A Midsummer Night's Dream meets 90s Sussex rave scene

Plenty of people will absolutely embrace it. One or two might just harrumph.

Chichester Festival Theatre concludes its summer season by giving us A Midsummer Night's Dream transported to the Sussex rave scene of the 1990s (September 18-October 17).

It’s 1994, we are in Chichester, and Tory MP Theseus is riding high after shutting down free raves across the county, aided by local Chief Constable Egeus. Four spirited but unhappy young lovers rebel against their stuffy elders’ rules and take off to the South Downs.

The production is co-directed by CFT artistic director Justin Audibert and by Hannah Joss, associate director (literary).

Hannah is relishing the liberties they have taken.

“I don't think in these times there is a definitive production of each of these shows that actually exists,” says Hannah. “We are approaching these shows as contemporary artists, and if it's not to your taste, then I understand that but what I ask people to understand is that our concept actually shines a light on the original play and gives it new interest and clarity.

“I think we've found something within the core of the play, and we've applied our own setting – a setting that really does identify some of the key themes and relationships of the original.

“There are a number of reasons why we have set it in the 1990s and set it at a particular point in the 1990s, 1994 under Tory rule.”

A Criminal Justice Act has been passed and the notion of family values are being pushed very heavily: “But there was a huge degree of hypocrisy with all the sexual scandals that were going on.

“At the centre of A Midsummer Night's Dream is a culture clash in the original, the sharp civic laws of Athens which create a patriarchal society which is run by misogyny and then on the other hand you've got the freedom and the magic of the Shakespearean forest, a place of transformation where anything can happen. We are using Tory rule in Britain at a particular time in our version as this contrasts with this prevalent free party rave scene at the time, and it just felt like a ripe concept that would provide a huge amount of theatrical opportunity to create something massive, something high energy and high adrenaline on that big stage. Our concept aside, there is a real democracy to the Festival Theatre. There is no bad seat despite the sheer scale of it, and the idea gave us an opportunity for characters that can really communicate directly with the audience.”

You take Shakespeare and you add the rave: “And one of our big challenges will be to make the audience feel that they are actually there. We hope that this concept will also bring people to the Festival Theatre who would not perhaps usually come to a Festival Theatre show. We want it to be very appealing.

“It is absolutely faithful but we have changed the text a little. I don't think we have changed the order of the scenes but we have taken some liberties to get in mentions of things like Kingley Vale and Chichester and Sussex and Tory.”

And they also have a new prologue, what Hannah calls a gorgeous amalgamation of Shakespeare speeches to convey someone in power/a king addressing the people about his triumph.

As for how far they can go with their liberties: “There is an inner barometer. Justin and I did the edit together and then I did a run-through the work where I was attributing roles to people like Theseus being a Tory MP and Peter Quince being a Conservative Club chairman.”

The production is Hannah's first time co-directing: “I can only speak to my experience but Justin and I have worked together in Chichester for three years. I'm there every week and I think we have a really strong relationship. We have a lot of respect for each other and I think we have a shorthand. We have the same kind of taste and we both walked into the concept and the tone and the world feeling like we were both on totally the same page.”