It's a riot!

By I-Cheng Chan, Staff Reporter

All was calm in the lobby of the Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre, but stepping inside the Centrepoint Auditorium was like entering a world of chaos and mayhem.

Excited teenagers, thrilled to be out of the classroom, buzzed with anticipation as they waited for A Midsummer Night's Dream to begin at a special showing for schools on Sunday.

The Shakespeare 4 Kidz production, designed to make the great Bard's work accessible to a younger audience, received raucous applause and cheering – even before the curtain went up. This crowd was up for a good time and boy, did they get it.

Top notch

With the first few bars of a song asking, "Could you believe in love at first sight?", it was clear the professionalism of the 14-strong cast was top notch.

Strong voices, slapstick humour, delightful props and wonderful characters brought the play to life in an easy-to-understand way. And the centuries-old tale of magic and infatuation proved just the tonic to intrigue the boisterous viewers into fascinated submission.

As the superb cast took their bows, the theatre exploded into screams of appreciation, once more revealing Shakespeare's legacy has plenty of life in it yet.