What a way to discover anew that absence makes the heart grow fonder! After months of missing out on so much extraordinary live performance, it’s a thrill to be announcing our centrepiece for the 2021 Adelaide Festival: Neil Armfield’s production of UK composer Benjamin Britten’s opera, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, will make its Australian debut with an exclusive season at the Adelaide Festival.

Hailed by Stage Door as “a fantastical sound world that envelopes you in its glittering magic”, Shakespeare’s most loved comedy is given new life and takes the timeless tale of love, laughter and dreamy magic to new heights with iridescent orchestration and stellar performances.

We’re so excited to have secured some of the world’s greatest artists to stage this production. Australia’s own Daniel Carter (Deutsche Oper Berlin) returns to conduct the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra with an exceptional cast led by rising star, American counter tenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen as Oberon, joined by Rachelle Durkin as Tytania, Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Theseus, Warwick Fyfe as Bottom and our wonderful Young Adelaide Voices children’s choir directed by Christie Anderson.

Weaving the entire production together is the virtuoso of Neil Armfield, one of Australia’s leading international theatre and opera directors and Joint Artistic Director of the Adelaide Festival, who is thrilled finally to bring this production to Australian audiences, after performing in Chicago, Houston and Toronto. "It is an opera of beauty and of joy and it’s very much about reconciliation and magic. We think it’s the perfect work to cheer us up and to remind us of the beauty of the world, the beauty of the imagination and the beauty of making theatre.” he said.

Additional opportunities for audiences to see the opera will be made available through streaming services: with A Midsummer Night’s Dream on the big screen, audiences will be able to access a streaming of the opera with tickets for as little as $25, either in Elder Park or in regional South Australian cinemas, thanks to the partnership with Country Arts SA.

 Adelaide Festival Joint Artistic Director Rachel Healy said: “Never has absence makes the heart grow fonder rung truer than this year. After months of missing out on so much and a very challenging road behind us, and let’s face it, still in front of us, it’s a privilege to announce A Midsummer Night’s Dream will make its Australian premiere on home turf at the Adelaide Festival. It is also thrilling to be able to bring together this largely Australian creative team and witness them recreate this production. We are utterly delighted that audiences across Adelaide and in regional South Australia will have an opportunity to celebrate the creative genius of their fellow Australians”.

Find out more:

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Get ready to be taken to an enchanted forest and follow the misadventures of fairies, lovers, and craftsmen in this glorious adaptation of Shakespeare’s most beloved play.

A Midsummer Night's Dream on the big screen

Grab some friends, pack your chairs and picnic rug and join us in Elder Park to watch this magical opera streamed to the big screen under the stars.

A Midsummer Night's Dream at the cinema

In partnership with Country Arts SA, venues in Mount Gambier, Port Pirie, Renmark and Whyalla will be streaming this production live so that audiences outside Adelaide can join us.