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Samuel Beckett Theatre
8-14th January
In staging The Fairy Queen, Henry Purcell’s classic adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, RIAM and IADT have largely stayed true to the charms and evocations of the original, avoiding excessive modernisation while still making it their own. The set is sleek and minimalist, with complexity supplied by creative use of lighting that dramatically shifts the mood and implied setting throughout. Selective breaks in the lighting create the impression of wandering beneath a sunlit forest canopy, and colour changes have a transporting effect. Suddenly we are bathed in a solemn ethereal blue, smoke machines are creating a bronze mist, straight shots of white light are lending the set the holy feel of a temple. At one point the lights are cut altogether, leaving lamps carried by the performers to softly illuminate one dance sequence.
We are treated to a lively opening of jubilant music and dancing, the performers relishing their costumed parade. There is a restrained opulence to them, the artists clearly eager to inject life and colour into their work yet never pushing their designs beyond the limits of taste. Especially splendid was the dazzling blue adorning Tatiana, the Fairy Queen herself (Clodagh Kinsella).
The song and dance are cut short without warning, and filling the engulfing silence like a punctuation mark comes Shakespeare’s verse, unmistakable in its power and precision. The Bard’s language helps establish the story, but its use becomes increasingly sparse as the opera carries on. Structure and story seem to give way to a purely theatrical showcase. At times I had the impression of being lost at a carnival, dazed by the wonders around me but enjoying the spectacle.
Fun and mischief are classic elements of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Fairy Queen intently carries that over. The characters are relentlessly misled and made fun of through love-spells and prevarications. We are drawn in and encouraged to play along, but at times it seems we are really the ones being teased. The fairies dance around mocking a blindfolded and pleading Bottom (Robert McAllister) yet you can almost detect the presence of a malicious wink sent our way, suggesting they would just as merrily have us in his unenviable position.
The height of this incongruous in-joking comes when Tatiana is placed under a spell to make her fall in love with the first person she sees. She awakens to Bottom, now with the face of a donkey, and immediately falls head over heels for him. What follows is a serenade of extraordinary tenderness in a strikingly beautiful tenor voice, gentle music aiding the scene’s intimacy. We are compelled, dared even, to let our hearts pour out for the budding romance, to feel and embrace the purity of their absurd love.
The Fairy Queen is a dramatic feast of colour and sound that picks you up and twirls you round as fantastic lights and characters dance around you. One felt in the presence of a culmination of different talents, joyously showcasing their potential.
