Shakirah Bourne’s tender-hearted adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a refreshingly low-key palate cleanser with plenty of time for its older characters
Russell T Davies set the bar very high for the edge and energy required for an accessible modern screen adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, on the BBC last year, with Stormtrooper-like soldiers, a shock death at the end and Maxine Peake playing a fairy. It’s perhaps unfair to compare Davies’ effort with this well-intentioned adaptation from Barbados, which doesn’t have the all-star cast and feels a little scrimped in the effects department.
Sticking mostly to the Shakespeare with a little slang mashed in, it plays out in a carnival atmosphere, performed by a mix of British and Barbadian actors. Aden Gillett is a genial, avuncular Theseus, commanding Hermia (Marina Bye) to marry Demetrius (Sam Gillett), while his own bride-to-be Hippolyta looks on frowning with concern.
Russell T Davies set the bar very high for the edge and energy required for an accessible modern screen adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, on the BBC last year, with Stormtrooper-like soldiers, a shock death at the end and Maxine Peake playing a fairy. It’s perhaps unfair to compare Davies’ effort with this well-intentioned adaptation from Barbados, which doesn’t have the all-star cast and feels a little scrimped in the effects department.
Sticking mostly to the Shakespeare with a little slang mashed in, it plays out in a carnival atmosphere, performed by a mix of British and Barbadian actors. Aden Gillett is a genial, avuncular Theseus, commanding Hermia (Marina Bye) to marry Demetrius (Sam Gillett), while his own bride-to-be Hippolyta looks on frowning with concern.
- 11/10/2017
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
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