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A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

FLYING FAIRIES AND A FIVE STAR RAVE

In 2019 Grant was asked to score Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Bridge Theatre.  Directed by long term collaborator Nicholas Hytner and starring Gwendoline Christie, Oliver Chris, Hammed Animashaun and David Moorst this joyous and revolutionary production lit up London and played to ecstatic full houses and rave reviews.

The Bridge was transformed into a stadium in-the-round space with 400 audience members being immersed in the action with another 500 seated audience members watching from above.  Nick Hytner gave most of Oberon's lines to Titania and vice versa so that Oberon fell in love with the donkey Bottom, and Titania was after Oberon's changeling boy.  By setting the opening and closing scenes in a repressed, religious society where the Queen of the Amazon's has been captured, brought back in a glass box and is now being forced to marry Theseus, Nick paved the way for the buttoned up to give way to the free loving, and for the dream in the woods to fly.  Literally.  Five aerial specialist members of the cast playing fairies flew and cavorted over the heads of the audience as the score moved from cinematic, magical underscore to Beyonce's Love on Top. 

 

NT Live filmed the show and it was broadcast to hundreds of cinemas where audiences fell in love with the show all over again.

 

Grant released two of his original songs from the show on Air Edel records.  Lullaby, featuring Rachel Tolzman and Lullaby (With Added Bubbles), featuring Jamie-Rose Monk.  Both are avaiable to download from the usual vendors and are streamable here.

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