Abbey’s clever production led by Ireland’s finest

Theatre: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Directed by Gavin Quinn. Abbey Theatre, Dublin. Runs until March 28. Rating: ***. Reviewed by Joanne Hayden.

Áine Ní Mhuirí, Gina Moxley and John Kavanagh in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Abbey. Picture: Ros Kavanagh
Áine Ní Mhuirí, Gina Moxley and John Kavanagh in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Abbey. Picture: Ros Kavanagh

In the Abbey’s new, frequently clever, production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, nothing is quite as clever as the opening. Following a short prologue, a gauzy, yellow curtain draws back on the day room of a nursing home, where staff are encouraging residents to exercise to Ghostriders in the Sky by Johnny Cash.

Within seconds, this ...