During its best moments, Midsummer is riotously funny and tremendous fun. At other times it drags and the story has a few sticky moments. I felt that the slower paced moments came not from the writing, but the performers, and could have been overcome with more energetic performances. Aidee Walker and Dan Musgrove are both adept at holding the stage with a still strong presence, as we often see them in storyteller mode. But the play comes alive during its more frenetic periods and I would have liked to see the direction make better use of that. For it is often playful and I loved the extravagant use of simple props such as a bag of money and some pieces of rope.
I admire Walker's ability to craft an interesting, likable character in Helena, when the script offers nothing to endear us to her, while Musgrove's small-time crook oozes an effortless charm. These two provide the centre of our love story, but there is a full compliment of crazy supporting characters poking and prodding these two towards each other. Walker and Musgrove are also responsible for bringing the supporting cast to life, but they do not seem to have as much fun with that as such larger-than-life characters warrant.
Midsummer bills itself as a play with songs, so I have to mention the songs. There were songs. They were forgettable, and Walker in particular seemed to be out of her element on guitar.
Midsummer seems to have been created as a fun, frivolous night out with laughter, music and naughty bits. Silo's production misses the mark on most of these counts. It feels more serious than it should.
See this show for the bright moments it contains. Unfortunately they are fewer than one would hope for.
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