British Black and Asian Shakespeare Performance Database
A Midsummer Night's Dream (2009): Propeller
PRINCIPAL CAST: Bob Barrett (Bottom); Richard Clothier (Oberon); Richard Dempsey (Titania); Richard Frame (Hermia); Sam Swainsbury (Demetrius); Babou Ceesay (Helena); Jack Tarlton (Lysander); Jon Trenchard (Puck).
This was an all-male production which toured, including playing at the Watermill Theatre and the Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. It ran in repertory with a production of The Merchant of Venice. Emmanuel Idowu is listed in the cast list in Theatre Record, although it is unclear whether he originated the roles or took over from Jonathan Livingtstone as Hippolyta. Cast information taken from the programme for the run at the Everyman, Cheltenham in 2009.
"Edward Hall hasn't gathered a cast of androgynous young men in dainty likeness of the 'boy-players' of Shakespeare's day. When he gets his to cast to cross-dress, they still look like thirtysomething blokes....The stocky white chap playing Hermia (Richard Frame) could pass muster as a prop-forward, while the tall black fellow playing Helena (Babou Ceesay) would happily convince as a basketball team captain. They easily out-butch Demetrius and Lysander." ~ Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph, 3 February 2009, in Theatre Record 2009, Issue 3
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