A Midsummer Night's Dream performed by Oddsocks tickets and listings

“If laughing makes you younger…I am ten years younger.” Malvern Resident

Review from June 20th 2010:

http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/Laugh-odd-socks-Shakespeare-treat/article-2312718-detail/article.html

SHAKESPEARE would definitely have approved of this version of the perennial seasonal play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. And the Oddsocks theatre company certainly knows how to tickle a funny bone or two.

Laugh? I laughed until I cried at this absolutely fantastic rendition of Will's classic at Derby Theatre last night. The Derby-based company really throw themselves into their performances and the six-strong cast worked their "odd socks" off to portray 16 characters.

It is the classic tale of four lovers running off to the countryside to find mysterious woodland creatures playing tricks on them. When a troupe of amateur actors decides to rehearse in the woods, the fairies' intervention leads to bizarre and outrageous comedy. Oddsocks use an Elizabethan pageant wagon to carry out the action and by careful manoeuvring it becomes either the background for Athens or the woodland scenes. Live music, exhilarating circus skills and wonderfully executed pregnant pauses and comic interludes proliferate the play.

This is not one of my favourite Shakespeare plays. Truth be known, I was not looking forward to seeing it yet again. But I am so pleased I did, as Oddsocks made the plot so accessible to everyone. That's probably why the audience was largely made up of youngsters who are studying the play at school.Oddsocks will have made the play come to life for them in a way that very few theatre companies manage to do.

It would unfair to single out individual performances because all of the cast worked so well together. At times I felt I was watching something that was a heady mix of Monty Python and Little Britain, with maybe just a hint of Justin Lee Collins thrown in for good measure. But the Shakespearean dialogue stayed intact despite the comedy. A nice touch is the presence of the actors in the audience ahead of the performance and during the play. But beware sitting too near the front though or you might find yourself more than a little involved and end up as part of the play – or wet. This is one not to miss and recommended for a really good night out. So get your tickets now.