S4K's A Midsummer Night's Dream
Queen's Theatre, Barnstaple

Review: Jo Wood

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OVER the summer I watched all the BBC Animated Shakespeares with my two youngest boys, four and six. They really loved it, not because of the beautiful language, but because the stories have lots of fighting and bloody bits, plenty of clowning around, and a funny bit with a dog.

Shakespeare's original audience probably had a similar sense of humour to your average six-year-old today. How old do you have to be to appreciate Shakespeare? Shakespeare 4 Kidz has the answer: you are never too young, or too old for that matter.

A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Queen's Theatre was an absolute joy, and every moment was easily understood and enjoyed by Gabriel, who is six, and me too. I had forgotten how wonderful it is to watch a live performance of Shakespeare.

All the best known lines were kept in, "The course of true love never did run smooth" etc, but the rest of the story is in modern English, cleverly adapted so you can't see the joins, and includes silly songs and references that make it bang up to date for today's kids.

The exotic Oberon and Titania doubled as the splendid Duke Theseus (the one who fought the Minotaur) who looked just like George Michael; and his Amazonian bride Hippolyta. Puck (Noel Andrew Harron) hurtled about the stage on a scooter, dressed like a funky leprechaun, and springing about like Ade Edmondson, rapping Ice, Ice, baby.

You get the feeling these ad libs have made their way into the production over many performances. Bottom (what joy to have a character with such a naughty name) gave a splendidly over-the-top performance. His death scene, "Thus die I, and thus, and thus.." is now Gabriel's party piece.

I really liked the simple set, with its umbrella style trees strung with fairy lights (fairy lights, get it?). It would have been easy for the pretty fairies and chaps in tights to be laughable for all the wrong reasons, but instead we had glittery costumes à la Strictly; and the mechanicals were like deluded hopefuls on Britain's Got Talent.

S4K is genuinely funny, not just Shakespeare Comedy funny, but real laughing. You can't have a better theatre experience than children and grown-ups laughing together at some of the best drama ever written.

We saw an evening performance, and by 9.30pm Gabriel was getting weary, but fortunately a DVD of the show was on sale, so now we can relive it again and again. Next time S4K come I shall take both the boys along. Hopefully it will be something with bloody bits, Julius Caesar perhaps? Whichever play it is I'm booking seats as soon as possible. You should come too.