A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Leeds Grand
The journey to Leeds across the M62 saw far from midsummer weather – gusting winds, driving rain, whirling leaves – but once inside the Grand Theatre and Opera House a much warmer welcome awaited.
Opera North’s revival of Martin Duncan’s production is directed this time by Matthew Eberhardt. Johan Engels’ set is minimalist but very effective – translucent Perspex pillars signify the trees of the forest, whilst the canopy (or are they dream bubbles?) float high above the stage. These pillars then take the colour of Bruno Poet’s subtle lighting design, which contrasts beautifully with the 1960s-flower-power-style outfits of the lovers, Helena and Demitrius, Hermia and Lysander.
And setting this production in the swinging sixties, when the work was first performed, with its ...