Ellena Vincent as Titania and Hippolyta
Right then, pop the fairy wings on and mind your step, because Birmingham Rep have just lifted the lid on the full cast for their upcoming A Midsummer Night’s Dream — and this one’s proudly Brummie to its bones.
Coming to The House from Saturday 25 April to Sunday 24 May, this is Shakespeare with a Midlands heartbeat, co-directed by Artistic Director Joe Murphy and Deputy Artistic Director Madeleine Kludje. Since Joe took the reins in 2025, he’s been loud and clear about opening doors for local talent — and this Dream walks the talk. A full half of the cast hail from Birmingham and the West Midlands, with three performers plucked straight from The Rep’s open casting call last year. That’s what we like to see.
Leading the local charge is Adam Carver as Puck (yes, that Puck), with Keiren Hamilton-Amos doubling up as Snug and Moth, Qasim Mahmood stirring things up as Demetrius, and Haydn Oakley ruling the chaos as Theseus and Oberon. Proper regional powerhouses, all of them.
And then there’s the open-call dreamers — Lottie Beck-Johnson making her professional stage debut as Starveling and Cobweb, James Tanton as Snout and Mustardseed, and Charlotte Wallis stepping into Helena for her own first professional outing. If you’re looking for proof that casting notices can change lives, here it is, stamped and posted.
They’re joined by a cracking wider cast including Isabel Adomakoh-Young as Hermia, Omar Malik as Bottom, Hannah McPake as Quince, Ellena Vincent as Titania and Hippolyta, Evie Ward-Drummond as Lysandra, Andy Watkins as Egeus, and Lisa Zahra as Flute. It’s a line-up that blends national credits with homegrown brilliance — exactly the kind of mix that makes regional theatre sing.
Joe Murphy and Madeleine Kludje put it best themselves, saying they’re thrilled to be bringing together exceptional talent from across the UK while championing the artists right on their doorstep. Representation and regional voice, they say, have been central from the very start — and you can feel that pride radiating off the casting list.
Behind the scenes, the creative team is equally stacked, with Carl Davies on set and costume design, Andy Pike lighting the way, Claire Windsor on sound, Kev McCurdy handling fight direction, Asha Jennings-Grant on movement and choreography, Nia Lynn coaching voice, Marc Frankum casting, and Ian Taylor keeping the whole show on the rails as Production Manager.
As for the story? This isn’t your dainty, moonlit picnic version. When a love-struck teenager is forced to marry a man instead of the woman she loves, the options are bleak — death, denial, a nunnery… or leg it into a neon-lit rave in an enchanted forest. Naturally, she chooses chaos.
Beyond the city walls, boundaries blur, music pulses, love explodes in all directions and the fairies are having none of it. With climate chaos creeping in, love potions flying about like confetti, and more re-couplings than an episode of Love Island, this Dream asks the only sensible question left standing: what the Puck?!
A Midsummer Night’s Dream runs at Birmingham Rep from Saturday 25 April to Sunday 24 May. Tickets are on sale now via the Birmingham Rep website or from the Box Office on 0121 236 4455.
Grace has already pencilled this one into the diary — and if you listen carefully, you can probably hear the fairy wings fluttering all the way down the High Street.
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