Ugly Shakespeare Company puts modern twist on A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Belinda Campbell, Erin O'Flaherty and Isabella Kerridge-Temm performed their version of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Photo/ Supplied

The Ugly Shakespeare Company travelled to Stratford-upon-Pātea to perform its version of the Bard’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Erin O Flaherty, Isabella Kerridge-Temm and Belinda Campbell performed for Taranaki schools on Monday, giving Shakespeare’s play some modern-day flair, condensing a two-hour play into a 45-minute production to suit the needs of school students.

Erin says the Ugly Shakespeare Company has been touring New Zealand for 27 years, taking its shows to schools from Cape Reinga to Bluff.

“I believe we’re the longest-running theatre and educational tour in New Zealand. We all enjoy going to the schools, seeing the country and performing for young people.”

Isabella says younger audiences are more likely to engage, making the performance more fun.

“They are not afraid to tell you what they think, which is where the improv and all the good stuff comes about.”

She says the three performers love Shakespeare’s works, and believe the plays have a lot of key themes relevant to today.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream highlights women’s rights and shows how far we’ve come, but also how far we have to go. Shakespeare’s work should be embraced so we can reflect on how times have changed, and also understand that, while things have improved, we still have a way to go.”

Erin says the three were pleased to be included in the Stratford Shakespeare Trust’s Shakespeare’s Festival.

“The entire programme is fantastic and to have acting royalty such as Michael Hurst perform in your town is very special.”

Kauby Ngatai-Northcott (left) and Jack Hinton (both 17) were two of the many students who watched the performance by the Ugly Shakespeare Company. Photo/ Alyssa Smith

Kauby Ngatai-Northcott and Jack Hinton, both 17, were two of the students who watched the performance. Kauby says he enjoyed how the performers adopted modern-day language.

“A lot of the younger students enjoyed it. It was great that they modernised the play so the students who don’t understand Shakespeare’s language can still understand what is happening in the play.”

Jack says the actors had good audience engagement.

“They were very active on the stage and had a lot of audience interaction. They did a fantastic job. There were only three performers but they played all the characters in the play. They were very adaptive.”