The most perfect of beginnings to my summer holiday. Finishing up at work in a leisurely fashion I munched on my sandwiches whilst despatching artwork by courier to Hong Kong, and setting my out of office to fill the time between work and meeting Cat and Zoë down at Headington Hill Park for the play. As a thank you for organising over 100 Blackwell Staff to two of their summer shows, Creation Theatre offered me three free tickets to the National Press and VIP night tonight. I could hardly refuse such an offer, especially on such as day as this. With temperatures that must have been in the 30’s and not a cloud to be seen in the sky, it was the perfect for night for outdoor Shakespeare.

This year’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a revival of Zoë Seaton’s 2002 performance to celebrate the company’s 10th anniversary. Filled with magic and music, levitating Greek’s, and fairies on stilts and unfolding out of boxes, it is a tremendously fantastic performance that culminates in a genuinely hilarious play-within-a-play that is side-splitting, heart-aching good fun.

It was one of those performances where you know that they are doubling up, but that even so, when the ‘curtain’ call comes beneath the trees with the moths dancing like fairies in the night sky, and their are 8 performances lined out receiving your applause and praise, you find it hard to believe that it was just 8. You felt sure that it was more like a dozen, or 10 at least…!

If you want the best good time that you can have this summer, I don’t care how far away you are from Oxford, you simply have to make the trip, bring your loved one’s and/or your kids and see this performance. And if you saw it in 2002 then see it again, because it’s back and its better than ever (and if you did the original you will know what that that is in no way a small achievement). York, Worcester, Devizes or London – it’s only round the corner. Hell, even Edinburgh, Glasgow or Amersterdam it would be worth the trip.

I say it once, I say it twice – see this production!

Miss it, and you truly will miss out…

Comments

comments

1 Comment