Fairies, Power and Winter Shadows: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

There are some plays that feel so familiar you think you know them inside out. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is definitely one of those. Fairies. Lovers. Confusion. Donkeys. Sorted. Except this new production coming to the Quarry Theatre at Leeds Playhouse is here to gently but firmly shake that idea.

Running from 14 to 28 February, this striking reimagining is directed by Headlong Artistic Director Holly Race Roughan, and it asks a simple but surprisingly unsettling question. What happens when you stage a midsummer story in the middle of winter?

“I think there is something about staging A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the dead of winter,” Holly says, “that poses a very simple question to its creative team. What does it mean to shine a light on the darkness in the play?”

It turns out there is plenty of darkness to explore. While the play is often treated as a romantic comedy full of magic and mischief, this production leans into the shadows. Power. Control. Desire. Fear. All the things that sit just beneath the surface of Shakespeare’s language are brought forward, without losing the fun.

“It is such a rich text that can be read in so many different ways,” Holly explains, “that an opportunity to explore the murkier aspects of that play felt really exciting.”

The story itself remains recognisable. Four young lovers flee the rigid rules of Athens into the forest, while the fairy world is thrown into chaos by a bitter power struggle between Oberon and Titania. Meanwhile, a group of well-meaning amateur actors attempt to rehearse a play with predictably chaotic results.

What shifts here is the tone of the world they inhabit. Athens is presented as sharply patriarchal, with physical violence close to the surface. Holly describes the mortal world as being in conversation with modern anxieties around authority and control, drawing subtle parallels with the rise of authoritarianism across Europe.

This darker lens also reshapes moments that are usually played purely for laughs. Bottom’s transformation into a donkey, thanks to the mischievous Puck, becomes something closer to body horror. “We tried to take seriously what it might feel like to suddenly see your body metamorphose into that of an animal,” Holly says. It is unsettling, strange, and strangely moving.

That said, this is not a joyless or heavy night at the theatre. Far from it. The production balances its thriller edge with wit, warmth, and moments of real silliness. Holly describes it as a pitch-black winter thriller that is also inventive, playful, raucous, and very funny. That contradiction is part of the joy.

The cast brings together established names and exciting new talent. Danny Kirrane is a scene stealing Bottom, while Sergo Vares brings mischief and menace as Puck. Hedydd Dylan doubles as Hippolyta and Titania, with Michael Marcus playing Theseus and Oberon, reinforcing the mirrored power structures between court and fairyland. Several performers make their professional debuts, adding a real sense of freshness to the ensemble.

Visually and sonically, the production is rich and atmospheric, with design by Max Johns, candlelight and lighting by Joshie Harriette, and an immersive soundscape from composer Nicola T Chang. Movement, voice, and intimacy direction are all carefully woven in, creating a production that feels modern, physical, and deeply considered.

If you think you know A Midsummer Night’s Dream, this might be the perfect time to see it again. Not as a sunny woodland romp, but as a strange, funny, unsettling story about love, power, and what happens when order breaks down. Winter, it turns out, is exactly the right season for it.