Queen Mab – Iris Theatre
"O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone..."
(Mercutio, Romeo and Juliet, Act I scene IV)
Mab, an ancient fairy, travels the world and, as Mercutio describes, has been bringing dreams and nightmares to mortals for centuries. But she's bored and unhappy, seeing humans as nothing more than "a pestilential scourge upon the Earth" and preferring to dole out nightmares that prey upon their deepest fears rather than bestowing positive dreams on their sleeping forms.
There are many lockdown and pandemic-themed dramas around, but likely none as charming as Danielle Pearson's "Queen Mab". The play cleverly links Shakespeare's Mab to the present day through Freya, a teenager who is going through all...