A Midsummer Night's Dream
A world record breaking charity event with Compass Collective
For Refugee Week Compass Collective are organising a fundraising event with artists from all across the UK. Together they will produce the most simultaneous readings and performances of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' to ever occur at the same time - will the goal of creating a world record! Fracassantes, a collective made up of Robyn Faye, Charly Faye and Emma Brunet-Campain, are creating one of the productions.
At The Bush Theatre
The production will be taking place at the iconic Bush Theatre, with rehearsal support from Fourth Monkey, SoHo Theatre and The Tabernacle Notting Hill.
The Cause
Compass Collective assists young refugees and asylum seekers to build resilience and
integrate into the UK. They offer a crucial source of support and community for vulnerable young people at risk of extreme isolation. They deliver a variety of programmes to help these young people to improve their communication and transferable life skills, build confidence, and move towards future opportunities in further education/training/employment. They support approximately 350 young people aged 18-26 from over 28 locations in the UK each year. The majority of young people that Compass Collective supports are in the early stages of immigration processing, and 70% are unaccompanied minors. Compass Collective was founded in 2018 and became a registered charity in 2021.
They are youth led, with a thriving, dynamic Youth Board, Youth Leader opportunities, and paid Youth Ambassadors embedded into every programme.
For Refugee Week last year, they ran a 24-hour Shakespeare marathon that raised more than £20,000, of which Robyn and her producer Charly Faye had the privilege to be a part of. This year, they want to beat that target!
If you would like to make a donation our GoFundMe page can be found here! Every little helps, and we appreciate all donations no matter how small.
The Vision
In the words of the creators
We would like to experiment with an all-female (including trans and non-binary) production. So much comfort can be drawn from community, and we want to draw inspiration from the community we know best. We have had the opportunity to work with many fantastic female artists and know the power and influence women can hold. Moreover, of the over 100 million people that have been forced into displacement, the majority are women and girls. Women are often the first responders when crisis hits yet their voices are often left out of policies that are supposed to protect them. In addition to poverty and other issues that all refugees may face, female refugees face an added layer of oppression from gender discrimination. And yet, despite everything that makes being a woman, or underrepresented gender, difficult, there is something beautifully unique and magical about “girlhood” - even when this is something that is discovered as an adult. We want to capture that magic in our production and place that joy on stage.
Visually, this will be represented by a recurring prop: fabric. Fabric has a history of being made by women’s hands, from people of all backgrounds and countries. We open with a pillow fort created by draping of white fabric
- starting our magic in the same place that inspired our own hopes and dreams, our childhood bedrooms. As we move through our play this fabric will morph into many things: a backdrop for shadow puppetry, a cloak to conceal a character, a stump in the ground as we explore the forest and eventually a veil for a wedding. Transformation is of course one of the many themes Shakespeare touches on in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and alongside the mischief and magic this is definitely something we want to play with. Always in motion, the fabric is an additional character to our story, but it is always moved by the hands of the storytellers.
“Here at Compass Collective we organised a 24 Hour Shakespeare Marathon as a
fundraiser last June, led by our trustee Toby Jones. We had no idea what to expect or how it would go but thanks to the brilliance, generosity and stamina of the actors involved, it was a joy and a triumph (and raised more than £20,000). Robyn and Charly were central to the success of the event - throwing themselves into performing, supporting others and being all round stalwarts of a 24-hour acting community. We're so grateful to them and really excited about their involvement in our next challenge.”
Compass Collective
Created By
Robyn has held an incredibly deep love for the works of Shakespeare ever since her studies introduced her to them. Originally studying at UCA, she completed her BA (HONS) in acting and performance under the teachings of Simon Money (voice department at the National Theatre; Voice Tutor at Guildhall). It was here she developed not only her passion for classical text, but also the importance of voice and physicality in her creative practice. She later went on to gain a Masters in Classical and Contemporary Text at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. It was here she completed a residency at The Globe, which included playing Juliet in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. She was deeply inspired by all the Shakespearean practitioners she met during her time here. Since graduating Robyn has been working hard to develop her creative practice. She has discovered a love for making her own work as a director and has since developed the self-written play 'Naked Truths', which was performed at The Farnham Maltings. She has also collaborated with the award-winning theatre company Les Enfants Terribles (alongside Charly and Emma) to create the immersive experience 'The Prism'. Her first film, the short 'Scrub Me, Daddy', made the top 25 selection for Straight 8 2024 and premiered at the BFI IMAX. She has since written and directed two more shorts: 'Magic 8' which was supported by Kodak and Digital Orchard, and 'Immodest' which premiered at Cannes Film Festival. Some of her theatre credits as an actress include playing Helena in 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream', Urswick in an adaption of 'Perkin Warbeck', and Sarah in the new play 'Spit It Out'.
