World premiere – August 10-18, 2012, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon (Great Britain); August 24-26, Edinburgh International Festival
Words are almost inadequate to describe this glorious piece of theatre, commissioned for the World Shakespeare Festival. It explodes on to the RSC stage in an outbreak of mayhem, with a toppling tree crested by an acrobatic Jack Russell terrier, a fountain out of control and a bunch of mechanicals who have left their sweepings all over the royal box.
It takes ten actors to manipulate the two 15 foot high, randomly assembled puppets that are the lovers, Pyramus and Thisbe, subjects of the play. What makes this show so extraordinary is that amid the absurdity, the drollery, the deadpan and the laugh out loud are moments of extraordinary tenderness, mystery and depth.
So it is throughout the play, a teasing, brain-testing juxtaposition of comedy and tragedy that is the very essence of Shakespeare.
Pat Ashwort, The Stage, August 15, 2012