When Bell Shakespeare premiered The Lovers in 2022, it was clear that Laura Murphy is a hugely talented musical theatre composer and lyricist, and one to watch.

She had been developing the show for over a decade before it finally hit the stage, having started working on it while still at school as a way to introduce a new, younger audience to the joys of The Bard.

Stellar Perry as Oberon in The Lovers. Photo © Joel Devereux

Based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Lovers examines the theme of love by turning a contemporary, TikTok-versed lens on the four Athenian lovers, Demetrius, Helena, Hermia and Lysander, together with the fairy king Oberon and his servant Puck. (Other characters including the Popular Mechanicals, Bottom and Titania have been culled.)

Murphy uses dialogue from Shakespeare’s play together with around 30 original pop bangers that keep the show pumping. The music is infectious and full of earworms, while her smart, witty lyrics – which are full of comic references from swiping right to Taylor Swift, eggplant emojis and DTF (I had to check what it meant) – add depth to the characters.

Three years on, The Lovers is back in a brand-new production from Brisbane’s Shake & Stir Theatre Co, which opened at this year’s Brisbane Festival in a co-production with QPAC. It’s now arrived in Sydney, with John Frost from Crossroads Live on board as another co-producer.

Directed by Nick Skubij, with set and costume design by Isabel Hudson, lighting by Trent Suidgeest, sound and video design by David Berman and choreography by Yvette Lee, it’s a much more effectively staged production than the previous iteration.

Loren Hunter in a scene in Athens in The Lovers. Photo @ Joel Devereux

For starters, it looks gorgeous. After a monochrome setting with archways for the scenes in Athens, the production becomes a riot of colour and sparkle as it arrives in the magical forest, where shiny pink confetti festoons the stage, a tree with white and pink blossoms sits on a revolving stage and a huge love heart flies in and out, all of which is transformed by kaleidoscopic lighting and pulsing projections. At times, it feels as if we’re inside a glitter-filled snow dome.

The costumes for the four lovers morph from restrained black and white outfits with Elizabethan-style ruffs to extravagant, blinged-up contemporary garb. Oberon glitters in a sparkling red cowgirl outfit, while Puck sports a bouffant pink pom-pom wig. Talk about eye candy.

Natalie Abbott and Stellar Perry reprise the roles of Helena and Oberon, which they performed in the Bell production, and are both standouts.

Abbott is warm, huggable and hilarious as the lovelorn but determined Helena who won’t give up on chasing Demetrius, even though he is pursuing Hermia, who is in love with Lysander, who returns her affections. Abbott’s subtle comic choices are a delight, while her expressive, heartfelt singing is spine-tingling. Perry is also a strong, vibrant presence and a vocal powerhouse.

They are joined by an impressive new cast – Jason Arrow as Demetrius, Loren Hunter as Hermia, Mat Verevis as Lysander and Jaymie-Lee Hamekom as Puck – all of whom come to the party.

Natalie Abbott and Mat Verevis in The Lovers. Photo © Joel Devereux

The five-piece band led by Musical Director Heidi Maguire, sits at the back of the stage and performs the infectious score with relish, though the sound levels mean it’s hard to decipher some of the lyrics, particularly Puck’s rap.

Given all the contemporary references that infuse Murphy’s lively lyrics, some of Murphy’s quips now feel a little dated (a Bill and Hillary Clinton reference, for example, failed to get a laugh) and the fight between the four lovers when both Demetrius and Lysander (high on the love potion administered by Puck) turn their gaze on Helena feels somewhat overextended.

But overall, it works a treat, with fabulous performances matching the sumptuous staging, while the storytelling in the second act now feels much clearer. The rapturous opening night audience was clearly “down to love” it, leaving the theatre on a high.

The Lovers plays at the Theatre Royal Sydney until 16 November. More information here.