Dive into an energetic and fresh telling of A Midsummer Night's Dream, presented by an all-female and non-binary company. Step into a world where young lovers flee the corporate city for the freedom of the forest - a place where everyone can express themselves freely… until a love potion gets into the wrong hands! With banging beats, themes of queerness and debauchery, the play explores the idea of seeking love in a relentlessly fast-paced patriarchal society and the relationship between chaos and order.
We sat down with Fleshment Theatre co-producers Hannah Brownlie and Heather Kirk to learn more.
What can you tell me about this production of A Midsummer Night's Dream?
Our production is bold, vibrant and fresh, creating a world that is exciting to inhabit. With an all female and non-binary cast and creative team, a new energy is injected into the piece and a different perspective given to the characters and their trajectories.
Our production is bold, vibrant and fresh, creating a world that is exciting to inhabit. With an all female and non-binary cast and creative team, a new energy is injected into the piece and a different perspective given to the characters and their trajectories.
How does the production fit in with the ethos of Fleshment Theatre?
Setting out as a company, our ethos was to create collaborative theatre in unconventional spaces. Our process has been extremely collaborative in the rehearsal room, with each company member offering ideas and exploring together to create the world of the play. Our performance space at The Glitch is quirky, with its exposed brick walls and pillars and underground vibe.
How do you approach staging a play that has been staged so many times in the past?
Creating a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (a play that pretty much everyone has seen several glorious versions of!) is of course daunting. As a starting point, the make-up of our company alone gives this story a fresh retelling from the get-go: we have been exploring what happens when you put female and non-binary voices at the heart of this well-loved comedy. It’s been hugely interesting to create versions of these characters that exist in this space - which requires a real restraint to push against the traditional versions we all know so well.
Creating a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (a play that pretty much everyone has seen several glorious versions of!) is of course daunting. As a starting point, the make-up of our company alone gives this story a fresh retelling from the get-go: we have been exploring what happens when you put female and non-binary voices at the heart of this well-loved comedy. It’s been hugely interesting to create versions of these characters that exist in this space - which requires a real restraint to push against the traditional versions we all know so well.
Your production pits a corporate city against a forest of self-expression. How did you visually and sonically translate that transition for the audience?
Visually we have been working in depth with physicality, bringing our fabulous movement director Alexandria McCauley on board as well. Audiences should see a real physical transformation from the stiff corporate city suits to the animalistic characteristics of the characters in the forest. Our fabulous director, Amy Allen, has also created a language and a soundscape for the different worlds so wonderfully to complement this.
Visually we have been working in depth with physicality, bringing our fabulous movement director Alexandria McCauley on board as well. Audiences should see a real physical transformation from the stiff corporate city suits to the animalistic characteristics of the characters in the forest. Our fabulous director, Amy Allen, has also created a language and a soundscape for the different worlds so wonderfully to complement this.
Music seems central to this fresh telling. How does the soundscape reflect the themes of debauchery and chaos?
Within an 80’s music soundscape, we have been spoiled with endless lively beats, sultry lyricism and energy that naturally awakens the bodacious in all of us. The audience should feel naturally aligned with this soundtrack and have their own experience of what these pieces of music make them feel.
Within an 80’s music soundscape, we have been spoiled with endless lively beats, sultry lyricism and energy that naturally awakens the bodacious in all of us. The audience should feel naturally aligned with this soundtrack and have their own experience of what these pieces of music make them feel.
In a patriarchal society, control is a major theme. How does the love potion serve as a metaphor for the lack of agency—or perhaps a release from it?
Our telling of this story certainly focuses on the release from agency. It serves as a reminder that all of us have free will, yet often we choose to box ourselves in. The love potion (and all of its resulting carnage) allows these stiff characters to care about something more than just their careers, or where they are placed in society; they are invited to reconnect and to come back to themselves.
Our telling of this story certainly focuses on the release from agency. It serves as a reminder that all of us have free will, yet often we choose to box ourselves in. The love potion (and all of its resulting carnage) allows these stiff characters to care about something more than just their careers, or where they are placed in society; they are invited to reconnect and to come back to themselves.
Why was it essential for Fleshment Theatre to approach this specific Shakespearean comedy with this specific demographic?
Since setting up our company, we have striven to put female and non-binary voices at the centre of Shakespeare’s stories, which, in their time, women were excluded from performing in. There is already plenty of juicy subtext between the female characters in this play; and we were emboldened by this specifically when bringing our company to the story. Love and relationships can look like so many different things in modern day; so representing queer voices within this retelling is something we have been honoured to crack open.
Since setting up our company, we have striven to put female and non-binary voices at the centre of Shakespeare’s stories, which, in their time, women were excluded from performing in. There is already plenty of juicy subtext between the female characters in this play; and we were emboldened by this specifically when bringing our company to the story. Love and relationships can look like so many different things in modern day; so representing queer voices within this retelling is something we have been honoured to crack open.
