Pupils from Year 7 to Sixth Form at Wellington School presented an extraordinary musical production, which left audiences clamouring for more. The Dreaming transposes the story of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to a golden Edwardian Somerset idyll in 1914. All the familiar elements of Shakespeare’s work are present –the lovers, the fairies, the bewitchings and the transformations but with more spirit, fun and momentum than could be imagined.
The Dreaming was commissioned and premièred by the National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT), it was first performed at Northcott Theatre, Exeter in August 2001.With music by Howard Goodall (Blackadder, Vicar of Dibley, Bend it Like Beckham) and script and lyrics by Phantom of the Opera lyricist Charles Hart, The Dreaming is a truly magical and memorable production.
The story begins with Lord Melstock (Christian Fieldhouse) preparing for his birthday celebrations, and being interrupted by a superbly irate gamekeeper (George Beckley) with news of the illicit elopement of his daughter Charlotte (the wonderful Jess Handley) with her lover Alexander rather than her fiance David. In a delightful romp, Charlotte’s fiance and her friend are both in the woods searching for the missing pair. The two couples, plus the Melstock search party skitter across the stage in a well-choreographed chase whilst we are introduced to the magical woodland folk.
Sophie Bennett shimmers as the mystical Sylvia, Queen of the Fairies, surrounded by her ethereal followers and we meet Angel – the charismatic and menacing leader of the woodland boys, played with superb presence by Tom Harris. We also meet the mysterious boy Jack, (Finn Askew) who seeks to join Angel’s band, inspires love in Sylvia and sets in motion a series of disastrous events which unfold within the forest.
Meanwhile, the village vicar is preparing a group of bumbling yokels for a pageant for Lord Melstock’s birthday, however, when they are forced to rehearse in the forest, they too fall into the mischievous hands of the fairies.
The magic spreads throughout the forest with some hilarious results and cameo performances.
The whole cast is excellent, with Ben Howe as the butcher Cheek a highlight among the hilariously dim-witted villagers. His transformation to a munching goat is especially joyous and by the end of the first half, the whole audience were in a state of riotous hilarity.
The songs are superb, with lilting tunes and top-tapping rhythms. ‘Jennifer’ is one of the best numbers, sung by a wildly amorous and increasingly passionate Alexander (Anthony James) and David (Will Hester) – the delightfully confused lovers drugged by fairy king Angel – battling over the perplexed Jennifer (Abigail Perry). It’s a witty, delicate and complex number performed with perfect timing. The woodlanders, Angel and Sylvia with the boy Jack (an inspiring Finn Askew) have some memorable songs, including the delightful Heart of the Wood, whilst the two soaring songs chorused by the entire cast at the end of each act take your breath away.
The final exhilarating romp was the play within a play – the village mummers mercilessly mangling the legend of St George. Freddie Renyard was a magnificently incompetent Reverend Plum, who led his appallingly ill-conceived production with aplomb, Will Mitchell enchants as a damsel in distress (with an alarmingly mobile bust), Freddie Davies splendidly sings the robust Banner of St George and Will Hammerton’s accent is straight out of Middlezoy!
The script dispenses with the original text completely and we are led into a mystical world of woodland speak, where pigeon English and children’s secret societies blend in a logical language, whilst the mortal adults deliver nice clipped pre-war phrases.
Director Sam Davis has used some ingenious and evocative staging and the whole piece rattles along at a fabulously jaunty pace. But the real star is the music, as a host of intriguing, uplifting, funny and beautiful songs spill from the stage, led by Andrew Trewhella’s fabulous musical direction and professional band.
Bound together by bewitching music, ‘The Dreaming’, much like Shakespeare’s original, is a charming mix of magic, mayhem and madness, which will leave you gasping with mirth and begging for the night to continue.