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http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01dtvpl/features/dream All available episodes. Director – Nancy Meckler Designer – Katrina Lindsay Lighting – Wolfgang Göbbel Composer - Keith Clouston Puck – Arsher Ali Fairy – Maya Barcot Fairy – Christopher Chilton Fairy – Theo Ogundipe Fairy – Lanre Malaolu Fairy – Imogen Doel Egeus – Kammy Darweish Quince – Christopher Godwin Flute – Michael Grady-Hall Demetrius – Alex Hassell Helena – Lucy Briggs-Owen Snug – Felix Hayes Hermia – Matti Houghton Lysander – Nathaniel Martello-White Hippolyta/Titania – Pippa Nixon Snout - Chiké Okonkwo Starveling – Timothy Speyer Theseus/Oberon – Jo Stone-Fewings Fairy – Amanda Wilkin Bottom – Marc Wootton Helena Oberon Helena And Demetrius Titania and Bottom

Kevin Quarmby, British Theatre Guide “The colourful Oz-like world of Titania, Oberon, Puck and Peaseblossom is itself a dream. A dream that belongs to Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. This alternative world is Hippolyta’s only means of escape. Here, she resignedly learns to accept her plight. The tradition of double-casting Hippolyta with Titania, and Theseus with Oberon, becomes the overarching reasoning behind Nancy Meckler’s intelligent and entertaining production. Hippolyta is Theseus’s captive. He must woo his unwilling prize. The commodification of women in a male-dominated society becomes the central theme of the play.” “The society in question is the testosterone world of 1960s Athens, reproduced in microcosm in the play’s subterranean setting.” “So, Hippolyta rejects her conqueror. She falls asleep in a leather chair upstage. As her escaping dream unfolds, she is woken be a troupe of fairies to be revealed as Titania, their queen. Titania’s fairy followers are like teenage partygoers who have imbibed too many alcopops.” “Puck may be the malicious creature of the woods, but his principal victim is the lowly Bottom, played by the comic actor, Marc Wootton. At times reminiscent of a cross between Frankie Howerd and Kenneth Williams, all rolled up in a manic Jack Black, Wootton’s Bottom offers a star turn that rules the stage.” http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/RSCdream2011-rev Kevin Quarmby, British Theatre Guide “Nancy Meckler's production starts awkwardly, but it undergoes a transformation that echoes the play itself and induces a sense of collective ecstasy.” http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/aug/05/midsummer-nights-dream-review Michael Billington, The Guardian “When Hippolyta actually spits at Theseus to express her disapproval of his treatment of the young lovers, one anticipates a modishly dark production.” “The mechanicals are terrific, generating a warm sense of male friendship, and the great moment when Bottom – a splendidly bumptious but lovable Marc Wootton – returns from his forest adventures proves deeply affecting.” “There’s a strong sexual spark between Jo Stone-Fewings and Pippa Nixon, respectively doubling as Theseus and Oberon and Hippolyta and Titania, and you emerge from this exhilarating production both weak with laughter and unexpectedly moved.” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/8684963/A-Midsummer-Nights-Dream-RSC-Stratford-upon-Avon-review.html Charles Spencer, The Telegraph

Emma Hunneyball Peter Viney “The stand-out performance of the piece was Lucy Briggs-Owen as a spectacularly dotty Helena. Her interpretation of her character's fawning devotion despite frequent knockbacks was by turns hilarious and touching. Her interaction with Matti Houghton's Hermia drew focus to the simmering tension between the two, but also added an interesting element of hero worship.” http://www.inpotentia.co.uk/2011/09/theatre-review-midsummer-nights-dream.html Emma Hunneyball “The lighting enhances all the “dream” sequences and is of the highest standard (designed by Wolfgang Gobbel).” “Puck and Oberon are a double act. If the balance of the production goes to Oberon, Puck has to fit in, and the role lessens.” http://peterviney.wordpress.com/stage/a-midsummer-nights-dream-rsc-2011/ Peter Viney