A Midsummer Night’s Dream- Chichester 2026

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Justin Audibert & Hannah Joss
Set design by Joanna Scotcher
Costume designer Ryan Dawson Laight
Composer / sound design Alexandra Faye Braithwaite

Chichester Festival Theatre
Tuesday 29th September 2026, 14.30

CAST
Tom Kanji- Theseus
Celeste Dodwell- Hippolyta
Henry Everett – Egeus
Gavin Rasmussen – Philostrate / The Changeling

Angela Sant’ Abano – Hermia
Freya Parks – Helena
Ellie Larkin- Lysander
Kieran Taylor-Ford – Demetrius

Eve Ponsoby- Titania
David Sturzaker – Oberon
Shane David-Joseph – Puck

Munya Chawawa – Bottom
Giles Taylor- Peter Quince
Kishore Walker – Flute / Cobweb
Charlie Beck- Snug / Mustardseed
Anna Soden – Starveling / Moth
Afi Okaidja – Snout / Peaseblossom

Ravers:
Adhish Arul
Scarlette Gulfoyle
Hattie Musgrove
Jaz Reynolds
Cache Thake
Phoebe Tyler
Mariana Fonseca
Riley Woodford

This is the third version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream this year, following the RSC and The Globe. It’s my favourite play of all, at my favourite theatre, so bring it on! It’s good to see Chichester doing Shakespeare, following Hamlet last year.

Just the cast list intrigues. It’s a very rare one where Theseus / Oberon and Hippolyta / Titania aren’t doubled. A female Lysander? It’s high concept.

From the Chichester website:

Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (is) riotously transposed to 1990s Sussex where traditional values are going head to head with the party to end all parties.
It’s 1994 in Chichester, and Tory MP Theseus is riding high after shutting down free raves across the county, aided by local Chief Constable Egeus. Four spirited but unhappy young lovers rebel against their stuffy elders’ rules and take off to the South Downs.
Over the fields, bohemian aristo-landowners Oberon and Titania are organising an illicit rave with naughty fixer Puck – when they aren’t arguing over the affections of The Changeling, a DJ party boy.
Meanwhile, the local Young Conservatives are busy rehearsing a play for Theseus’ forthcoming wedding, with the slightly over-enthusiastic support of new Club member, Bottom.

The theatre was full of school parties, some from 60 miles away. Wimborne. Andover, lots of coaches. We love that. Different schools do Mexican waves before the start, and it ripples round. I note that at some schools the teachers cheerfully join in, others they definitely don’t. Seeing first class Shakespeare is a major experience. Some schools had brought pre-teens. Hmm. I have the feeling that the theatre should have made the schools aware that there would be simulated drug taking (and displaying the effects for the seated ravers), there would be girl on girl snogging and two adult politicians would start stripping off, presumably for an office desk bonk. If I’d seen an evening or Saturday show, I don’t think it would have occurred to me. I understand the economics of attracting school parties with Shakespeare in autumn and winter. They might not get bookings next time. If I’d taken a class of 12 / 13 year olds, I would not have looked forward to explaining the changes afterwards.

A 1994 rave. I wonder here if they thought it would attract a younger audience. That’s thirty-two years ago. The nostalgia hit is going to be for those about fifty years old plus in 2026. OK, fifty plus is possibly younger than their normal loyal audiences! In 2013, Michael Grandage’s London production set the play at a late 60s rock festival with hippies, spliffs, and a truly memorable Titania as Janis Joplin from Sheridan Smith. OK, that ticked our nostalgia boxes.

The other thing is that Theseus is now Theseus Howard MP for Chichester and Hippolyta looks like a politician of similar status. Both Tom Kanji as Theseus and Celeste Dodwell as Hippolyta are very funny. Hippolyta’s background acting is award worthy. Margaret Thatcher is a picture on the wall. They start to disrobe for a quickie before Egeus as Chief Constable interrupts. The programme draws parallels on a run of Tory sexual sleaze stories in the John Major era. They extend back to Thatcher, but in her case the culprits got sacked on the spot. We think of David Mellor in his Chelsea football shirt as a sex aid. Add Stephen Millar dead from auto-erotic asphyxiation. Steven Norris for multiple affairs. Norman Lamont rented a property to a sex “therapist” We also think of John Major and Edwina Currie, but we didn’t know that at the time. To be fair, John Prescott, Robin Cook, Ron Davies (cruising on Clapham Common) and David Blunkett carried the tradition into the next Labour era. Worse, Blunkett tried to use his position to change the law to suit himself.

