Theatre review: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Bristol Old Vic / Handspring Puppet Company / Barbican)

One of the directors of War Horse, Tom Morris reunites with South Africa's Handspring Puppet Company for the first time since they created the animals for that global juggernaut. This time their skill at breathing life into inanimate objects is required to bring to life Shakespeare's fairyland of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Two unconnected stories are brought together by the fairies in the woods outside Athens: Lysander and Hermia flee the city and her father's demands that she marry another man. But that man, Demetrius, has followed them, led by Helena, the woman he once loved and who still loves him. A fairy plot to untangle the muddle only makes things worse. Meanwhile the upcoming marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta spurs the city's tradesmen to put on a play to perform at the royal wedding. They rehearse in the woods, where they too fall foul of mischievous spirits.

Theatre review: Passing By

PREVIEW DISCLAIMER: This review is of the first public performance (of only eight in total) with the press being invited tomorrow.

Paired with Hindle Wakes in the Sunday-Tuesday slot at the Finborough is another play whose initial impact was probably a lot more radical than it seems in 2012. Best known for Bent, Martin Sherman tells a very different kind of gay story in Passing By, an unconventional romantic comedy-drama whose protagonists spend most of their time in bed together, but not in quite the way that might sound. It's 1972 and Toby (Steven Webb) is an unfit, neurotic New York artist enjoying less than stellar success in his career. He meets Simon (Alex Felton) at a cinema, and they have a one-night stand. Giving the show a bit of a belated Olympic tie-in, Simon is a bronze medal-winning diver, physically fit and, in contrast with Toby, on the surface at least appears to be pretty untroubled. But having only recently come to New York he finds his hotel room lonely and seeks out Toby for company, not realising that a less-than welcome reason will soon have them spending even more time together.