Review: MIDSUMMER, Tiltyard Theater - theSpace, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Photo credit: Beau Gambold

With a unique twist on Shakespeare’s classic, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Midsummer feels fresh and engaging.

The last fairy, Puck, lurks in a dying forest when a crew of office workers try to put on a play. Using the text from Shakespeare’s tale and interspersing the modern day, and some other classic Shakespearean lines, a new story is created.

It’s a magical tale of crazy love triangles, mayhem and comedy with an ecological crisis thrown in.

Midsummer is played out by a talented cast of Brennan Caldwell, Hannah Jane Ginsberg, Annelise Lawson, Kelly Letourneau, Nick Ong, Niall Powderly, Aaron Profumo and Josephine Stewart, who bring continued laughs throughout with the absurdity of the story they are performing. 

Directed by Sara Holdren, with costume design by Tricia Emlet alongside Holdren, the stage is set and we are transported to another time and place.

Special mention must go to Stewart as Puck, her performance is stand out as the both mischievous and playful fairy.

This is a rounded production and brings together the old and the new seamlessly. It is definitely one to watch for all ages.

Delinquent, devious and delightful.

**** Four stars

Reviewed by: Rachel Louise Martin

Midsummer plays at theSpace @ Niddry St at the Edinburgh Festival until 27 August, with tickets available here.