Georgina Campbell enjoys a night on the town, in a wild interactive performance which saw her becoming as much a part of the action as the elusive cast

  • A Midsummer Night's Dream, by Creation Theatre Company
  • Oxford city centre
  • Until July 30

CREATION Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a creative masterpiece bursting with imagination and intrigue.

Weaving the very real world of the city as an additional character to Shakespeare’s play, brought the adaptation to a whole new level which surpasses any previous performance I have seen.

You become a part of the play the moment you put the flower in your button hole and embark on a dream-like journey around the city in a bid to make it to Theseus’ and Hippolyta’s wedding.

Told to meet at a specified location, you are completely at the mercy of the cast as they give you different clues for a magical and highly entertaining treasure hunt.

From Osney Lane to the Worcester Street car park, we hunted throughout the city – much to the amusement of passers-by, getting closer and closer to the main event.

The pairing of live-action interactions with pre-recorded clips kept us on our toes as we never knew what or who we would discover at each point.

We were bundled into the back of a van, had to steal vital pieces of information and taken to a graveyard.

A favourite clue was in The Yellow Submarine Café.

Gingerly we opened the door and on their CCTV monitor, Puck and Oberon appeared, performing the scene in which Puck is instructed by the King of the Fairies to find a flower which has the power of making people fall in love with the person or creature they first lay eyes on.

The cast were mesmerising as they took us on this urban wonderland adventure.

They completely embraced their characters and were not embarrassed by shy audience members or gawping onlookers.

We also became the subject of staring eyes and opened mouths as we proved to the characters we were not fairy spys.

But we, as Theseus’ second cousins were not the only wedding party trying to make our way to the main event.

Simultaneously the cast coerced and co-ordinated five separate adventures, our paths never crossed but somehow we all managed to make it to the church on time.

The amount of planning that went into the performance must have seen a year’s supply of sticky notes, flip charts and pens used to carry off this mastermind, and credit must be given to director, Zoe Seaton.

She created a piece of theatre which smashed the fourth wall to bring Shakespeare forward into the 21st century.

This light-hearted roller-coaster was witty, entertaining and a breath of fresh air to spending three hours stuck in a stuffy theatre.

5/5