A Midsummer Night's Dream - The Clock That Roared

It could be that I’m not being fair to Elijah Moshinsky. I didn’t like his Love’s Labours Lost, but that’s a hard play to do well. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is an entirely different play, with an entirely different cast, and Moshinsky had more television experience, so I should watch this with as little prejudice as I can.

But the problems start in the first scene. Except for Pippa Guard, none of these actors seem to have any idea that this is a comedy. There’s very little movement. The laugh lines fall flat. It’s more like a read-through than a staged performance. But that’s not the worst thing: Somewhere, there’s a clock. I don’t think it appears on screen, so if you watch with the sound off, you won’t notice it. Turn the sound back on, and it’s the loudest thing in the room! Maybe I’m missing something. Maybe there’s some sort of theme about time, and the regular, steady passage of time in the “real world” environment of Athens that contrasted with the flexible time of the “fantasy world” of the forest (Isaac Asimov made much of this in Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare). Maybe they were planning to put some contrasting elements in the forest scenes and they got cut. Maybe they did put them in, and I’m not clever enough to have noticed them. Maybe the sound technician should have moved the microphone away from the clock. Maybe some production assistant wound the clock after the sound check but before they started filming. Regardless, the clock is quickly established as the star, and upstages all the actors (including Estelle Koehler as Hippolyta, Nigel Davenport as Theseus, Geoffrey Lumsden as Egeus, Nicky Henson and Robert Lindsay as Demetrius and Lysander, and Cherith Mellor and Pippa Guard as Helena and Hermia). There’s supposed to be some funny stuff in Act I, scene 1, but the delivery here is so flat, bland, and overpowered by the clock, that you would never know it. Pippa Guard tries her best, but it’s like she’s in a different play.

Once the characters get out of Athens, things immediately start looking up. Brian Glover is hilarious. He’s the best Bottom I’ve seen so far. In fact, this ensemble of “Rude Mechanicals,” with Geoffrey Palmer as Peter Quince, John Fowler as Flute, Don Estelle as Starveling, Nat Jackley as Snout, and Ray Mort as Snug, is the best I’ve watched for this project. This is worth watching just for them.

But there’s more. Peter McEnery is spot-on as Oberon (according to IMDB he’s the older brother of John McEnery, who was Mercutio in the Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet), and he has to be, because he’s playing opposite the perfect-in-every-way Helen Mirren as Titania. Yes, she’s even better in the role than the great Judi Dench. Let that sink in for a minute.

I also want to mention Phil Daniels who makes an excellent Puck. Creepy. Weird. Funny. Exactly right. (I couldn’t find any evidence of this anywhere, so include your own grain of salt, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s somehow related to Anthony Daniels of C-3PO fame.)

Oh, and you’ll recognize Hugh Quarshie (Philostrate). He played Captain Panaka in the Star Wars prequels, he was one of the immortals in the original Highlander, and he was in the Doctor Who episodes “Evolution of the Daleks” and “Daleks in Manhattan.”

Do the excellent performances of the Fairies and Rude Mechanicals make up for the disappointing Athenians and the sound and lighting problems? I think they do, but I really wish they didn’t have to. It must be possible to focus on the comedy, timing, character, and motivations of this play (such as in the 1968 RSC production) and also have excellent lighting, sound, and special effects (such as in the 1935 Max Reinhardt version). I haven’t found it yet. For now, I recommend this version, but I’m still hoping to find something better.

I have to rate this one as my second-favorite Midsummer Night’s Dream. Here’s my current hierarchy:

1.     Midsummer Night's Dream. Dir. Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle. Perf. James Cagney, Joe E. Brown, and Dick Powell. 1935. DVD. Warner Bros, 2007.

2.    Midsummer Night's Dream. Dir. Elijah Moshinsky. Perf. Helen Mirren, Peter McEnery, and Pippa Guard. 1981. DVD. Ambrose, 2000 or 2001.

3.     Midsummer Night's Dream. Dir. Peter Hall. Perf. Helen Mirren, Diana Rigg, and Ian Richardson. 1968. DVD. Water Bearer, 2004.