To most people in theatrical circles, and to most of my friends (but not all) Tory MPs are intrinsically funny as are the Young Conservative Association members for the Rude Mechanicals. For theatre this is mainly preaching to the choir, but let me but you a but. They note that Chichester is currently Lib Dem. Indeed, Bournemouth and Poole are now three Labour seats (possibly due to the unpopularity of the sitting Lib Dem council). Historically, all four are very safe Conservative seats, chichester solidly blue from 1924 to 2024. 2024 was a massive anti-Tory vote. Perhaps the assumption that all Tories are prats might be questioned by some of the audience. The congregation is not the same as the choir.

There is a prologue to the play, in verse, well-written setting up the closing and banning of raves by the Conservative local council and Sussex police. That’s a dramaturg credit surely? All I see in the programme is Giles Taylor – text consultant (He also plays Peter Quince). It’s more than that. Later Athens is Chichester, the forest is the South Downs, local places Emsworth and Wittering are mentioned, Athenian garments becomes ‘unusual clothes’. That needed script work. They talk about sending Hermia to a nunnery, but don’t invoke the death penalty.

Lysander (Ellie Larkin) and Hermia (Angela Sant’ Abano)
They’re in fron of Theseus’s office

There is an issue with the lovers. They have made Lysander female. Ellie Larkin does the part well, but in the play as a whole it doesn’t work. Well, it doesn’t work if you’re heterosexual or homosexual. It might be OK if you’re Bi. If Hermia (Angela Sant’ Abano) is definitely and passionately lesbian, Demetrius is surely going to give up. Then the cliché is Lysander is in blue with trousers, Hermia is in a girly pink skirt, later a pink tennis skirt. As the ancient joke goes, ‘I’ll be Glad if you’ll be Frank.’ A major fault in casting Lysander and Hermia as gay, is that the Demetrius / Lysander “fight” falls flat. You can’t do it properly. Waving a little flag is no substitute. We have seen a few gay elements in the lovers scenes which do work. Puck sprinkling his love potion too liberally so both Lysander and Demetrius get a dose and embrace was very funny. Then Emma Rice’s 2016 version at The Globe had a gay ‘Helenus’ as Hermia’s gay best friend, and Ncuti Gatwa as Demetrius. You can play around effectively, but no, a female Lysander didn’t work.

Yet they managed some of the main lovers scene, restraining Hermia well. She was indeed little and fierce. That is not the entire scene though.

Kieran Taylor-Ford gives a fine Demetrius, and wins my “Best sore bollocks” award of the year after a couple of kickings from Hermia. I wonder if he was too nice? He is Egeus’s favoured one, but has been a bastard to Helena historically.

Freya Parks stood out as an outstanding Helena. She has the face, she has the height. Bedraggled and dismayed. She reminded us both of our all-time favourite Helena, Lucy Briggs-Owen at the RSC fifteen years ago.

In the context, separating Theseus / Oberon and Hippolyta / Titania is essential. Oberon (David Sturzaker) is in his Rolling Stones T-shirt. Titaia (Eve Ponsonby) is in tights and spangly leotard. Her bower is now a caravan. They arrive in a golf cart with Rolls Royce grill.

Centre: Titania (Eve Ponsonby) wuth her changeling (toy) boy (Gavin Rasmussen)

The Changeling Boy they both desire is played by the very tall Gavin Rasmussen. He’s called a “DJ party boy” in the blurbs.

I would say Titania’s toy boy, definitely sexual (another bit of hammering the gay theme then as Oberon wants him). He looks more like a male prostitute.

Shane David-Joseph plays Puck, dancing almost continually and very well too. A lighted vape gets blown over the lovers with instant whoozy effect, so we guess it’s a joint.

Shane David-Joseph as Puck, Davis Surzacker as Oberon

I thought the neon ass’s head for Bottom was a great idea- he could see through it but the light of the neon strip obscured the face. All the rude mechanicals have to double as the four fairies, again with neon boom boxes or whatever to hold.

Bottom is played by Munya Chawawa whose name goes on the fliers, an accolade usually reserved for the likes of Kenneth Branagh or Sheridan Smith. We’d never heard of him, but apparently he has had one billion online views and has three million followers.

Munya Chawawa as Bottom, the Video Rental shop owner

He’s very good, and very nimble on his feet and athletic, and he has charisma. He does it with a West Midlands accent (which always gets a laugh) and I liked that he is not a weaver, but the owner of a Video Rentals shop. Very 1994. The Arnie Schwarznegger impersonation was an unexpected pleasure.

L to R: Anna Soden as Starveling, Giles Taylor as Peter Quince, Munya Chawawa as Bottom, Afi Okaidj as Snout, Charlie Beck as Snug

The rest are young Tories. A nice addition is that Starveling (Anna Soden) has a massive crush on him and hangs on every word. Snout (Afi Okaidja ) is a policewoman (though not in production photos- was it a later idea?) Charlie Beck as Snug is now a plumber, not a joiner. Plumbers do vote Tory. I know a few!

