“I slipped off the bed this week,” says JJ Feild cheerfully. “At one point in my striptease, instead of standing still, I stepped backwards and I just went!” He makes a noise straight out of a Looney Tunes cartoon, Wile E. Coyote plunging into the abyss. “I caught myself, luckily, but then I had to clamber back on and make up the rest of the dance moves!”
Believe it or not, Feild’s talking Shakespeare: specifically Nicholas Hytner’s joyous production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that is currently delighting audiences at the Bridge Theatre. I saw the play last month and spent the interval considering where it ranked on my all-time theatrical experiences. Top five, easily – and the second half is even better.
Feild is the fairy king Oberon, part of a killer ensemble that includes Susannah Fielding as a badass Titania, Emmanuel Akwafo bringing the house down as Bottom and David Moorst giving one of the most extraordinary performances you’ll ever see as Puck, contorting on ropes with acrobatic grace, leaping off stage and quite literally disappearing into the set in an exit that must elicit gasps every night. Feild’s aforementioned striptease – performed on a rotating four-poster bed – is more of a whooping moment.
The great innovation of this production is switching the roles of Oberon and Titania – so it’s the king who becomes besotted with Bottom. It’s a masterstroke, making theirs a union of equals, a chaotic relationship fuelled by drama and desire. “The push and pull of the two characters is wonderful,” says Feild. “They desire each other like mad but they hate each other.” As he notes: “They clearly have the best makeup sex on planet earth.”
JJ Feild as Oberon (post striptease, pre-makeup sex)
Manuel Harlan
The frolics aren’t confined to the stage: apparently audience members are often caught in a clinch. “We've had quite a few couples making out in the back,” grins Feild. “Fullblown necking on each other.” Fainting is another hazard, especially on a Friday evening where a combination of heat, bespoke cocktails and hysterical laughter can cause a temporary swoon. Feild says the stricken are quietly escorted to the bar. “They wake up straight away, ask for another drink and go back in!”
The role is a literal homecoming for Feild, moving with his family back to London after 15 years in LA. We spoke in his dressing room ahead of a matinee performance. He’s charm itself, bright-eyed and infused with all the happy energy you would expect from a man having the time of his life making an audience have the time of theirs.
How did this role come about for you?
We’ve been living in the States for 15 years. I have no idea why I haven't done a play in 15 years. It was not by choice. I was always hammering on the agents. It was just very much out of sight, out of mind. My wife [American actress Neve Campbell] and I were trying to decide whether we were going to move back here. We wanted to leave LA. She's got a career in the States and I wanted to re-establish my career in Britain. Literally the day we were trying to make a decision, I got a call that Nick Hytner wanted to speak.
We had a Zoom and he asked me to do the part. I was a bit nervous as someone else had already played the role. He said, ‘look, we have to keep the stage – other than that it's all yours. You can do whatever you want with it.’ I said yes there and then because it's Nick Hytner and it's an amazing production. I looked at Nev and we went, ‘I guess it's England.’ I landed here to shoot the new Jack Ryan film and start rehearsals all at the same time.
Getting headhunted by Nicholas Hytner must have been a nice validation…
I did a play called The Pride at the Royal Court in 2008. Jamie Lloyd's breakout production. Nick said to me on the phone, ‘I saw you in The Pride all those years ago and I've always wanted to work with you.’ I managed to keep my mouth shut and not say, ‘you could have called at any point in the last 17 years!’ But his timing was perfect because it was the affirmation I needed to move home. This became my reintroduction back to the business.
JJ Feild as Oberon and Susannah Fielding as Titania. Can you spot David Moorst's Puck overhead?
Manuel Harlan
Had you seen the original 2019 production?
There was an NT Live thing that they put out in Covid. Nick sent it to me. I watched ten minutes. I didn’t want to watch any more because Olly Chris [the original Oberon] is fantastic. He's incredibly funny and his timing is brilliant and I didn't want to pick up on any of it. I didn't want to just be perversely different but the costumes are very different, some of Oberon and Titania’s relationship. Especially Oberon – we've pushed this androgyny and non-gender conformity with Oberon. We've leant much more into his femininity and androgynous gender.
I think that's very important in terms of what this world is. What is the dream, what is the forest? It's a place where there is no judgement of desire. That's in the original text, this isn't just Nick’s play on it. There's a world of fairies and stealing children and Indian princesses and everyone's falling in love with everyone and the wrong people and magic potions. It's a swingers’ paradise. You put it into a 2025 open moral context and you end up with this production.
Switching the textual roles of Oberon and Titania works so well…
Yeah, we were all discussing it. Perhaps a plot where a man drugs a woman to sleep with someone else isn't necessarily that digestible in 2025. Although why it should be any different for a woman to drug a man… But we have the whole comedy element. Having that swap seemed very natural and very easy. We didn't have to play with the text, you just swap the names around.
Did you find it an interesting challenge, swapping the roles?
I'm not trying to play a female, the queen of the fairies. I'm trying to play somebody who has the different desires and impulses that role has. It changes the dynamic very much at the beginning. I describe her as proud and she describes me as jealous – whereas originally that would be the other way around, the male archetype is proud and the female archetype is jealous. That's a really easy switch.
