A Fleeting Night’s Dream

The Kings School and Tara Anglican School. Original Concept and Adaptation by Michel Terzo and Diane Herron. Music and Lyrics by Fleetwood Mac. Based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Musical Arrangements by Melody Beck and Benie Lagana. Choreography by Kate Brady. March 15 – 25, 2017.

The word which came to mind was spectacular. Blessed with extraordinary technical facilities, matched by the enthusiasm of staff and students, the World Premiere of this unique adaptation of Shakespeare blew the roof of the Kings Theatre.

Every department excelled. At the centre of the stage was a platform which had flashing LED lights. The structure moved around and its LED top rose vertically to become a movie screen. Whether as a dancing floor, or a backdrop, the interactive colour and movies added a unique dimension to the production.

Costumes were in an intriguing psychedelic 1960’s fashion, the lighting (apart from an opening night glitch in the introductory song) was powerful, the orchestra used the new score with panache and the dancing of the very large cast was enthusiastic and well drilled.

The schools had a coup in securing permission from super group Fleetwood Mac to use their songs in a new musical. The group formed in 1967 and is still active – albeit with a high changeover of members. 

Combining the pop music and Shakespeare proved to be an excellent vehicle for a large group of students. The dialogue in this production was lifted from the bard, with the songs dropped in where appropriate.

The audience responded most favourably to the juxtaposition of song and dialogue in the second act with the number Stop Draggin My Heart Around.

Relishing the Shakespearean dialogue most was Archer Holz as Nick Bottom, closely followed by Zac George as Puck and Brad Gardner as Oberon. The strongest female singer was Tash Hopman as Titania. 

A Fleeting Night’s Dreamlived up to its by-line that promised “You’ll see things in a different way.”

David Spicer