Friday 20 and Saturday 21 June 2025 at Wedmore Village Farm

The video of the show is now available to watch on our YouTube channel

Here is what our reviewer, Phyllida Shaw, said in the Isle of Wedmore News:

A Dream of a Production

No one who made their way up the track to Wedmore Village Farm to see one of Wedmore Theatre’s three performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, on 20 and 21 June, knew quite what to expect and for this piece of Shakespearean comic fantasy, that’s the way it should be. All that was needed was a folding chair and an open mind.
In a world of humans and fairies, and the irresponsible use of hallucinogenic plants, anything can happen and the adapter and director of this production, Sue Rippon, ensured that it did. First on stage was an apologetic musician in Elizabethan costume (Rod Coombs). ‘We have created for you a midsummer jest’ he explained. ‘It doth chronicle much madness, magic and mystery, with merriment and missteps. There was to be music herein but, oh woe, our lutanist hath hurt his plucking hand’. Two guitars, Rod Coombs on lead and Michael Gillett on bass, were brought in to cover for the lute and a posse of dancing fairies arrived on stage to ‘We love to boogie’. The musical theme continued with Oberon and Titania, the King and Queen of the Fairies, dressed for Glastonbury and played, with more than a hint of naughtiness, by Peter and Marylin Johnstone.
For all the story’s twists and turns, the brilliance of the writing shone through. Each speaking member of the cast, from the young Ruby Ewens as Puck promising to ‘put a girdle round about the earth in 40 minutes’, to the veteran, in the best way, Alan Philps, who nailed the humour and pathos of Bottom, understood the meaning of their words, and as a result the audience did too. The Rude Mechanicals, loosely corralled by Elizabeth Coulter as Quince, earned every one of their laughs and the fact that all of them: Steve Mewes, David Hopkins, Anthony Lamb, Wayne Hahn and dog Jessy, are well known for their real-life roles in Wedmore added to the fun.
The four lovers refused to be upstaged. Sonia Bull and Carrie Large were completely convincing as Hermia and Helena, see-sawing between loved up and exasperated, in response to the unpredictable behaviour of Lysander played by Will Vero and Demetrius played by Tristan Elliott Palmer. The quartet also had the opportunity to demonstrate their physical theatre skills, alternately chasing, embracing, and fighting, across the small stage. David Eccles as Theseus, Duke of Athens, and Sarah Stott as his seemingly reluctant fiancée Hippolyta, were suitably aloof. A kaleidoscope of light-footed fairies played by Hannah Tipping, Adara and Leonidas Euripidou, Nell Seeley, and Jack Ewens, were kept busy with tasks for their King and Queen.
This gorgeous, ambitious, production owed a huge amount to a team of people the audience never saw. Coordinated by producer Anne Richards and associate producer Mike Rippon, they built the stage in the farmyard; installed and operated the sound and lighting; designed and made the set, props and costumes; sold the tickets; welcomed the audience; and ensured everyone was on stage when they needed to be. Loud applause too for Tristan de Vieuxpont and the volunteers at Wedmore Village Farm for having the idea in the first place.