Robyn Faye
Charly Faye
Similarly, Charly discovered her love for classical text at UCA, performing in a production of 'Measure for Measure' in the role of Isabella during her first year. This passion sparked a love not just for Shakespeare, but also an interest in experimentation with his words. For her dissertation performance she created an adaptation of Hamlet which she titled 'Ophelia' and reworked the original text to show the story from a different perspective. Charly then chose to do her MA in Acting at East 15, with a particular focus on voice and performing in outside spaces. It was also here she further developed her love for creating as well as performing, with a particular interest in female led stories. Her final piece 'A Room Of Her Own' explored female connection and the specific societal pressures that are placed on women. Since graduating she has continued to develop her work as an actor and creator, often collaborating with Robyn. Together they have explored a number of classical productions including 'Shakesqueer' (a showcasing of queer adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays) at the Indie Summer Festival in London, and also co-writing 'The Prism' for the award winning theatre company Les Enfants Terribles. Separately she has been developing her first full length play 'Going To Graceland' with support from your writer’s group, and also freelances as a writer for a number of LGBTQIA+ publications including Gay Times and DIVA. In her spare time she also volunteers for the LGBTQIA+ charity Just Like Us, often giving school talks. Some of her theatre credits as an actor include playing Tybalt in 'Romeo and Juliet', Rona in 'Tiny Babies' and Louise Kevin in 'The Purple Turtle: An Absurdist Melodrama'.
Emma’s intriguing relationship with Shakespeare’s work started with her performance of Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing) at UCA. His work felt as if climbing Mount Everest with stiletto shoes and a suitcase on wheels. Impossible! Emma’s first language being French, learning Shakespeare felt like learning English all over again. What a ride! She cannot wait to take on the bull by the horns again for 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream'.
After graduating from a BA (Hons) at UCA, She went onto writing. Amongst her projects is 'Flying Duo', a short film coming out this very year. As well as films, Emma has written her first play 'Good Egg' which is currently in the early stages of development. Exploring the female perspective is incredibly important to Emma, and a lot of her writing touches on the female experience and the strength that can come from friendships between women. Emma has also collaborated on many projects alongside Charly and Robyn Faye. Such as','he Prism' in collaboration with the theatre company Les Enfants Terribles; 'Scrub Me, Daddy' a short film written and directed by Robyn Faye starring Emma that has made top 25 for Straight 8.; and most recently 'Immodest', once again for Straight 8 but this time in their top 8 films premiering at Cannes Film Festival and the BFI IMAX this May.
Emma
Brunet-Campain
Lizzie Lister
Lizzie is an actress, singer and writer based in London. Lizzie is passionate about the literary classics - particularly when adapting iconic texts through a contemporary lens. She flourished in her MA under the teachings of Emma Gersch (previous Head of Acting at RCSSD, Director & Higher Education Faculty Member at The Globe), whom she still collaborates with today.
Lizzie is the lyricist, book writer and co-composer of ‘Wuthering Heights - The Musical’, which fuses classical and contemporary worlds through its score, language and design. The show is currently in the late stages of development, and Lizzie also starred as Cathy Earnshaw in both of the musical’s workshops. She was recently a dramaturg for new Korean-British musical ‘Housemates’, which had its UK premiere at the Camden Fringe Festival 2024. Lizzie was also part of the development of an all-female production of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’; she played Nina (The Nurse) in ‘Shakesqueer: Rosalie and Juliet’ at the Etcetera Theatre, Camden across 2023.
Since graduating, her other credits include: Players’ Theatre’s ‘New Faces’ Music Hall concert at the CAA Covent Garden, ‘Iolanthe’ and ‘Patience’ at the Harrogate Royal Hall, ‘RENT’ at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the ‘Unheard’ concert at the Arts Theatre and the 25th Anniversary of ‘Les Misérables’ at the 02 Arena. Lizzie is also a recording artist for film/TV sync, having had songs featured in ‘Cable Girls’ (Netflix) and ‘The Marked Heart’ (Netflix).Lizzie was thrilled to recently play Sister Maria in ‘Immodest’ (Straight 8 Top 8 2025, Cannes Film Festival & BFI IMAX).