The Dream (2017)
19 March–17 April 2021
£3
The high-spirited misadventures of the two pairs of mortal lovers from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream combine with the humorous cavorting of Bottom, played by a male dancer who dances en pointe after his ludicrous transformation. The ballet culminates in a powerful pas de deux for Oberon and Titania, which moves through a stormy conflict of wills to a harmonious union. Felix Mendelssohn’s witty, gossamer-light music for the play provides a perfect partner to Frederick Ashton's inventive choreography.
Synopsis
Oberon, King of the Fairies, has quarrelled with his Queen, Titania. He longs to humiliate her, and orders Puck to make her fall in love with a monster. Meanwhile, he and Puck meddle with the lives of four mortal lovers who wander across their path.
Much confusion ensues, between the four mortals as their loves entangle, and within a troupe of actors, one of whose number is transformed into an ass to become Titania’s paramour. Finally, Oberon makes peace with Titania, and returns things to their natural order.
Cast
ConductorEmmanuel Plasson
TitaniaAkane Takada
OberonSteven McRae
Changeling Indian BoyAmbrose Bartlett
PuckValentino Zucchetti
BottomBennet Gartside
RusticBenjamin Ella
RusticKevin Emerton
RusticSolomon Golding
RusticErico Montes
RusticCalvin Richardson
HelenaItziar Mendizabal
DemetriusTomas Mock
HermiaClaire Calvert
LysanderMatthew Ball
PeaseblossomGemma Pitchley-Gale
CobwebEmma Maguire
MothElizabeth Harrod
MustardseedRomany Pajdak
ChoirLondon Oratory Junior Choir
Concert MasterVasko Vassilev
OrchestraOrchestra of the Royal Opera House
Creatives
ChoreographyFrederick Ashton
MusicFelix Mendelssohn
Musical arrangementJohn Lanchbery
DesignerDavid Walker
Lighting designerJohn B. Read
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