MARK France's "innovative, gender-fluid take" on Shakespeare’s evergreen comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream opens tonight for a three-day run at the Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York.
York company Well-fangled Theatre’s playful new production will be performed by an ensemble of Josie Campbell as Hippolyta and Oberon; Amy Fincham as Helena, Starveling and Mustardseed; Anna Rose James as Puck, Philostrate and Snug; Patricia Jones as Bottom and Egeus; Bill Laughey as Theseus and Titania; Jamie McKeller, as Demetrius, Quince and Cobweb; Claire Morley as Lysandra, Flute and Peaseblossom and Hattie Patten-Chatfield as Hermia, Snout and Moth. Music will be performed by composer Alexander King.
"There are two things about our approach," says Mark. "I came to the play not wanting to do gender-blind casting, but gender and sexuality are explored in all sorts of ways in a play about identity and performance and how we can present different identities to different people. On top of that, we give up our identity when we fall in love, we sacrifice our sense of self, so there is this notion of two people merging.
"The other factor is that stamped through the play is the idea of performing, which we see not only in the Rude Mechanicals, but in other characters too."
Anna Rose James, Jamie McKeller, Hattie Patten-Chatfield, Claire Morley and Amy Fincham in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Picture: Michael J Oakes
Rather than gender-blind casting, Mark wanted to put gender-specific casting under the microscope. "If you see a woman playing what's traditionally a man's role, or a man playing a women, what's the significance of that?" asks Mark. "We have Bottom being played by a woman and Lysander is now Lysandra, a woman, and we're exploring the meanings that releases.
"In terms of acceptance of transgender people in Western society, there's been a lot of progress in the past two or three years, and we're playfully exploring how your sexuality could be different from your gender."
Within the loosened boundaries of a "Dream" that is "a little bit more gender-fluid than normal", Mark made one rigid decision. "Puck is the one role we have not gendered. We decided that Puck just 'is'," he says, after casting Anna Rose James in the meddlesome role.
Mark's production will be full of the sense that "playing" lies at the heart of it. "Fundamentally, it's a theatrical play and our performance acknowledges that we're playing with gender and saying, 'this is a piece of theatre played by eight people in a room that are always acknowledging it's a play and being playful," he says.
"You're under pressure, when doing this play, that it's always being done, so there has to be a reason for doing it, and that's why we're doing what we're doing with it with a very talented cast.
"We've tried to steer a course that, within the remit of being gender and LGBT-specific, the production will appeal as much to eight year olds as to 80 year olds. If you want to see a 'Dream' that is charming and playful and theatrical, this is the one."
Hattie Patten-Chatfield in rehearsal. Picture: Michael J Oakes
Among the cast is University of York student Hattie Patten-Chatfield, who has just finished the second year of her writing, directing and performing degree in the Theatre, Film and Television department. She is playing three roles: one of the young lovers, Hermia; one of Titania's fairies, Moth, and a Mechanical, Snout, who forms the wall in the infamous closing play within a play.
"For me, making her lover Lysander now Lysandra, a woman, has given Hermia more to fight against in relation to the court and her father," says Hattie. "That's modernised the play too."
She is relishing her triple bill of roles. "I don't think I've ever multi role-played in a play until now, and when you're playing three characters, the challenge has been to make them as different as you can," she says. "In terms of physicality, Snout is the one I'm enjoying the most, thinking about Snout's walk and making him look eager and just not very good at putting on plays, rather than portraying him as just being a bit stupid."
Mark wants the audience to be laughing with the Mechanicals, instead of the court laughing at them. "They should have nobility in their efforts to put on their play and there has to be an honesty about it," he reasons. "I've said to the cast, I'd prefer them to sacrifice a laugh for a pratfall in favour of giving the Mechanicals a sense of integrity."
Well-fangled Theatre present A Midsummer Night's Dream, tonight until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Tickets: £12, concessions £8, on 01904 613000 or at ridinglights.org/midsummer-nights-dream/
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