I found myself rooting for the love interests and laughing out loud at the comedy.

The actors ensured my fondness for the characters grew quickly and stayed throughout the play. I particularly enjoyed Alexander Clifford’s portrayal of Bottom and laughed out loud so many times when he was on stage. I found myself relating completely to Lauren Jone’s Helena and was inwardly cheering when she got her man.

The set was breath-taking, the detail was superb and I have it on good authority even the grass was real. The costumes too were stunning and I found myself wishing I could be up there so I could experience wearing one or two of them.

The choreography worked very well as did the singing sections of the play.  

An extra nod to Demi Hylands who plays Titiana for being brave enough to go up and down so many times on her flying bed.

Hopefully you can tell how much I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this play. I truly was captivated from the start.

The play runs until the 20^th August and if you can I recommend you go. Other Curve productions coming up include ‘Georges Marvellous Medicine’ and ‘Scrooge the Musical.’ Find details on the Curve's website here.

I would no longer be apprehensive about watching a Shakespeare play thanks to The Curve and their production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I hope you have enjoyed this review.

Please note all stage photography was taken by Pamela Raith. (This of course goes against my blog photography pledge which you can read about here. I am sure you will agree with me that on this occasion it was absolutely worth breaking.)

Many thanks for reading.

You may also like my review of Bistrot Pierre, here, they are a small national restaurant chain who have one of their original restaurant's in Leicester and they offer a pre-theatre menu. 

Kelly x