Photo: Clive Tagg
titania: a solo cabaret
The critically acclaimed and MTN nominated production, TITANIA: A SOLO CABARET is an innovative re-imagining of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. In this engaging, funny and participatory production, our much-loved Queen of the Night plays out events from her past, hosting nightly revels in an attempt to woo audiences off the path and back into the woods. A heady fusion of original music and vocal acrobatics, TITANIA is the Queen of the Faeries’ tale with an amplified twist.
Created and performed by Anna-Helena McLean
Associate direction by Sophie Bortolussi (Punchdrunk) and Max Webster (Life of Pi West End/Broadway)
Produced by Trestle Touring Theatre, Amy Mueller (Door Shakespeare), Helena Richardson PRM, Theatre Delicatessen and Summerhall Edinburgh
Collaborators in the devising process included Ian Morgan (RADA), Peter Swaffer Reynolds (No Fit State), Christopher Sivertsen (Song of the Goat), Jonathan Grieve (Zecora Ura), and Rosanna Lowe.
MOON FOOL's first national tour took place with ill met by moonlight directed by Ian Morgan in Spring 2010 and produced by Trestle Touring. The piece was revamped as a solo cabaret directed by Jonathan Grieve, touring to Malta and twice around USA, playing to arts and music audiences at prestigious venues including The Rockwood Music Hall, NYC. Sophie Bortolussi choreographed the work for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival run at Summerhall in 2015.
"Slightly sinister and wholly elfish... the sounds are as haunting as the words and gestures. ★★★★" WhatsOnStage
"Very entertaining... dark, sexy piece." The Oxford Times
"Totally absorbing to watch and marvellous to hear. Spectacular. Gives you tingles. ★★★★” Broadway Baby
"Shakespeare by way of Fiona Apple, and the format beautifully highlights the musicality already present in the play. ★★★★" The Skinny
"One-woman tour-de-force. Truly accomplished and entertaining." Total Theatre
“Wild and thrilling. ★★★★” British Theatre Guide
“McLean has comedic timing, can play the Cello, perform unbelievable vocal acrobatics, tell a story and move gracefully. Impressive." TVBOMB
“Soars in glorious aural technicolour. Her musicality is magical.” The Herald
"Intoxicating. Total immersion. Genuinely otherworldly. Not for the faint-hearted" The Times
"The highlight of my Fringe. Taking one of Shakespeare's most over familiar plays and rip it up, pluck out the sex war,
and rescue Titania from being a bit-player in her own drama." The List
“Titania is the most exciting adaptation of a Shakespearean play that I've ever seen. It had all the power and drama of a 20-person production, but it was as cool and charming as watching my favourite musician at a jazz club... Electrifying.”
Artistic Director, Walkabout Theater, Chicago
“Exotic, delightful and brilliant... akin to a renegade reeling out of Anna-Helena’s own Midrash of the Shakespearean Torah... the evening gave way to abundant laughter and occasional tears...”
Lecturer in Shakespeare/Acting, Yale School of Drama
"A wonderful contribution to Listening Mind, Moving Voice at Giving Voice 13. A Compelling, virtuoso performer-musician. The performance was a treat: witty, constantly surprising and a very great success".
Joan Mills, Festival Director
"A treat for the ear - witty - emotionally charged, sweet and wild".
Richard Gough, Artistic Director of the Centre for Performance Research