The forest is described as a place to express oneself freely. Does the production view chaos as a necessary tool for liberation?
Our exploration of this theme has revealed the common ground that there is some chaos inside of all of us. What are we hiding underneath the surface? What do you want to say in moments you feel like you can’t say anything? What physical impulses do you shy away from in the confinements of modern expectations? The freedom of the forest encourages the characters to rip down their guard and to live in their most free state of being.
Our exploration of this theme has revealed the common ground that there is some chaos inside of all of us. What are we hiding underneath the surface? What do you want to say in moments you feel like you can’t say anything? What physical impulses do you shy away from in the confinements of modern expectations? The freedom of the forest encourages the characters to rip down their guard and to live in their most free state of being.
This is your second production after launching last year. What did you learn from your debut that fundamentally changed how you approached Midsummer?
On the production side of things, there are hundreds of micro-lessons to be learnt during/after your first time putting something on - but we won’t bore you with those! The most exciting thing we’ve learnt is how our collaborative process encourages our creatives to be playful, open, and free; how our all-female/non-binary space creates an enigmatic and structurally supportive atmosphere; and the work that this creates, in turn, is experimental, bold and relatable all at once.
On the production side of things, there are hundreds of micro-lessons to be learnt during/after your first time putting something on - but we won’t bore you with those! The most exciting thing we’ve learnt is how our collaborative process encourages our creatives to be playful, open, and free; how our all-female/non-binary space creates an enigmatic and structurally supportive atmosphere; and the work that this creates, in turn, is experimental, bold and relatable all at once.
As co-producers, how do you balance the administrative order of running a company with the chaos of a high-energy, experimental production?
We have forced ourselves to find balance in that we are both also actors in the production - call us crazy! Some days we might have twenty tabs open in our brains to do with production; but the collaborative rehearsal space encourages us to be present with that, as much as we are with our admin…though this means when we’re not needed in a scene, you may often find us sitting in the corner of the room with our laptops out!
We have forced ourselves to find balance in that we are both also actors in the production - call us crazy! Some days we might have twenty tabs open in our brains to do with production; but the collaborative rehearsal space encourages us to be present with that, as much as we are with our admin…though this means when we’re not needed in a scene, you may often find us sitting in the corner of the room with our laptops out!
Producing theatre in the current climate is its own kind of relentlessly fast-paced challenge. How do the themes of the play mirror your own experiences as producers in the industry?
Producing theatre in the current climate is definitely a hard undertaking! But we persevere because we love creating; and we suppose the mirror here within the plot of this piece is that the love for it outweighs the challenges.
Producing theatre in the current climate is definitely a hard undertaking! But we persevere because we love creating; and we suppose the mirror here within the plot of this piece is that the love for it outweighs the challenges.
If someone walks into a Fleshment Theatre show, what is the one feeling or vibe you want them to recognise as your signature?
Energy is the first thing that comes to mind. As we’ve said, we pride ourselves on the nurturing and playful space we create as a company, and that should always be palpable in our productions - whether it be the way the company interacts with each other; or the creative offers we make; we want our audience to be buzzing from start to end.
Energy is the first thing that comes to mind. As we’ve said, we pride ourselves on the nurturing and playful space we create as a company, and that should always be palpable in our productions - whether it be the way the company interacts with each other; or the creative offers we make; we want our audience to be buzzing from start to end.
What motivates you to stage work like this?
Initially, we just wanted to put on our own work for the joy of it - to feel the ‘fleshment’ of creating something from the ground up, with a brilliant cast and company! On top of that we are keen to present innovative takes on Shakespeare, who we both love the work of dearly.
Initially, we just wanted to put on our own work for the joy of it - to feel the ‘fleshment’ of creating something from the ground up, with a brilliant cast and company! On top of that we are keen to present innovative takes on Shakespeare, who we both love the work of dearly.
If you were able to ask Shakespeare a question about the play, what would you choose to ask him?
Could we add some female and non-binary voices into his company of actors?!
Could we add some female and non-binary voices into his company of actors?!
What do you hope a young queer or non-binary person takes away from this performance that they might not get from a traditional production of Shakespeare?
Shakespeare is for everyone, by everyone. You can bring yourself to his stories, and his stories to you. By depicting relationships that are not all necessarily heteronormative, we hope that everyone can feel seen and held through this production.
Shakespeare is for everyone, by everyone. You can bring yourself to his stories, and his stories to you. By depicting relationships that are not all necessarily heteronormative, we hope that everyone can feel seen and held through this production.
When and where can people see the show?
We’re playing at The Glitch, SE1, from this Friday 15th May - Sunday 17th May. To come along and see us, you can book via The Glitch website - and of course say hi to us afterwards as well!
We’re playing at The Glitch, SE1, from this Friday 15th May - Sunday 17th May. To come along and see us, you can book via The Glitch website - and of course say hi to us afterwards as well!
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