Flute (Kishore Walker) is in schoolboy shorts, so reminding us of William Hague, lampooned as ‘Tory Boy’ by Harry Enfield. He was outstanding, continually put on with snide references, and protesting to the audience. As Thisbe he has a blue frock with twin Conservative rosettes as breasts, with John Major’s face on them.

The ‘ravers’ are dancers and prominent, and highly proficient and well choreographed. They can distract from scenes, such as one acting being very obviously stoned out of their mind right in front.

The set like a Glastonbury pyramid with steps hidden at the sides works with a great lighting plot. It has a “balcony” and rooms – Theseus’s office, Titania’s bower, The wedding table can slide in and out as Shakespeare era inner stages. Music runs below much if it, but the balance is good. I’m pretty sure the cast were mic’d. That’s Chichester style- you can’t hear they’re mic’d but you can hear clearly in spite of music beats below, and I did note a tell tale strip of tape on one neck.

Hippolyta (Celeste Dodwell) and Theseus (Tom Kanji)

At the wedding scene, Gavin Rasmussen becomes Philostrate mincing around in pale blue. Yes, I laughed. He was funny. I don’t think it passed my ‘racism’ test, which is ‘How would you feel laughing at something with a friend of the same ethnicity as the racist comic role sitting next to you? I wouldn’t have felt comfortable laughing at Philostrate with a friend who was gay sitting next to me. OK, I’m a child of the 60s. We were used to laughing at Dick Emery’s “Ooh, you are awful, but I like you” character. But it’s 2026.

A fine Pyramus & Thisbe scene – it never goes wrong, as well as an elaborate wedding cake set, and Hippolyta getting so pissed that she gets ‘tired and emotional’ watching the death of Thisbe.

L to R: Wall, Thisbe, Peter Quince, Lion, Pyramus. All in Tory blue

Apart from John Major’s face on Thisbe’s rosettes, there are tiny touched. Take off lion’s head and the card is stuck on has WAITROSE on the back, I guess a tilt at a presumed Tory choice of supermarket. Thisbe had to freeze (see above) and stand on one leg and had to be made to carry on, very close to my heart as we attempt it in our daily exercise program.

MUSIC
If you use found music, as they did, it should be credited in the programme. The songs they used were well chosen and prominent. Credit the writers and performers then. That’s one as a writer (and in the past lyricist) I feel very strongly about.

Overall: I’m mean on the Dream. I’ve awarded a few five stars. This isn’t (The RSC this year was). It’s not a five. I thought it was innovative, colourful, and the Dream can take a lot of playing around with. Set, costume, lighting are first rate.

Karen differs. She felt it lost the magic of the woods entirely, and on the whole the verse speaking and text took a battering. The famous lines should not be in big quotation marks when they appear, but nor should they be thrown away, which they were here. She thought the politics had no part in the magic, and was much too obviously preaching to a choir.

So, I’m a four. ****
Karen is a ‘low three.’ ***

WHAT THE CRITICS SAID

five star
Gareth Carr, What’s On Stage *****
Rosie Theatre & Tonic *****
Polly Bishop, The Reviews Hub, *****

Four star
Fiona Mountford, TheTelegraph ****
Mark Lawson, The Guardian ****|
Chris Abbott, West End Best Friend ****

Three Star
Neil Norman, The Stage

LINKS TO REVIEWS ON THIS SITE:

HANNAH JOSS (Co-Director)
Choir, Chichester 2025

EVE PONSONBY
Hamlet, Chichester 2025 (Ophelia)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bath 2016 (Hermia)
‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore – Cheek by Jowl , Nuffield, by John Ford

DAVID STURZAKER
Dear England, Chichester 2025 (Gareth Southgate)
Timon of Athens, RSC 2018
Tamburlaine, RSC 2018
Nell Gwynn, Globe 2015 (Charles II)
Richard II, Globe 2015 (Bolingbroke)
The Merchant of Venice, Globe 2015
The White Devil, RSC 2024

TOM KANJI
Julius Caesar, RSC 2023
Love’s Labour’s Lost, Wanamaker Playhouse 2018
The Country Wife, Chichester 2018
The Winter’s Tale, Wanamaker Playhouse 2016
Pericles, Globe 2015
Romeo & Juliet, Globe 2015
Julius Caesar, Globe 2014

CELESTE DODWELL
Much Ado About Nothing, National 2022
Hay Fever, Salisbury 2014

HENRY EVERETT
The Crucible, National, 2022

SHANE DAVID-JOSEPH
Driftwood, RSC 2026

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