Review - A Midsummer Night's Dream at Bonkers Theatre in Kettering

What do you get if you cross Shakespeare, a pantomime dame, and a comic actor playing on a stage just 19ft by 12ft?
Tony Howes as PuckTony Howes as Puck
Tony Howes as Puck

Tony Howes performing his one-man show based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, at Bonkers theatre in Kettering, that’s what.

Bonkers theatre in Kettering is small, with a seating capacity of 40 people in four rows. Just as well that Tony managed to squeeze all of his 17 Shakespearian characters into one.

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To warm up the audience, Tony opened his show with a gag or two: “When I played a dame in panto I had a bra like Manchester United... All support and no cups!”

He then turned his attention to the play where the drama was to unfold on a set with minimal props – a few branches here, a table and chair there.

Tony delivered a unique showcase of comic characters and impersonations in dialogue that was a blend of traditional Shakespearean English and modern slang.

Some of the characters were played straight. My favourite was Oberon, Fairy King who raged jealously at Titania with believable venom. I also tittered along with the audience at his character impersonations of Geordie Cheryl Cole playing First Fairy and Catherine Tate as Hermia.

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I was also amused by Tony’s impersonation of heavyman Ray Winstone as Hermia’s angry father Egeus berating his daughter for not consenting to marry Demetrius. He was played like such a posh fool, her reluctance was hardly surprising.

Tony Howes will be back at Bonkers theatre performing A Midsummer Night’s Dream on October 5. Tickets are £10 available from Bonkers theatre, Kettering.

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