"A Midsummer Night's Dream" by Opera North.

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

Who'd have thought 400 years after his death we would still be enjoying the great poetry that Shakespeare wrote for the stage. This is one of his best comedies but in today's terms this could be seen as a fore runner of the "rom-com", After all, this is a love story for three of the couples featured which ends well for all three.

I'm not going to precis the story as you should know the tale of Hermia and her love triangle and the mischievous fairy, Puck who, on orders from the fairy king Oberon, throws the fairy spanner in the works, but then gets it all sorted out just in time for the happy ending.

Mix in the music of Benjamin Britten and could this production get any better?

You certainly get your money's worth with this Opera North production as I left the theatre at around 10.15, over three hours after the production started, which includes two intervals.

The gentleman behind me said that there was nothing catchy in the music and there were no memorable arias. I do not agree with this because just having an orchestra playing live feet away from you and playing Britten's music is memorable enough for me. Live orchestras in the theatre may soon be a thing of the past, replaced by a backing track, and no one wants that, especially for productions like this or ballet.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" is one of my Top Five Shakespearian works, and this production was a dream to watch, and this cast. along with the large, and young cast of fairies, was superb.

Anyone who is part of Opera North guarantees you a great vocal experience, in the same way as any dancer from the Northern Ballet are at the top of their class, so I don't need to tell you how good the vocals in this production are. If the performers weren't the best, they wouldn't be there.

James Laing is Oberon, King of the Fairies. The first thing you notice about James is his very distinctive voice, again the same person behind me asked his theatre buddy if he was playing a female version of Oberon due to his singing voice - the charlatan! James has a distinctive counter tenor voice that grabs your attention as soon as he opens his mouth. 

Daisy Brown is Tytania, Queen Of The Fairies. This Tytania is possibly one of the sexiest Fairy Queens that I've seen in any production, but also one of the most playful. Her scenes with Nick Bottom, as the ass, are saucy but full of fun.

Costumes for Oberon and Tytania look like something from a stylish Sci Fi show, as you can see in the photos.

Daniel Abelson is Puck, aka Robin Goodfellow steals practically every scene he is in. Brilliant comedy scenes every time he appears, especially when he is hurrying the young cast of fairies off stage with another round of breaking the fourth wall. This is a really physical role which shows off his flexibility and dance skills.

The four lovers are Siân Griffiths (Hermia), Peter Kirk (Lysander), Camilla Harris (Helena) and  James Newby (Demetrius). Theses characters shine a light on the wit of Shakespeare, and in this production the action with this quartet is set in the Swinging Sixties with the costumes reflecting Carnaby Street style. Ladies you also get to see Lysander and Demetrius wrestling in their underwear! Hermia and Helena also get to show off some saucy silky slips as well.

The Mechanicals, the acting group who perform for Shakespearian royalty, prior to the wedding, consist of Henry Waddington (Nick Bottom), Dean Robinson (Peter Quince), Nicholas Watts (Francis Flute), Frazer Scott (Snug), Colin Judson (Tom Snout) and Nicholas Butterfield (Robin Starveling). 

The wonderful thing about Shakespeare's plays is that they can be set in any era, and with this particular area of this play, the staging and costumes for The Mechanicals can be given free will for the Director to have fun with. Once more, this section comes across as different to any other that I've seen in the past and the costumes are simply superb, especially Tom Snout's "The Wall".

Molly Barker is Hippolyta, The Queen of The Amazons, and another incredible costume.  Andri Björn Róbertsson is Theseus, Duke of Athens, whose costume is just as stylish and eye catching.

The four fairies employed for serving Tytania are Kitty Moore (Peaseblossom), Dougie Sadgrove (Moth), Lucy Eatock (Mustardseed) and Jessie Thomas (Cobweb).

I mentioned the young fairy cast and the others are Willow Bell, Reggie Blood, Sienna Christou, Hope Day, Bethany Doy, Toby Dray, Olivia Dunning, Joseph Hall, Neil Hargreaves, Aurora Harris, Lars Hunter, Evie Marsden, Felicity Moore and Lyra Schofield. What a treat it must be for such a young group to sing and perform with such an incredible company as Opera North.

Conductor Garry Walker, headed up a wonderful sounding orchestra.

Director Martin Duncan and Revival Director Matthew Eberhardt.

Set Designer Johan Engels, has created a wonderful set with columns of what looks like perspex, meaning that you could see misty images of the characters behind them. In the air were giant clear balloons, almost in a crown formation. Apart from these main features, the rest was left to the performers. What brought the above features to life was a lovely lighting design by Bruno Poet with Revival Lighting by Richard Moore.

Costume Designer is Ashley Martin-Davis. I loved the costumes for this show, especially the Sixties suits for Lysander and Demetrius and Theseus' flashy threads. The silver Sci Fi costumes for Oberon and Tytania were also pretty groovy also. Puck's satiny shorts and "hairy" tights were perfect for this playful pixie, and the simple fairy costumes for the young group of fairies made them all look as angelic as their singing. Costume wise this has to be one of the best designs for "Dream".

Completing the whole image for this cast are the wonderful wigs and marvellous make up, supervised by Jo Charlton-Wright.

Choreographed by Ben Wright. It all added to the fun of this production.

"A Midsummer night's dream" was a one off performance, but Opera North are at the Theatre Royal all week with "Ruddigore" by Gilbert & Sullivan on Thursday 21 November, and Mozart's "The Magic Flute" on Friday 22 November and Saturday 23 November.

Photo credits: Richard H Smith.