Of late, Shakespeare in Ireland means Irishising Shakespeare: several months ago Pan Pan brilliantly deconstructed the place of Macbeth in the Irish schools curriculum, and here Barabbas map the characters of the classic comedy on to Irish social strata and mythology and change their names (Theseus is a British colonial called Jonathan; Titania becomes the hybrid goddess Brigit na Gig).
The other significant convention of this Dream is that it's played by six actors who treble up on roles. But neither of these strategies are used to unearth hidden or contradictory meanings in the text, nor the context in which it's being presented. We end up with a straightforward, often quite funny, eventually wearing, rendering of a familiar play.
Barabbas is best known for its work within clowning traditions, and there is a characteristic sense of whimsy in Veronica Coburn's production, expressed especially in illustrator Niamh Sharkey's pretty design: a bare set on to which cutout metal trees are wheeled, and actors arrive in exaggerated stovepipe hats. It feels like a live cartoon for adults, but one whose meanings always remain at a surface level, often reinforcing stereotypes (nobles speaking in posh accents, mechanicals in Dublin working-class ones). Surprisingly little fun is had with the complications caused by multiple casting - that Frankie McCafferty's Puck has to put serum in his own eyes as John Patrick/Lysander feels like an embarrassing problem rather than an opportunity for knowing humour.
The actors are multi-talented and very engaging, though sometimes they strain to accommodate the production's conventions - it seems criminal that David Pearse's brilliant Bottom has to deliver a line like: "It shall be called Seamus' dream, because it is so shameful." In the end, as much as Shakespeare's play, it is its audience that this production underestimates.
· Until June 12, then touring. Box office 00 353-1-881-9613.
