Well, as one who once directed a 55-minute “Midsummer Night’s Dream” with 6 actors on board the Queen Mary 2, the Filter production at the Hammersmith Lyric of a 90-minute version with 11 performers (including a Mystery Guest) seemed to me the last word in expansive luxury! Sean Holmes’s whacky anarchic approach creates an evening of terrific entertainment. Inevitably there were a lot of cuts in the text, but most of the “great lines” are there, and well delivered. The comic “mechanicals” improvise a lot – and why not? You can bet your life Will Kemp and co trotted out their own gag routines at every possible opportunity. The play is almost indestructible anyway, and it’s great to see a talented bunch of people having a blast and taking the audience along with them. A salutary contrast to so many solemn “concept” productions of Shakespeare – like for instance the recent Young Vic “Hamlet” – at which the night I was in most of the audience seem bewildered by the sight of a wonderful actor’s work being almost smothered by half-baked, pretentious production ideas…
There’s a lot of great creativity going on all around this month. Last week Shirley Dixon and I read two of Lawrence Durrell’s poems at the launch of Joanna Hodgkin’s brilliant new book “Amateurs in Eden”. It’s a terrific read.
(You can check out her blog at: amateursineden.com)
Meanwhile Simon Annand – who has done the display photography for www.teachyourselfacting.com – has an exhibition of pictures of actors following on from his hugely successful book “The Half”which was linked last year to his remarkable exhibition at the V & A.
Simon’s new exhibition is at the Idea Generation Gallery in Shoreditch – I’m off to the private view, and will report back…
