A Midsummer Night’s Dream

It is the night of the departmental office party; Hermia, the daughter of the CEO, rejects the advances of high-powered yuppie Demetrius (her father's favourite) and sneaks back up to the deserted offices with her sweetheart Lysander. Their escape is betrayed by her friend Helena who is infatuated with Demetrius and tells him where Hermia has gone.

At night, though, in the dark offices the spirits are awake; call them fairies, call them the mischief-makers, call them gremlins, call them what you will. They are the ones that crash your computer just before you save, that move your coffee cup so you knock it over your work, that hide your security card and readjust your chair! Oberon, the lord of the mainframe, and Titania, the lady of paper, are having a spat and the mortals are going to be caught in between. Finally, into this realm stumble a group of IT support staff (the 'Rude Electricals') who, in order to shake off their antisocial image, have offered to perform a play as the highlight of the party. If only they could find somewhere to rehearse!

In its fourth year, the Shakespeare in the City programme produced a modern-day retelling of the Shakespeare classic A Midsummer Night's Dream. It had eleven performances throughout September across a variety of city institutions, raising over £6,000 for charity.