D: Edward Clug
There is no denying the magic of Edward Clug’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s famous comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Though it eschews the profoundly literary treatment that made the Staatsballett Berlin’s last literary adaptation, Bovary, such a wonder, Clug has seized upon the trippy and surreal possibilities in this tale of lovers who find their destined partners after a night of wild experiences in the forest.
Just as Leroy Mokgatle gamely imbues Puck with a sprightly playfulness and an uncanny style of movement, Clug too fills the stage with a puckish aesthetic, delightedly illusioned. Theseus, the king of Athens, first arrives on a surfboard. Until a tiny door in the back wall of the stage springs open, this portal – out of which all the sprites and fairies of the enchanted forest process – is invisible.
Not only do we see the ballet troupe transform into an unfolding flower à la Busby Berkeley, we also get to see dancers prance alongside a towering praying mantis. Clug has fashioned an entertaining spectacle of story ballet, blending classical structures and contemporary movement, aided by the oneiric atmosphere created by Milko Lazar’s suitably otherworldly music, and elevated by a true achievement of costuming and set design. While the movement can occasionally feel languid, that’s just how dreams can be.
- Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bismarkstr. 35, Charlottenburg, May 25 and 28, English, details.
