How many times have you seen A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

Three times? Five times? Maybe more? I stopped counting after a dozen or so. You could be forgiven for thinking ‘why-should-I-care’, or believing you’ve seen all there is to see in Shakespeare’s spellbound lovers and rude mechanicals.

It is the Bard’s most performed comedy, for sure. But it’s also his most elastic, and this production, directed by Sean O’Shea for Sydney independent company Sport for Jove, is stretched and pulled into some new and appealing shapes.

The play is delivered by a cast of nine, which has to be about the least number you could sensibly employ to do it justice. Several performers are tripling roles, flitting between the Athenian court, the fairy realm and the Mechanicals.

Jake Speer and Bishanyia Vincent in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sport for Jove, 2022. Photo © Kate Williams

O’Shea flips the gender of some key roles to excellent effect. Helena is now Helenus (played by Rupert Bevan) and in love with Toby Blome’s closeted Demetrius. Egeus (Giles Gartrell-Mills) becomes something of an outraged homophobe as a result. Hermia and Lysander (Jade Fuda and Darius Williams) are...