Shakespeare, the puppets... and a dog

Shakespeare has been flavour of the week so far. Two plays, four couples muddled in love; puppets, musicians, actors and even a dog. In Midsummer Night's Dream, put on in a production by Bristol Old Vic director Tom Morris and Handspring Puppet Company – the team behind War Horse – magical creatures, potent love spells and otherworldly forces entwine themselves around two pairs of lovers, Hermia and Lysander, Helena and Demetrius.

There were all sorts of puppets used here. Each lover had a miniature puppet version of themselves, in the same clothing. The true nature of these superfluous items was never revealed: were the puppets the souls or companions of the lovers? Who controlled whom? At times it turned the actors into doll-carrying children – surely not what Morris was aiming for? Oberon and Titania, the Fairy King and Queen, were fragmented creatures, represented by statue-like masks held up high. Haughty and commanding, half-disembodied, half-real, half-imagined, this was an effective idea. As was the spirit Puck, assembled from assorted bits of bric-a-brac and a choir of ever-changing voices. And in the mechanicals, it was Bottom that was unforgettable, though not necessarily for a reason you want to remember. There was, well, quite a lot of bottom.

It was over the river to the Tobacco Factory for the Two Gentlemen of Verona, thought to be Shakespeare's first play. In this comedy we meet two best friends, Valentine and Proteus, in Verona on the eve of former's departure to Milan. In love with gentle Julia, Proteus at first remains behind as Valentine heads off on his adventure. But when he too is sent off to Milan his declarations of fidelity to Julia are soon forgotten. Proteus falls for Valentine's new-found love, Silvia, and so betrays his friend in a bid to win her for himself.

The Tobacco Factory's talented troupe of actors, some of whom appear year after year in this Shakespeare series, brought out all the comedy in the text – and added some more. Despite these extra lines sweeping away some of the less palatable moments of female doormat behaviour written by the Bard, the audience is still left in a quandry. We're clearly intended to see it as a happy ending but this is only reached after Proteus has attempted to rape Silvia and, forgiving his friend for all his misdemeanours, Valentine has offered her to him. Blinded by love Proteus might have been, but it's hard to forgive him so quickly.

I can't forget, of course, the dog. Crab, played by Bristol canine Lollio, won over the audience, padding about stage, befriending the front row and displaying superb comic timing. Not bad for someone that came into the profession at the grand old age of nine (ie 63). As the theatre manager in the film Shakespeare in Love pointed out, all audiences want is 'comedy, love and a bit with a dog'.