Birmingham Rep have today revealed the full cast for their upcoming production of Shakespeare’s ever popular A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which promises a distinctively Birmingham version from The Rep’s Artistic Director Joe Murphy and Deputy Artistic Director Madeleine Kludje, who co-direct the show, coming to The House from Saturday 25 April – Sunday 24 May.
Since taking the helm as Artistic Director in 2025, part of Joe’s mission has been to provide more opportunities for local actors, creatives and communities – and in this production, half of its cast are from Birmingham and the West Midlands, with three actors selected from the open casting call the venue launched last year.
Local Birmingham and West Midlands actors in the cast include Adam Carver (national tours of Send in the Clowns – as drag artist Fatt Butcher, Christmas Carole, Southend Palace Theatre) as Puck; Keiren Hamilton-Amos (Champion, BBC, Grime Boy, Birmingham Rep) as Snug and Moth; Qasim Mahmood (Romeo & Juliet, Royal Shakespeare Company, Tartuffe, Birmingham Rep) as Demetrius; and Haydn Oakley (Mamma Mia!, Novello Theatre, Sunset Boulevard, London Coliseum) as Theseus and Oberon.
The three cast members successful in the open casting call are Lottie Beck-Johnson in her professional stage debut as Starveling and Cobweb; James Tanton (Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet, National Production Company, Horrible Histories, Birmingham Stage Company) as Snout and Mustardseed; and Charlotte Wallis in her professional stage debut as Helena.
They will be joined by Isabel Adomakoh-Young (As You Like It, Shakespeare’s Globe, Hamlet, Bristol Old Vic) as Hermia; Omar Malik (Marriage Material, Birmingham Rep and Lyric Hammersmith, Abigail’s Party, Theatre Royal Stratford East) as Bottom; Hannah McPake (Hamnet, Royal Shakespeare Company and West End, Romeo & Juliet, Shakespeare’s Globe) as Quince; Ellena Vincent (Romeo & Juliet, Belgrade Theatre, Hackney Empire and Bristol Old Vic, One Love: The Bob Marley Musical, Birmingham Rep) as Titania and Hippolyta; Evie Ward-Drummond (G’Wed, ITV and Disney+, Doctors, BBC) as Lysandra; Andy Watkins (To The Streets, Birmingham Hippodrome, Kinky Boots, UK tour) as Egeus; and Lisa Zahra (Macbeth, National Theatre, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Birmingham Rep and Northern Stage) as Flute.
On the casting, co-directors Joe Murphy and Madeleine Kludje said: “We’re thrilled to announce the full cast of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, bringing together some of the finest acting talent from across the UK, and celebrating the exceptional pool of artists right here on our doorstep. From the beginning of this creative process, representation and championing our regional voice have been central to our vision and we wanted to harness that in the casting. We are very excited to bring this production to audiences.”
The full creative team includes Joe Murphy (Director), Madeleine Kludje (Director), Carl Davies (Set and Costume Designer), Andy Pike (Lighting Designer), Claire Windsor (Sound Designer), Kev McCurdy (Fight Director), Asha Jennings-Grant (Movement and Choreographer), Nia Lynn (Voice Coach), Marc Frankum (Casting Director), and Ian Taylor (Production Manager).
When a love-struck teenager is forced to marry a man, rather than the women she loves, she has a few options: certain death, live a lie, move to a nunnery… or flee to a messy, neon rave in an enchanted forest!
Beyond the city walls boundaries blur, music pulsates, and love is celebrated. Inhibitions are unleashed and love potions spill into more re-couplings than an episode of Love Island.
But with the feisty fairies locked in their own conflict; the seasons are pulled into climate chaos and the young lovers’ moonlit escape from reality loses its shine.
As relationships sour and temperatures soar, Shakespeare’s romantic comedy might leave you thinking… what the Puck?!
A Midsummer Night’s Dream comes to The Rep from Saturday 25 April – Sunday 24 May and tickets are on-sale now.
To book simply visit Birmingham Rep at birmingham-rep.co.uk or call the Box Office on 0121 236 4455 (Monday to Friday from 12pm to 6pm. Saturdays 12pm to 6pm, or 4pm if there is no evening performance scheduled).