EdFringe Review: Midsummer!

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Staging Midsummer!—Tony Award winner Jeff Whitty’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s story of runaway lovers, feuding fairy sovereigns, and potion-induced chaos—inside the Bijou Spiegeltent in St Andrew Square is either lucky or a masterstroke. Surrounded by canvas walls and a forest of mirrored timber pillars, Kim Weild’s in-the-round production has the playful energy of a travelling mummers troupe fresh from unpacking its wagon.

Rachel Laurence’s score—a blend of live acoustic instrumentation, percussive beats, and close-harmony vocal interludes—amplifies this dreamlike atmosphere with a steady, driving pulse. It’s a rhythm the entire staging seems attuned to.

Weild has achieved incredible success in creating such a vivid, ambitious production where every visual is meticulously realised. Characters—particularly those doubling roles—come and go with practised, seamless efficiency. There’s real flow to the show, a sense that it never stops without feeling rushed, like it’s playing to a beat only the cast can hear.

It provides ideal backing for Whitty’s nimble adaptation for Play On Shakespeare. Translating classic text into modern English could easily descend into crass vandalism, but Whitty obviously respects the poetry, trimming the running time for the Fringe while injecting a measured dose of contemporary sass. Purists will still be horrified, but I think it’s obvious this is a show enamoured of The Bard, and out to do him right. From start to finish, it’s enormous, fully engrossing fun.

Yet in leaning so relentlessly into a sort of tumbling, comic dreaminess, Weild leaves little room for the play’s minor but important poignant moments. As Puck’s enchanted flower juice scrambles the young lovers’ affections, the production excels at building a frantic, physical comedy of fairy-enhanced errors.

The farcical silliness of Christian Trimmingham’s Lysander and Logan Yao’s Demetrius suddenly abandoning their loyalties to obsess over Helena—while brutally discarding Celia Evans’s fiercely indignant Hermia—is staged for maximum delight. However, by substituting the least bit of heartbreak and confusion with such comic efficiency, the production undercuts its emotional stakes a tad.

Fairy Court Dynamics and a Triumphant Ensemble

There’s a touch more tonal friction to be found over in the fairy court, where the royal dispute over a changeling boy sets the entire magical misadventure in motion. Swapping traditional gender roles, Jakai Norfleet commands the arena as a sly, authoritative Oberon out to humiliate his queen.

Siahvash, by contrast, feels less secure as Titania, their performance feeling more like an imitation of a spellbound queen who falls blindly in love with a donkey. Fortunately, Eli Strain’s magnetic Puck keeps the magic more than alive. As the chief architect of the lovers’ bewilderment, Strain blends primate, clown and poet to create a memorable Robin Goodfellow.

Much of the pre-show noise inevitably centres on Suri Noelle, making her high-profile stage debut under intense scrutiny. Her Helena is alive with self-aware frustration which powers a torrent of wry comedy. She’s unquestionably impressive, though far from stealing the limelight; her nascent star-power adds to the whole, elevating every scene she inhabits.

That isn’t to suggest there is a single slouch amongst her castmates, however—weak links did not make it through casting. Rusty Daniel is a standout as Bottom, delivering a controlled comic powerhouse performance in and out of a rather fetching donkey costume.

When the company converges for the finale, the Mechanicals’ performance of Pyramus and Thisbe is carried off with aplomb. Daniel, Noelle (as Thisbe), Celia Evans, Christian Trimmingham, Logan Yao, and Moyo Ifafore (as a wonderfully exasperated Quince) turn the amateur theatricals into a riotous romp packed with absurd, physical comedy.

So, whilst there is space to improve Midsummer!, what it does, it does extremely well. Driven by Shakespeare’s immortal talent, Whitty’s witty adaptation, Laurence’s score, and a staging that fully exploits its space, Noelle and company have delivered one of the most entertaining revivals at the festival this year.

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