Shakespeare’s romantic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream is being given a Brummie makeover at the city’s Rep theatre this month. With the venue’s artistic director, Joe Murphy, at the helm, the new production sees cabaret sensation Adam Carver take on the role of Puck - as well as writing some of the show’s music. What’s On recently caught up with local celebrity Adam to find out more...

Best known as cabaret favourite Fatt Butcher, Adam Carver is this month taking on another guise - as the mischievous fairy Puck in a new production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

Having built up a successful career as an actor, director, creator & performer, Adam is not only appearing in the play but also writing some of its music.

“I’ve been looking for opportunities to be part of a team and to get to work with new people. I’m used to performing on my own and also making or organising. So to be here first and foremost as an actor, and also writing some songs for the show - those are the two things that I’ve been looking for.”

Puck is a lynchpin of both the magic and the comedy of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. When four young people escape to the woods in an attempt to realise their belief in true love, Puck is ordered by the fairy king, Oberon, to help them - but manages to cause mayhem instead.

Adam is interested in the traditions around the trickster sprite: “Puck is a fairy but also goes by the name of Robin Goodfellow, who is this kind of folklore creature from British mythology. I’ve been thinking quite a lot about what it means to be stepping into a character with this cultural mythological status.

“At the time this play was written, for many people sprites and fairies were real and a very credible part of the world and people’s understanding of self.

“And the story of the play is less fantastical than it might appear. The characters are in quite a difficult social order at the start of Dream. We all remember the ‘fairies in the woods’ stuff, but it sits in the context of escapism and needing or relying on moments of transformation, which in this case are magic.

“I’m really excited about the magical power of Puck - it feels very akin to the kind of drag I’ve been doing. I believe my work has a kind of spiritual element to it; it’s about bringing communities together and congregating. The mythical, folklorish, troublesome fairy is very exciting because although it’s fantasy, it feels very real to me in that way.

“And the story doesn’t really happen without Puck. He’s the instigator throughout all of this. He’s a kind of agitator and troublemaker - and I can relate to a lot of those things.”

Taking to the stage at The Rep has a particular resonance for Adam: “I grew up watching shows at The Rep. I was very fortunate when I was a teenager to get lots of free tickets for shows through an initiative called A Night Less Ordinary, which was a Government initiative to get young people into the theatre.

“A lot of the shows that I saw were so formative to me in terms of thinking about the kind of work I wanted to make or the things I was interested in, so it’s like a full-circle opportunity to come back to that main stage some years later and hopefully be that for someone else.”

Adam is keen for other young people to experience the joy of live theatre: “One of the things I’m really pleased about with A Midsummer Night’s Dream is that The Rep has made 5,000 tickets for £5 available to under-25s, and that’s a real commitment to making theatre accessible for them.”

Co-directed by Rep Artistic Director Joe Murphy and the theatre’s deputy artistic director, Madeleine Kludje, the new production takes place in a contemporary Brummie setting. The show forms part of the theatre’s new ‘Made in Birmingham’ strand, which has been launched by Joe, who took the helm at the theatre in Spring 2025.

Adam is keen to be part of this localising of theatre. “I fundamentally believe that it’s the responsibility of a regional producing venue like The Rep to be in dialogue and reflective and representative of the city that they’re in. It feels to me like this is kind of the first big project of a new team at The Rep, and so it’s a real statement of intent from them, I think. I feel very privileged to be part of that, and I’m also really pleased to see that that’s the direction they’re going. It feels important.

“I guess there’s a worry it could have been tokenistic, but it feels like it’s been so integrated into each part of the decision-making of the project so far. The fact local actors have come in via open calls and some are making their professional debuts is a real statement of The Rep’s intentions.

“It’s hard being an actor based outside London. There are very few opportunities for actors living in Birmingham to work where they live. The Rep listened to what people said and made steps towards that.”
Performing Shakespeare is both a little daunting but also a real opportunity to try something new.

“The biggest challenge for me is that there’s a kind of reverence and responsibility to the language. I’ve spent so much of the last five or six years doing my own work, being able to say whatever I want and be off-book. So to be tied to this text, which so many people are so familiar with, is something I’m excited about but also a bit trepidatious.

“I’m particularly excited by the fact I’ve been asked to write music for the show, so I’m turning some of Puck’s big speeches into songs. Opportunities like this rarely come along, and it feels like it’s really allowing me to sink my teeth into making this role for myself.

“It’s been beautiful to take these pieces of verse and turn them into music. I’m figuring out this musical language for magic to happen in.”

Adam has turned to some well-known pop bands and artists as a springboard for the songs.

“I’ve taken inspiration from British 80s and 90s queer dance music, so I’m thinking Bronski Beat, Erasure, the Eurythmics and a bit of Kate Bush. The show is set in a contemporary time and has this magical festival kind of element where you just go off into the woods and strange and wonderful things happen.”

Adam is optimistic the production will encourage people to discover A Midsummer Night’s Dream afresh: “I hope that people take a sense of something familiar presented in an unexpected way. Maybe they’ll find new meaning or ideas in this centuries-old play. I hope they find something new and exciting in our Brummie interpretation. It’s going to feel like a quite different take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

A Midsummer Night’s Dream shows at Birmingham Repertory Theatre from Saturday 25 April to Sunday 24 May.

By Diane Parkes