Chichester Festival Theatre is ending its main-house season with a rave, and the reviews are in for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which opened on 25 September. Justin Audibert and Hannah Joss move Shakespeare to 1994 West Sussex, where Theseus is the local Tory MP, the mechanicals are Young Conservatives and the fairies dance all night on the Downs, with comedian Munya Chawawa making his Shakespeare debut as Bottom. The critics are largely on side. WhatsOnStage, The Reviews Hub, Theatre and Tonic and Susan Elkin all give it five stars, and the Sussex Express’s self-confessed sceptic calls it sheer genius. The doubts come from The Stage, which finds it only intermittently engaging, and Plays International, whose critic could not feel the groove; several others would trade some of the dancing for sharper comedy and verse.
The verdict: twelve reviews in so far. Ten carry a rating: four five-star notices, three four-star, one three-and-a-half, one three-star and one two-star, an average of just over 4 out of 5. The Sussex Express publishes no rating and The Telegraph sits behind a paywall. The rave setting wins over most of them, and Munya Chawawa’s Bottom is the performance they keep coming back to.
What are critics saying about A Midsummer Night’s Dream?
WhatsOnStage
Reviewer: Gareth Carr
"It’s fast and furious and is a dazzling finale to this year’s main house season. It’s also the perfect vehicle for a younger audience to engage with Shakespeare, so I hope those school parties will come flocking to Chichester over the coming weeks to experience it for themselves."
The Reviews Hub
Reviewer: Polly Bishop
"This reviewer must confess, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is not her favourite Shakespeare play. Having seen it performed traditionally, and in more modern style, no version has ever really hit the spot. Until now. This is world-class theatre, which could easily see a home in the West End, or further afield. The comparison between the free spirits of rave culture and the world of the fairies is so beautifully appropriate it’s almost impossible to imagine it wasn’t originally designed this way. This is quite the feat. Funny, fresh and exciting, this production sets the standard for contemporary interpretation of classic texts. A resounding round of applause for all involved."
Theatre and Tonic
Reviewer: Rosie
"The idea of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” encapsulating the culture of raves and the underground party scene is not a new one (previously seen in a 2002 American rom-com film), but every segment of CFT’s production feels fresh, vibrant, and approachable, with something in it for every generation, especially those who have never connected to Shakespeare before. Whilst The Bard’s story remains the same, small additions to the script and setting allow a new generation to understand and enjoy the work as it roots itself in a very real time and place (with special mention to the myriad of Sussex references locals may find themselves recognising as they are strewn throughout the dialogue). It is a punchy, techno delight to revel in for two and a half hours; loud and unapologetically so in sound and stylisation. It is a gloriously fun dream to the end of Chichester Festival Theatre’s 2026 season, with fantastic performances and direction all around. You would be an absolute fool to miss it."
Susan Elkin
Reviewer: Susan Elkin
"This concept could be a contrived, distorted account of what is probably Shakespeare’s most popular play. But in the imaginative hands of Justin Audibert and Hannah Joss it’s brilliant – and that is not an adjective I use very often in reviews. Moreover, hardened critic that I am, it’s a long time since I’ve shed tears of laughter in a theatre."
The Guardian
"Munya Chawawa bewitches in lovingly juiced-up 90s rave"
Reviewer: Mark Lawson
"The “rude mechanicals”, who have taken over the local Tory party’s am dram group, are the new working-class Tories of the era, including Nick Bottom, a video shop owner, bewitchingly played, in his full theatrical debut, by comedian Munya Chawawa. He is verbally (“prologue” mispronounced prow-log-wee) and physically energetic: his slapstick gymnastics in the often lumberingly unfunny Pyramus and Thisbe playlet stop the show with earned applause."
West End Best Friend
Reviewer: Chris Abbott
"The comic sub-plot is by far the most successful part of the production, as is often the case. What is lost in some rushed verse speaking is made up for by the mechanicals, led by YC new member Bottom. Comedian Munya Chawawa plays the role: it is an excellent comic performance and he handles the text well. Every word is clear and he manages to project to every corner of this barn of a theatre. Equally good is Shane David-Joseph as Puck, Oberon’s cousin here but still charged with dubious errands. Both are adept at interacting with audience members."
All That Dazzles
Reviewer: Hywel Farrow-Wilton
"Overall, despite a few gripes, the show is still extremely enjoyable. The rebellious subtext, the fun performances, and visual richness of this show make it a perfect introduction for someone who has never seen Shakespeare before, so please grab a friend who doesn’t usually see theatre and bring them along with you to witness the magic and whimsy of the South Downs first-hand."
The Spy in the Stalls
Reviewer: Ellen Cheshire
"The production moves at a good pace, shifting between the lovers, mechanicals and fairy world without letting any one strand dominate. The 1994 setting may not always convince, but when the sweaty, chaotic fairy world takes over, it gives the play a suitably messy sense of freedom and desire. And I suspect Bottom’s pronunciation of ‘prologue’ will stay with me for a long time."
Plays International
Reviewer: Jeremy Malies
"Why couldn’t I feel the groove? Was I being an unusually curmudgeonly version of Eeyore? Or were there aspects that were pantomimic? As Dodwell strutted around in caricatured mode using a horsewhip on people, I reflected that she could usefully acquire a few more gestures. Yes, there are some broad brushes being applied deliberately here but Eve Ponsonby as Titania comes nowhere near the lyricism of her lines when describing her infatuation with Bottom. There is botanical imagery that ought to play into the hands of the team, but Ponsonby in her glittering bodice [illustrated] suggests debauched psychedelic sexuality (an important ingredient, no doubt) but nothing else. She reminded me of Cynthia Payne. There is certainly no parody of conventional courtship. Voice coaches Carol Fairlamb and Ben Furey seem to have had little input with her. And there should be comedy in the fact that Bottom announces at this point that he simply wants some hay and a nap."
Sussex Express
"Chichester's Rave-scene Dream is sheer genius"
Reviewer: Phil Hewitt
"At last, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is funny. Very, very funny in fact, with fabulous comic moments coming thick and fast throughout the night, wonderfully witty, wonderfully inventive – not just the words but the expressions and the gestures too as a supremely gifted cast combine terrifically to give us Shakespeare as we’ve never ever seen it before and probably never will again. Shane David-Joseph is a delicious Puck; Tom Kanji as Theseus and Celeste Dodwell as Hippolyta are effortlessly hilarious. Ditto Henry Everett as Egeus."
Also reviewed by: The Stage (Neil Norman, three stars, "Frequently amusing but slightly awkward") and The Telegraph, whose reviews sit behind paywalls.
Production photographs by Manuel Harlan.
For a first look at the production, see our images of Munya Chawawa as Bottom, and for more of this week’s verdicts, read our roundups of The Standard of Living and a small and quiet light.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream runs in the Festival Theatre at Chichester Festival Theatre until 17 October 2026.
