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Bournemouth Shakespeare Players Priory Gardens Christchurch July 2002 The star of the show, for me, was Kevin Dicker, revelling with undisguised glee in his role as a woolly-hatted Bottom. His “death” scene as Pyramus, opposite a very impressive young Adam Russell as Thisbe was a real joy. And while we’re on the subject of the Mechanicals, I also loved Chris Gorman’s north-country Mrs Quince. Well, Shakespeare used men as women so why not the other way round? The court of Oberon (Denis Carlton) and Titania (a commanding Elizabeth Bal) included just one fairy, Peaseblossom, but Jane Haynes’ splendid, stroppy characterisation more than made up for the lack of numbers. And Simon Carlton’s Pan-like Puck, although sometimes vocally indistinct, was wonderfully expressive. Ross Halford (Lysander) and Steve Nairn (Demetrius) showed promise despite falling into the trap of speaking too quickly, but there were outstanding performances from Rebecca Legrand (Hermia) and Natalie Arkell (Helena) which culminated in an excellent hair-pulling cat fight. And thankfully I did not slumber through an evening in which the shadows most certainly did not offend. Linda Kirkman Courtesy of the Bournemouth Daily Echo |
