Director Tom Morris and the Handspring Puppet Company last worked together on the National Theatre's War Horse and have now reunited for a puppet-powered take on Shakespeare, transferred to London one year on from its run in Bristol.
Set in a carpenter’s workshop, with the cast clad in checkered lumberjack shirts, the setting seems suited to Handspring’s brand of wooden wizardry. Sadly, neither the magic nor the comedy fully connect in Morris’s uneven production, and the puppets, so integral to War Horse, here feel unneeded. Puck, in particular, is poorly conceived: formed out of various workbench tools, the little thing looks cluttered alongside the three actors who control and voice him, while the wacky whooshing and zooming noises that accompany his movements are closer to Disney sidekick than forest imp.
Some of the simpler designs are more effective, such as the elegant masks representing Oberon and Titania, but it’s when the actors can perform hands-free that the production opens up. There are good laughs to be had from the squabbling pairs of lovers, most notably in a scene-stealing bit of physical comedy between Lysander (Alex Felton) and Hermia (Akiya Henry). As for Bottom (with an exaggerated Greek accent by Miltos Yerolemou), his “asshead” transformation is interpreted with a literal-mindedness which makes for something of a riotous reveal. But the comedic shock fades and, like other moments of visual creativity, the idea is run into the ground.
Until Saturday (020 7638 8891, barbican.org.uk)
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