Oberon and Titania are on a break. It is the biggest break ever and they obviously do this all the time. When they’re together, the flowers bloom and the weather is perfect and the seasons are great and the harvests grow – and when they row there's floods, pestilence, famine, thunderstorms. It's a disaster!
When they're not simpatico, emotionally and physically, the world is a disaster. But when they're together, it's pretty good. They clearly have the best makeup sex on planet earth. The push and pull of the two characters is wonderful. They desire each other like mad but they hate each other. That's something we really enjoyed playing with. I love you, I hate you, I love you, I hate you.
Susannah Fielding as Titania
Manuel Harlan
I love your reaction after discovering she tricked you. A laugh and a little bow. It’s a lovely moment but also a great character beat – clearly they do this stuff all the time…
And through it all, even if they're absolutely furious with each other and heartbroken with each other, they still respect and adore each other. So he can go, alright, you got me. Fair enough. That was one hell of a gag!
Is there any character beat or moment you’re particularly proud of?
The thing I'm most proud of is working with Emmanuel Akwafo in the whole romance with Bottom. Of course it's fun and we've got pole dancers and strip teases and seductions and all that stuff, but we worked really hard on the scene when Oberon says ‘I love you’ to ensure it's not crass. Sometimes the audience really swoon. Near opening, Eman said to me, ‘I just want you to know that I love what you're doing with Oberon. As much as we're doing a comedy, there is love and romance, and there's not a second of queerbaiting.’
That was the greatest compliment: to be someone who's trying to be respectful of a desirous love potion between two men and not make it a total farce. Of course it's a comedy, we're having a laugh, I'm a king falling in love with a donkey called Bottom. But within that comedy we find these little moments of tenderness so it has an element of truth. We're not trying to turn this into anything that's laughing at men falling in love with men.
The audience response to the bathtub scene is quite something…
Oh God! [Laughs.] Every night is a bit of a deep breath. On a Saturday matinee, it's mostly surrounding counties, geriatrics. Normally we get quite a big reaction to the bath scene or the dancing to “Love On Top”. At the Saturday matinees it can be a little quiet. There's nothing worse than standing up wearing a comedy codpiece and not getting a whoop.
Acrobatic fairies
Manuel Harlan
What’s the best night to perform?
Friday nights. It's the end of the week, you’ve probably had a couple of cocktails. Everyone’s having a laugh. We get a few faints on a Friday.
Actually fainting?
Apparently it's very common at concerts. It's something to do with standing with your head up. And laughing. It happens a lot with comedy. It’s very, very common with comedy because as you laugh, you naturally forget to breathe. You're in the dark, you've had a drink, you've forgotten it's hot.
And there's a little message that goes over the tannoy. We don't have earpieces obviously, but you can see the crew react. The code is ‘whisky, whisky.’ And someone comes in, grabs the fainter, pulls them into the bar. At which point they wake up straight away, ask for another drink and go back in.
So this show might literally make you faint from laughter…
Or they're putting something in the signature cocktails!
And whooping is good?
Whooping is good. Please whoop when I'm basically naked.
Have you had any issues with the audience? It’s a very interactive show…
That's part of the fun. There are times where the crowd don't get out of the way and we can't get in. Or sometimes you get crowd members who reach the front and they won't move so we can't lift the stage up. We all have lessons that we must move people with the backs of our hands at their shoulders so you don't touch anything inappropriate.
Or the other one is when you get couples and they refuse to separate. They will not part. The more you try to part them, the more they latch onto each other. We've had quite a few couples making out in the back. Fullblown necking on each other. They go lean up against the wall and start groping! Always at the back. Couples find these dark corners – unless they just met at the show!
Emmanuel Akwafo's Bottom gets aquatinted with the fairies
Manuel Harlan
Any favourite reactions?
Every night we see people at the stage door who say they haven't felt so much joy leaving the theatre. At a time like this, and a hot summer, you don't want people leaving with a sore arse and miserable. They're all coming out just elated. It's pure joy for us to perform. It’s a great gift to be part of something where at the end of the night, you generally feel better than you did arriving.
When Puck performed the final monologue, I genuinely felt sad the show was finished…
Isn’t David Moorst incredible? If you could nominate someone for an award, I would forward David Moorst every day. And we've got Emmanuel, who plays Bottom – comedy genius. Susanna Fielding is a powerhouse. We were doing this scene in previews. In the middle of cursing me, she dropped a tear down one eye. I was like, I’m going to have to raise my game. I realised how much deeper you could go. It doesn't just have to be a comedy and some Shakespeare poetry; you can make this a blue valentine. Why can't it be a tragic couple, put some depth into it?
And what are your plans next?
Move into a house! Settle the family. Kids start new schools. My wife's been filming since November. I've been filming since March.
[Someone knocks on the door.] Everyone's arriving now. We've got a dozen fairies who do not stop dancing. You can hear the music through the wall. It's chaos, which is great! It makes me very happy.
A Midsummer Night's Dream runs until 26 August. Get your tickets here
