THE magical parallel universe created by Shakespeare for his ever-popular A Midsummer Night’s Dream gives the play a timeless quality, and a chance for directors, designers and actors to explore their imaginations.

The Arts University Bournemouth team, under the leadership of visiting director Aileen Gonsalves, certainly did that, and the result is a marvellously playful, enchanted and enchanting take on the familiar story, cleverly cut to a 90 minute show without an interval. None of the important bits were lost, and if the words were sometimes delivered at such a pace that catching them was a challenge, I guess most of the packed audience knew the gist of it.

The production, cleverly designed by Phoebe Morritt with costumes by Emmy Carter, Ella McAnuff and Hannah O’Brien, has an immersive feel from the start, with the actors playing the Rude Mechanicals already on stage and around the auditorium as the audience comes in. Centre stage is a vast tree with winding roots providing all sorts of nooks and crannies, and several levels. It’s where Titania and her fairies caper at night, where Oberon directs Puck in his magic plots, where two pairs of confused lovers from the city arrange to meet and where the local am-dram players come to rehearse the play for the Duke’s wedding.

This is the play where Nick Bottom the egocentric weaver gets himself transformed into a donkey and spends a heady night with the queen of the fairies. It’s where love potions disrupt the intentions of two competitive young men and a crusty old father finds that his control over his daughter is waning.

There is no choreographer credited in the programme, so assuming the brilliant movement was arranged by Aileen Gonsalves, all credit to her and the company. I’ve never seen the contest between Lysander (Charlie Sibley) and Demetrius (the excellent David Isherwood) better or more hilariously done. The hunkily peculiar fairies were doubled with courtiers – Fraser Humphrey (Cobweb and Duke Theseus), Ethan Lewendon (Peaseblossom and the grumpy and twisted Egeus) and Lorcan Adams (Mustardseed and the movie-struck Philostrate).

Louis Reader’s Bowiesque Oberon and Liam Nisseborn’s knowing Puck play fast and loose with the lovers, Hermia (Nil Uzer), Helena (Renia Sevastaki, again using her beautiful singing voice to great effect) and Demetris and Lysander. Shayla Elliott-Lee’s diminutive but power-packed Bottom was persuasively in charge of the would-be actors, over-riding the ideas of director Peter Quince (Sophie Shields), the wonderfully terrified lion of Cal Leslie Dean, and the rest.

It’s a terrific version of the show, and one that the actors clearly enjoyed as much as the whooping, squealing and of course standing audience. Students from BA (Hons) courses in Acting, Performance Design and Film Costume, Costume and Make Up for Media and Performance make up the huge team for this end of year show. Now they are off out into the world of work, and the lessons they have learned at AUB should stand them in enviable stead.

GP-W