"The Dream" by Arcade Players.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

Described as an abridged "steampunk" take of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". So what is the definition of "steampunk"?

"Steampunk is a subgenre of speculative fiction or science fiction that emphasizes anachronistic technology, usually from the Victorian era. It is also used to refer to a trend in fashion and music". You learn something everyday!

"A MIdsummer Night's Dream" is my second favourite plays from Shakespeare - my favourite being "Macbeth", so when I was offered the chance to review this version, I jumped at it.

Every theatre fan should know the story, but just in case, here's a quick summary for you....

Two boys and two girls run away to the forest only to have Puck the fairy make both of the boys fall in love with the same girl. The four Atheneans run through the forest pursuing each other while Puck helps his master, Oberon, play a trick on the Fairy Queen. All does not go to plan however. In the end, Puck reverses the magic, and the two couples reconcile and marry. Throw into the mix a band of actors called The Mechanicals who are rehearsing to perform at the request of King and Queen at the Royal wedding celebrations.

It came as a surprise that many of this cast had not performed Shakespeare before, something you would not have known, given the performance as they all seemed very au fait with the way the Bard writes. I overheard an audience member say that they had problems following it because of the language; what that will be is that they just have not seen enough Shakespeare, and need to see more to understand the richness of his work. I don't profess to understand everything that Shakespeare has written but, having seen this play several times, I understood every sentence; it's just familiarity and a love of his work.

No stand out actors because they all worked as a team, and as I said previously many of them are new to performing Shakespeare, which makes the visual quality so strong.

Mike Evans looked every inch the magical King Of The Fairies, Oberon with Claire Toska as Titania, The Queen Of the Fairies.

Egeus, Hermia's Father, was played by David Hewitt, complete with some wonderful snorts of disapproval.

Theseus, Duke Of Athens, was played by Lindsay Mould.

The Contenders for Hermia's hand were Demetrius, played by Richard Dawson and Lysander, played by Nick Barratt. Excellent quality acting from this pair, and I knew that Richard had performed Shakespeare before, albeit a while ago. Richard here makes his debut performance for The Arcade Players. I almost didn't recognise him clean shaven for this role though. Nick, on the other hand, I learned afterwards is a complete newcomer. Normally actors work their way up to Shakespeare but he went in at the top and blended in perfectly with these seasoned stage masters.

Demetrius has his own admirer, albeit unrequited, in Helana, played by Hayley Wood. Helana's best friend is Hermia, in love with Lysander, played by Rachel Ludham. These leading ladies get some really comical lines, proving Shakespeare knew how to write for female characters as well as strong male characters, which is one reason why his work is just as popular today as it ever was. A brilliant pairing of actors for these two roles.

Playing the mighty Queen of the Amazons, Hippolta, is Louisa Ward.

Miriam Deakin is Philostrate, Master of the Revels to Theseus.

Making this a family affair is Grace Deakin who took the role of the Story Teller.

The Fey, which are a more supernatural version of the fairies, were played by Margaret Butcher, Roberta King and Laurie Trott, led by the number one fairy, Hannah Reason. Beverley White was The Attendant.

You really can't beat a good Shakespearian comedy and this is one of the best; that's why it's one of my favourites, and creating the comedy are the group of comedy actors within the play called The Mechanicals.

The Mechanicals consisted of Nick Bottom (Nick Hallem), Peter Quince (Keith Butcher) Francis Flute (Phil Deakin), Robin Starveling (Damon Pipes), Tom Snout (Alex Chalk) and Snug (Martin Mould - in his first ever Shakespearian role). A brilliant bunch of comedians.

And who could forget Robin Goodfellow, or Puck, as he is more commonly known. Played by Gabryl Oleshko, who I first saw and reviewed six years ago in "13 the Musical" and more recently in "Calendar Girls". I have seen this young actor really grow as an actor and this role is just perfect for him, it's fun and mischievous, made al the more cheeky by some of his facial expressions. it seems that there is no part this young man can not make his own.

I often say that a good production is like a mechanical structure and it takes all the cogs to make it work, and every actor in this production were the equivalent of a cog. It just wouldn't work if any of those cogs were missing.

Directed by Elaina Evans who also designed the fantastic costumes that made this particular version of Shakespeare's best comedy so different and memorable and really enhance the quality of "The Dream", which is also the first Shakespeare that The Arcade Players have performed. The Steampunk costumes were courtesy of Elaina Baroque.

The lighting by Mike Beedham and the sound by Dave Martin was spot on. The projection from all actors was good, although when Nick Bottom had the asses head on, this made Nick's speech slightly muffled, so maybe a bit more projection only for that part of the play. That said I thought the sound and light crew did a great job.

Smooth stage management throughout the show. 

The Arcade Players are not afraid of tackling little known pieces like "Checkout Girls" as well as theatre fillers like this one, which I have on good authority has sold extremely well, and so it should because it's a classic piece of theatre.

"The Dream" is being performed at The Duchess Theatre in Long Eaton until Saturday 4 November.