A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Sly Rat Theatre Company provides a very entertaining and fulfilling outdoor performance of Shakespeare’s comedy. They are able to elicit much of the charm and humour this play has to offer and occasionally provide intense moments of drama that contrast well with the light-hearted elements. Puck (Brendan Ewing) moves on faun hooves that give his movement and persona an unusual quality and make him a very unearthly being.

There is very little that is conventional about this production and its variety of costume design seems ad hoc but coheres well. The fairy world has the more traditional approach with light flowing costumes and fascinating headdresses. The Kingdom of Athens is inhabited by a post-apocalyptic appearance that cites a range of iconic film imagery ranging from Mad Max to Star Wars. The lovers are amusingly exasperated by the magical interferences and the use of music, such as AC/DC, adds a uniquely Australian flavour to this interpretation. The somewhat edgy appearance of the band of craftsmen, who concoct a hilariously terrible play for the Duke and his bride, is belied by their slapstick antics.   

The setting of the banks of the Maribyrnong River is perfect and very evocative and this makes for an enchanting and relaxed experience, although if the spectator is not positioned well, the performances become easily dwarfed by the vast scale of the outdoor space.

Patricia Di Risio