Michael Allman , who delighted us with his production of Yasmina Reza’s “Art” last year, promises another entertaining production, this time of Shakespearean classic “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

With the 450th anniversary of the Bard’s birth in 2014 and 400th anniversary of his death last year, the number of productions of his plays has risen significantly worldwide, but Allman says his is just a continuation of the ongoing celebration of Shakespeare’s contribution to theatre and world literature.

“It might have been part of the celebration but last year I was still living in Chiang Mai,” he laughs.

A recent arrival to Bangkok, Ethan Oulton makes his BCT debut as Titania. Photo/Sohtra Salman & Kamran Wilson

“I proposed this play to Bangkok Community Theatre (BCT) because I love Shakespeare and I felt I had a concept that would be interesting, thoughtful, but not exhaustingly difficult. As I get older I’m less and less interested in doing what I think of as ‘Big Theatre’– tons of scenery, yards of costumes, miles of sound and lighting cues. I really want to spend my time with the actors as they create character, relationships and situations.

“I have, however, realised during rehearsals that by being in productions of this play and seeing it performed on stage many times, I’ve, in a way, been preparing for this my whole life.”

From the photos, we can clearly see that this is a wildly entertaining production, and Allman explains his production concept, “We have eight actors playing 20 roles. All of them are playing more than one role and half the cast is taking on three roles. As a director I like working with fewer actors who do more in the shows, but there’s a special reason in this production.”

“Characters fall asleep and wake up to find themselves in many different circumstances. For example, Titania woke up to find she loved an ass; Lysander to discover that he loved Helena, not Hermia.”

“I think everyone finds that from time to time we wake up and find that our circumstances are strange to us. We shouldn’t be who we seem to be. We took this idea and applied it to our performance. So an actor will fall asleep as one character and wake up as another. Then the character has to figure out what is required of him in this new role. All the actors begin the show in night clothes and then put on bits and pieces for the roles they portray.

Ethan Oulton crossgenders as Titania, Queen of the Fairies; Lindsey Higgs also stars as Bottom and Alf Collett is a fairy Moth. Photo/Sohtra Salman & Kamran Wilson

“Let me give you an example: “In the court scenes Ethan Oulton plays Theseus, and Bonnie Zellerbach Hippolyta. Later in the forest, they switch roles and gender – Ethan plays Titania, and Bonnie Oberon. The switch gives them both a chance to explore a different side of their personalities and to stretch themselves as actors. It gives the audience the chance to see different ways that gender roles can be played and defined.”

There are also other gender switches – Puck, Egeus, Bottom and Philostrate are all played by women, and Allman explains, “Today, women of power and authority are much more common and I believe that should be reflected onstage.”

Bangkok’s first private hospital BHN has never been known as a venue for a play, and Allman is happy to explain why he’s decided to use this non-conventional space.

“BNH has been sponsoring some of the shows for BCT and wants to continue the relationship. I’d been wanting to find a non-theatre space to perform in, without special lights, special sets and all that stuff.”

Allman also credits a Minneapolis-based theatre company Ten Thousand Things, saying “They load everything in a van, take it to the performance location, usually a conference room or meeting space, and set everything up and do the show. BNH was offering us a large room to rehearse in and I asked if it could also be used for performances. The answer was yes and so we have a real treat in store for our audiences.”

BOTTOM, THOU ART ADMITTED

– BCT’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” runs from March 23 to 25 and March 30 to April 1 at BNH Hospital, in Soi Convent, Silom (BTS: Sala Daeng).

– Show time is 7.30pm.

– Tickets are Bt500, available at http://www.BangkokCommunityTheatre.com