I feel I ought to begin with a disclaimer. I’m not a musiciana, and at least some of the charm that opera seems to hold over me is formed in dumb amazement at the sheer spectacle of it all. Fortunately, the Shadwell Opera’s new production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is, even to the uninitiated, an innovative and beautifully conceived interpretation of a piece so familiar that it can sometimes seem overdone.

Directors Jack Furness and Imogen Tedbury have assembled an extremely talented group of musicians to present a production that is able to exploit every nuance of the piece. It is clear from the outset, Titania’s fairy chorus opening like a crocus amidst deepening twilight and beguiling glissandos, that the piece revels in the hazy woodland forces invited by both Britten and Shakespeare.

The cast does not disappoint, with Tom Verney presenting a somewhat surly Oberon, his enchanting countertenor often resounding from the back of the church, suggesting an ethereal dominion over the wood. He is excellently partnered by Ssegewa-Ssekintu Kiwanuka’s Puck, the opera’s only spoken part, and one that is delivered with panache by this PhD student and sometime MC. It is an overwhelmingly strong company, though Tristan Hambleton stands out as Bottom, giving a performance that manages to capture both bombast and bewilderment as he finds himself caught in the midst of faerie forces. His company is led by Edward de Minckwitz as Peter Quince, a strong bass voice that resonates throughout. Meanwhile, Matt Sandy is hilarious as Flute/Thisbe, striking a wonderfully camp note in an enormous floral dress.

The imposing space provided by St. Giles church is used in a highly inventive fashion. The orchestra sits behind the altar screen, already suggesting a spatial delineation that begins to crumble as the piece unfolds. Fairies line the aisles, bouncing light in all directions, whilst other characters process up and down the nave, reminding us of the nuptials to come and granting the music an eerily immersive effect.

Conductor Aidan Coburn presides over an accomplished orchestra which, led by Konrad Wagstyl, takes hold of Britten’s dream music, allowing it to speak to an enchanted audience.

It is a scintillating production that speaks both to Britten’s music and the text that inspired it, offering heightened moments of beauty from amidst a musical tapestry that promises to draw in even the most untrained of observers.