Recorded in front of a live audience at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre, this version of the Shakespeare classic introduced some familiar CBeebies television personalities into the action, almost like a Christmas pantomime.
The major emphasis in this production was on the play's comic elements; the work of the Rude Mechanicals, and the performance of "Pyramus and Thisbe." Very little of the Shakespearean dialogue was actually used; the emphasis here was very much on telling the story, making it clear that the main characters were somehow transformed by the fairies into behaving in ways that they might not normally react. This seemed especially useful, especially in showing how the four lovers ended up being attracted to the wrong partners.
With songs designed to tell the story in attenuated form, plus shots of the actors working backstage, this was a highly accessible version of the Shakespearean classic.
