As I walked towards the dell I was drawn by the melodic sounds of trinkets and lilting voices of the actors.
I’d lost my way around the narrow winding roads which lead down to The Haven and arrived just as Titania had been lulled to sleep by the fairies and Lysander and Hermia were scurrying through the trees. 
Perhaps Puck’s mischievous ways were already having an effect on me? As leader of the fairies, he’s renowned for delighting in manipulating the feelings of human beings and creating chaos and confusion.

LYSANDER
Fair love, you faint with wand’ring in the wood.
And, to speak troth, I have forgot our way.
We’ll rest us, Hermia, if you think it good,
And tarry for the comfort of the day.
HERMIA
Be it so, Lysander. Find you out a bed,
For I upon this bank will rest my head.

By the time I sat down, the fairies had well and truly cast a spell on me and I was transfixed not just by the natural beauty but also by the enthusiasm and delight of the actors.
As Charles Mayer, co-founder of the troupe, explained to me afterward,
“You’d entered the fairy realm. In Midsummer Night’s Dream, the same characters are seen in three dimensions of existence: normal life, the fairy world and the angelic realm.”

In Act 3, Scene 1,  mischievous Puck uses fairy magic to change Bottom’s head into that of a donkey. Left alone in the forest after his friends abandon him, Bottom sings loudly to show that he is not afraid

There are in fact five classically trained actors in the troupe: Jo Bloom (The British Shakespeare Company, Australian Shakespeare Company), Charles Mayer (Pop-Up Globe, ANZAC Girls) , Sontaan Hopson (Risen, The Book of Job), Alec Ebert (God of Carnage, Of Mice and Men), and Ciarán O’Riordan (Chimerica, What Have You Done). Brandon Read (Our Country’s Good, Happy Africa) is the composer and deliverer of music and sound, live, at every performance.
Both Charles and co-founder Jo Bloom were involved in the early research, design and vision of the company.
“It’s very much been both of us in all things, “Jo told me.
Shakespeare wrote for 12 – 16 characters whereas each of their plays (Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth) has just a handful of actors.
“We amalgamate the characters and delete some,” said Jo. “There’s a big leap in Macbeth where we’ve conflated a number of characters.”
“So how do four people manage to produce the emotional depth of a play with triple the characters? By skilfully combining them to create figures of elevated complexity,” wrote Laura Heuston in her Theatre Travels review.
“Whatever your views of energy and spirituality may be, opening your heart to these actors and their practice will not be an emotional let down.”

Harnessing the principals of sacred geometry, sound healing and Chi energy, the productions embrace the magical lore that Shakespeare wrote into his plays.
Energy (Chi/Ki) is key to the fast and furious spirit of their performances.
“Now put your quantum hat on”, Charles told me with a grin.“We activate all our limbs with Chi which gives us charisma on stage. The ancient Greeks knew about it and called it ‘ether’.
“We reached out to Professor Ken Rea who’s been teaching experimental theatre in London for 60 years.  He taught us in a private Zoom lesson about using Chi energy as our communication energy.”

“Rea later told us we were taking the work of experimental directors like Jerzy Grotowski, Peter Brook and Michael Chekhov further by performing with Chi as the dramatic energy on stage.”
They also reached out to Freddy Silva who helped them activate each space to become a temple.
 “I found him through the Gaia channel in the U.K. “
Since early childhood in Portugal, Silva had been fascinated by stones and their energy. As an adult he visited the stone circles and crop circles of Europe, the pyramids of Giza, sacred sites and temples in Central America, portals to a higher consciousness.

Brandon Read, creator of the exquisite soundscape

The exquisite sounds and music of the production also enhanced my appreciation of the play.
Looking around the haven, I’d noticed a number of large flat wooden surfaces akin to Stonehenge megaliths, standing upright at various places including behind the stage.
“We contain the sound with the reflectors so that your body resonates with it,” said Charles. “Ancient cultures used sound as part of their healing and spiritual journey.”

Left to right: Ciarán O’Riordan, Sontaan Hopson, Jo Bloom and Charles Mayer

If this sounds far-fetched and like the New Age gone mad, I suggest you go along and experience one of their productions for yourself.
As Bottom muses, “The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man’s hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report, what my dream was…”
To quote Laura Heuston from Theatre Travels, it was:
“Utterly indistinguishable from magic…an experience that spiritually rejuvenates while also entertaining. This work has been brilliantly devised by the company, and while they may be few in number, they have skill and commitment to Shakespeare in utter abundance.”
ComeYouSpirits will be peforming Romeo & Juliet for Valentine’s Day at dusk in Sydney’s Botanical Gardens.  Tickets $25-$45, Special Valentine’s package $110 includes Bubbles and Cheese Boxes.
Bookings and information: www.comeyouspirits.com
Disclaimer: I have not been involved in any PR for ComeYouSpirits, but wrote this article to support a wonderful troupe of actors.