EM Williams in the studio and the virtual world as Puck. Photo by Stuart Martin (c) RSC
Few plays have been more important to the RSC than A Midsummer Night's Dream. Peter Brook's 1970 production remains a landmark moment in the development of modern theatre. Tim Supple's version was startling and revelatory in its own way: it incorporated six Indian languages and brought a sense of transcendence to the Swan night after night in 2006, and remains perhaps the most acclaimed show staged at the venue this century. In 2016, under the direction of Erica Whyman, groups of amateur actors joined the professionals on stage in what was called "a play for the nation", a welcome and necessary move from a company that can still be regarded as somewhat elitist. And now it provides the inspiration for Dream, which, in its own way, may prove as significant as any of its predecessors.