"ShakespeaRe-Told" A Midsummer Night's Dream (2005)

Director:

Ed Fraiman

Writers:

Peter Bowker (writer)
William Shakespeare (play)

TV Series:

"ShakespeaRe-Told" (2005)

Original Air Date:

28 November 2005 (Season 1, Episode 4)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Mis-directed love potions complicate an already complicated set of relationships.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Love Potion | Fairy | Engagement Party | Wedding

Cast

Bill Paterson	...	Theo
Imelda Staunton	...	Polly
Lennie James	...	Oberon
Sharon Small	...	Titania
Dean Lennox Kelly	...	Puck
William Ash	...	James
Zoe Tapper	...	Hermia
Rupert Evans	...	Zander
Michelle Bonnard	...	Helena
Johnny Vegas	...	Bottom
Simon Day	...	Quince
Mina Anwar	...	Flute
Ben Crompton	...	Snug
Emmanuel Ighodaro	...	Snout
Andy Williams	...	Geoff
Amy Darcy	...	Cobweb
Nick Malinowski	...	Moth
Qaseem Ansari	...	Mustardseed
Meg Faragher	...	Peaseblossom
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bernadette Jane Vanderkar	...	Swimmer
Patrick Adolphe	...	Swimming Instructor (uncredited)
Daniel Larner	...	Swimmer (uncredited)
Siobhan Ellen Williams	...	Swimmer (uncredited)

Directed by
Ed Fraiman

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Peter Bowker		writer
William Shakespeare		play

Produced by
Laura Mackie	....	executive producer
Lee Morris	....	line producer
Patrick Spence	....	executive producer
Pier Wilkie	....	producer

Original Music by
Charlie Mole

Cinematography by
Tony Miller		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Mark Thornton

Casting by
Jill Trevellick

Production Design by
Malcolm Thornton

Art Direction by
Leigh Walker

Costume Design by
Stewart Meachem

Makeup Department
Alison Elliott	....	hair designer (as Alison Davies)
Alison Elliott	....	makeup designer (as Alison Davies)
Donald McInnes	....	makeup dailies
Donald McInnes	....	special makeup effects artist
Kerry Scourfield	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Sally Blake	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Helen Fraser	....	third assistant director
Richard Harris	....	first assistant director
Alex Kaye-Besley	....	third assistant director
Claire Norbury	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Mario Bueno	....	property master
Sophie Hervieu	....	art department trainee
Adrian Platt	....	stand-by props
Kem White	....	stand-by art director

Sound Department
John Falcini	....	dubbing mixer
John Hughes	....	sound recordist
James Loosemore	....	dialogue editor
Jo Manly	....	boom operator
Jonathan Rimas	....	adr mixer

Stunts
Tom Lucy	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Steve Blake	....	gaffer
Paul Brown	....	electrician
Camilla Drennan	....	camera assistant
Tony Goulding	....	electrician
Alex Howe	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera and Steadicam
Stephen Janes	....	second assistant camera
Barry McCullagh	....	electrician
Tom McGinley	....	best boy
Chris Plevin	....	camera operator
Robin Stone	....	grip

Editorial Department
Patrick Doherty	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Steve Parr	....	music mixer
Steve Parr	....	music recordist

Transportation Department
Pete Newman	....	unit driver

Other crew
Antonia Gordon	....	script editor
Andrew Hill	....	assistant production accountant
Joel Holmes	....	location manager
Vicki Howe	....	script supervisor
Deborah Hubbard	....	production coordinator
Neil Jones	....	production accountant
Fiona Murphy	....	post-production project manager

Production Companies

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
• Horsebridge Productions Limited (in association with)

Distributors

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (2005) (UK) (TV)
• Cinema, The (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• High Point Film and Television (2005) (worldwide) (all media)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2007) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Casting Collective  extras casting
• Mayflower Studios  adr recording studio

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:12 | Australia:PG

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Bottom's first name is Nicholas - knicker-less.

Quotes:

[Theo tells Polly how much he loves her]
Theo: I've loved you, Polly, for as long as I've known you. But somewhere, somewhere along the way I stopped telling you. And that is why I'm so glad that here today in front of our friends and our loved ones, I'm able to tell you exactly what is in my heart. And this'll surprise you because it certainly surprised me: I've written a poem.
Theo: Yours is the voice I hope to hear / When my phone says "One missed call". / Yours are the hands I want holding my ladder / When I'm papering the stairs and the hall. // Yours is the face I long to see / When I'm delayed at Waterloo. / And yours is the duvet I long to share / When my Calor gas is through...

Movie Connections:

References "Little Britain" (2003)

Entertaining

This is an entertaining production, which is refreshing and well-acted. If you previously didn't go for the whimsy of Shakespeare's MSN, you may well find it much more accessible in this modern version set at a kind of holiday camp (Centerparcs meets Butlins, for British readers). There is some good acting (e.g. Puck), too.

On the downside, there are some dodgy, wandering accents, and Sharon Small (who is normally great as Havers in Inspector Linley) sadly seems to flit from American, to Estuary, to Scottish. Her overdone painted face does her no favours either.

I hope the BBC will do another series of modernized Shakespeare. For those who haven't seen them, "Much ado about nothing" from the first series is also very good, but my tip is to steer clear of "Macbeth" and "Taming of the Shrew".