How to make Shakespeare accessible to a young audience? Cut out the tricky bits or throw them headfirst into the original? Co-directors Rachel Bagshaw and Robin Belfield have gone for a bit of both. This is a tightly trimmed version of the Bard’s romantic comedy with the original language intact. Playful captions have been fully integrated into the design and slapstick comedy woven throughout. It’s fun in fits and starts, although, like so many of the characters in this woozily magical play, it feels caught between two worlds.
This is the Unicorn’s first major co-production with the RSC and it feels like the start of a brilliant venture, still finding its feet. Belfield’s editing is smart but could have been more radical. The framing story in Athens – lots of complicated business with dukes and betrothals – has been cut down but not excised, which only makes it harder to understand.
