Victoria Walters celebrates Antic Disposition’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Bath Abbey as a magical and immersive theatrical delight
There are magical hijinks of the fairy variety unfolding in the centre of Bath this summer, as locally-based theatre company Antic Disposition bring its immersive promenading production of Shakespeare’s most popular comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, to Bath Abbey.
Arriving at the Abbey’s great doors for the show feels like being let in on a secret out-of-hours rendezvous – a little illicit and very exciting. Before the show and during the interval, the audience is free to wander around this extraordinary ancient building as the setting sun filters through the stained glass, drink in hand from the pop-up bar, exploring the space that will shortly become an enchanted forest. It is a joy to see this iconic venue brought to life for such a quirky and intimate performance.
Little is required in the way of set design, beyond a luminous moon. The Abbey’s vast columns transform naturally into vast tree trunks, the intricate vaulted ceiling into the forest canopy. As night falls outside, the interior glows like a giant lantern, a fittingly enchanted space, through which fairies dart and lovers lose their way.
The story barely needs introduction: on the eve of the Duke of Athens’s wedding, mismatched lovers, quarrelling fairy royalty and a troupe of hapless amateur actors collide in one night of enchantment and mischief.
Antic Disposition stay faithful to the original text, which the nine players deliver with clarity and energy. A particular standout is Joe Bruce, who balances cockiness with sweetness as Lysander and is very funny as Snug the Joiner, completely overwhelmed by the demands of his role as lion in the Mechanicals’ play.
The lovers’ fight scene is a highlight, its dynamically-choreographed physical comedy landing with precision, allowing Isobel Griffiths (Hermia) and Dannie Harris (Helena) to match each other blow for blow in feistiness, indignation and humour.
Luke Rees-Oliviere’s impish Puck fizzes with barely contained energy; Abigail Moore brings a quiet strength and dignity to both Titania and Hippolyta; while Ciaran Corsar (Oberon) commands with a grandeur that occasionally drifts towards pantomime villain. The ‘play within a play’ is played for broad laughs although some jokes feel a touch over-egged.
The cast multi-role – with the lovers playing both mechanicals and fairies with just the addition of a few accessories. A few more visual clues could help distinguish the fairies, as they are costumed identically to the Mechanicals.
The action moves fluidly through different parts of the Abbey, with pop-up stages and three stewards who enthusiastically shepherd the audience from scene to scene, sometimes ingeniously using ropes to open up new playing spaces and encouraging us to get up close to the action.
At its best, this brings real immediacy: once or twice we found ourselves just inches away from the actors, caught in the crossfire of the lovers’ quarrel. At times though, narrow pinch points and uneven sightlines, combined with the echoing acoustics, meant that some audience members struggled to see or hear, and moving from place to place occasionally stilted the flow of the play, particularly at a couple of points during the second half.
With a few tweaks now that the team has experienced the show with a live audience in situ, the flow could be improved.
A humorous introductory prologue in rhyming couplets cleverly introduced the ‘rules’ of the performance, but occasional shouted directions from the steward and tannoy announcements risked breaking the immersion – a more creative way to weave this guidance into the performance could help keep the magic spell intact.
Marking their 20th anniversary this year, Antic Disposition has brought something truly special to the city with this lively production – it is a rare chance to experience one of Bath’s most beloved buildings as never seen before.
Whether you’re a Shakespeare fan, a tourist who’s stumbled upon it, or a local looking for something unusual to do, it’s a real treat – and the final visual of the players in shadow during Puck’s farewell leaves the magic lingering long after we step back out through those great doors.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream plays at Bath Abbey until 29 August 2025. For more information and to book tickets, go to www.anticdisposition.co.uk/dream-2025
