A Midsummer Night's Dream
Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Teatro La Fenice, 2004, directed by David Pountney. Photo © Michele Crosera

Of Love and Magic: Sexual freedom and the subconscious in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Neil Armfield’s production of Britten’s opera has its Australian premiere at this year’s Adelaide Festival. Jansson J. Antmann talks to Armfield, director David Pountney and choreographer John Neumeier about the repressed desire, erotic undertones, sense of play and inherent beauty in Shakespeare’s much-loved comedy.

On 26 February, the curtain rises on the 2021 Adelaide Festival with the long-awaited Australian premiere of Neil Armfield’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Written by Benjamin Britten and his lover, collaborator and muse of 39 years, tenor...