Last year, Birmingham Rep announced that artistic director Joe Murphy would make his main stage debut with the production, co-directed with deputy artistic director Madeleine Kludje.
As well as being ‘distinctively Birmingham’, part of Joe’s mission was to adopt a renewed focus on The Rep producing new shows ‘Made in Birmingham’ - providing opportunities for local actors, creatives and communities.
For The Rep’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which plays on the main stage from Saturday 25 April to Sunday 24 May, this has included an open casting call for Birmingham and West Midlands actors, a successful fundraising campaign to subsidise 5,000 £5 tickets for young people under 25 and state schools for the production, plus an exciting costume design competition for young people in Birmingham.
The Rep’s acclaimed Creative Learning team sent a call-out to their network of primary and secondary schools across Birmingham and wider parts of the West Midlands for pupils to design fairy-costumes, where the winning design would be brought to life by The Rep’s in-house wardrobe and costume department, and used in the production.
Over 200 imaginative entries were received, showcasing extraordinary creativity, originality and engagement with the wonder and environmentalism of Shakespeare’s magical tale.
From these entries, 10 finalists were selected by a judging panel, which included A Midsummer Night’s Dream set and costumer designer Carl Davies, who selected two joint winners, who will see their designs brought to life on stage by Carl and the in-house wardrobe and costume team at The Rep this April.
Co-directors Joe Murphy and Madeleine Kludje said: “We were so impressed by the creativity and imagination shown in these designs. Each finalist has engaged so inspiringly with the magic, mischief and imagination of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, while bringing their own playfulness to the designs – honestly it was hard not to use them all.”
Further details about casting and the production will be announced shortly.
