Dream: Promising More Than It Delivered

RSC’s Immersive Dream experience

I really wanted to like this production. The cast tried so hard, were so enthusiastic and all body suited up against a green screen, (see picture above). And yet….

The quality of the animation let the production down. The Fireflies were brilliant — the rest of the Forest of Arden and the strangely artist’s wooden model Puck — not so much. Cobweb was a giant eyeball in an acorn cup. The formless tree was better. But the production lacked context — it was an immersive adventure into what? There were snippets of Shakespeare and a lot of rough wind shaking the darling buds of May, but I’m not sure what we were really immersed into or why? Who’s Dream and why? A Puck and a Dream with more form please!

My concern is this — if you come to this virtual Dream not knowing the play at all, what do you come away with? What do you learn?

But ten of out ten for accessibility — captions were well done. And the backgrounds often looked beautiful. How does this version help you to better understand the full play?

Afraid I’m just seeing this!

It should have been so much more — https://www.rsc.org.uk/news/dream-explore-the-future-of-theatre-in-the-virtual-forest