★★★★

Granary Theatre, Cork Midsummer Festival

There are many charms to keep an audience smiling as a teenage cast tackles Shakespeare’s whimsical comedy. It must have been a leap of faith for director and designer Tony McClean-Fay to give this classic to a group of youngsters. But the Barecheek Company and Granary Theatre production rejoices in the poise and talent of their well-trained players, who are young enough not to worry about how much they don’t know. Their work brings the freshness of novelty to the play, as if its luscious words were being heard for the first time.

In the plot’s cross-stitching of mortal and supernatural relationships the human lovers are matched in their difficulties by the feud between Oberon, king of the fairies, and his wife Titania. A third complication comes with the play-acting of the rude mechanicals, led by the weaver Bottom, who wants to play every part as well as his own and ends up as a donkey.

The three strands collide in a mist of spells and confusion on a midsummer moonlit night in the forest, where Puck, the woodland sprite, is in charge. Exuding magic by just breathing, Amy Larkin's blithe and devious elf commands not only her fairy world but the action as a whole. The conviction she brings is mirrored in the compassionate portrayals of Mairead Tyers as Hermia and Jennifer Dowling as Helena, and by the cheerful composure of Oskar Smith's weaver.

Due to illness the Titania of Fianna Nolan is replaced by Marnie McLean-Fay on the book but this (and Hermia's injured arm) does not dilute the impact of this interpretation. Although the ending's reversal of roles might be questioned, and there are occasional lapses in projection and rhythm, these are performances of relaxed accuracy in a setting of flowing light, which means that the audience leaves on a midsummer evening with a sense of joy. These young people may not deliver every iambic pentameter, but they certainly deliver the goods.

Ends June 23rd