Bringing wit into the open

You don't expect radical Shakespeare at Regent's Park's Open Air Theatre, which partly explains why they have programmed yet another production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Yet while the theatre's beautiful setting is a goldmine for directors hungry to exploit the play's ethereal quality, director Ian Talbot has opted for a more earthly approach.

The opening scene resembles something from an EM Forster novel, with the court of Theseus assembled around a croquet lawn, Demetrius and Lysander in boaters and a squealy Helena and Hermia in floaty chiffon.

The stark juxtaposition between a stiff-upper-lipped Englishness and the magical, sensual mayhem of the forest to come is clear.

Yet even the fairy world of Oberon has a prosaic, fleshy quality: Sirine Saba's highly sexual Titania is waited upon by a flock of muscular, bald-headed fairies who chitter and squabble with pugilistic aggression rather than mysterious menace; Gerard Carey's Puck is more an overgrown child than a mediator between the worlds of the living and the supernatural.

Instead, Talbot concentrates on the comedy, bringing a strong element of farce to the key scene between the befuddled lovers in the forest (Hermia is dumped in a bush; Summer Strallen's Helena prompts laughter each time she opens her mouth).

John Hodgkinson's portrayal of Bottom is over-cooked and, disappointingly given the theme, both the patriarchal figures of Oberon and Theseus lack conviction. And, as ever, the final scene from the mechanicals drags. Yet it's a confident, if not particularly searching, production - and often very entertaining.

In rep until Aug 30 (next perf tonight), Open Air Theatre, Inner Circle, Regent's Park NW1, 8pm, mats 2.30pm, £10 to £32.50. Tel: 0870 060 1811. www.openairtheatre.org. Tube: Baker Street

A Midsummer Night's Dream