Electric Dreams – Shakespeare North Playhouse

Welcome to the 1980s; to Athens, where four young lovers and a group of oddball actors come together in a fairy forest and find themselves at the mercy of mischievous spirits. Sound familiar? Well maybe not the 1980’s part, but the rest, of course, is that much loved comedy of Mr William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream presented to us at the beautiful Shakespeare North Playhouse.

What unfolded over the next two hours I can only describe as a joy. As an 80’s child myself, and a massive Human League fan, I actually found myself quite giddy at the thought of the night ahead, and a little nervous that I could be very disappointed if my favourite Shakespeare play, studied and loved at O Level, and the music of my teenage years did not merge well. I was not disappointed. Not for one moment.

Electric Dreams is a musical which tells the infamous story and uses hits of the 80’s to emphasise the themes and carry the action along. It shouldn’t work as well as it does in theory, but this is a Midsummer Night’s Dream – anything can happen.

The opening number of Starships’s We Built This City presents the whole company uniformly clad in raincoats and shades going about their Athenian business through the medium of choreographed robotics. Sound horrendous, looks fantastic and injects and energy into the production that grows and develops by the talented and committed cast.

We meet the lovers; the neon clothed, leg warmer wearing, crimped haired kids whose defiance and desire drive them into the woods. Lysander is now Lysandra adding a new dimension to the troubled foursome which works easily. A unit is born, we believe in them, we want them to be ok.

Enter The Mechanicals, accompanied by the music of the mighty Madness, and a tight and hilarious unit they are. Led by the marvellous Caroline Heywood as Peter Quince, they bring great mirth and visual comedy with them. Chris Brett as Bottom masters the physical comedy of the role and Tom Evans as Francis Flute plays dumb with intelligence and skill – the audience knows that much fun lies ahead.

Accompanied by Soft Cell’s Tainted Love (yes, I know it was originally Gloria Jones, but this is the 80’s) we meet the leads Oberon and Titania. Oberon (Colin Kiyani), presented visually as the love child of David Bowie and Marc Almond and Titania (Jenna-Sian O’Hara) as a vampish mix of Lena Lovage and Shakespeare’s Sister. Both excel and lead the company with sexy confidence, flair, and total charisma and rapport. He is accompanied by Puck (AJ Howell) who cleverly embodies mischievousness and guile, and she by her attendants, Peaseblossom and Mustardseed no longer, but quite rightly Pepsi and Shirley the backing singers of all backing singers in this era.

The swift telling of the story, punctuated by the hits of Guns and Roses, The Eurythmics, Bonnie Tyler to name a few is truly successful. Titania’s bewitching, accompanied by Heaven 17s Temptation, Hermia delivering Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time when at her lowest ebb – Huey Lewis and The News bringing the whole company in to profess The Power of Love, all work so well. For me, the conflict between Helena (Lucy Hilditch) and Hermia (Libby Marshall), when love does not go their way and their lifelong friendship dissolves into rivalry via Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Two Tribes was inspired, hilarious and very much enjoyed by the audience. Both actors capture the essences of their roles with passion and Musical Director Chris Bastock and his live band deliver and some.

The staging is pretty much in the round, with the live band taking up one section of the space. Whilst initially appearing quite sparce and empty, it is the vibrant and authentic costume and make up design and Dan Clarkson’s excellent lighting design that fills the space with colour and atmosphere.

Choreography by Kathryn McEvilly is naturally 80s inspired and executed well by a talented and well cast team

Director Kate Allerston uses the space fully to make the audience feel that they are within the action and highlights intimate and focussed moments with skill. The Mechanical’s play at the Royal Wedding is presented particularly well and mention must be made to Amy Walsh as Tom Snout and just about the best ‘Wall’ I have ever seen. It takes focus and skill to be brilliantly awful, and the team achieve this under Allerston’s direction.

At one hour for each half Electric Dreams is well paced and flies along without losing the sense of the narrative that can be a little confusing to those who do not know the text. The production retains the lyrical sense of the language, the poetry of the magical forest and the constant puns and gags strewn throughout.

What I really loved about this production is it’s fun, it’s energy and its complete accessibility to a young audience. English and Drama teachers across the region should rush down to Prescot with their GCSE and A Level students and show them how uplifting and vibrant Shakespeare can be.

The standing ovation as the company delivered their title song by the magnificent Human League was well earned, much deserved and led to dancing in the aisles. This is why we love theatre!

Electric Dreams plays at Shakespeare North Playhouse until Saturday 30^th August 2025

Tickets are available at: https://shakespearenorthplayhouse.co.uk/

Reviewer: Lou Kershaw

Reviewed: 27th August 2025

North West End UK Rating: