On stage: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Over the centuries, audiences have delighted in the antics of Hermia, Helena, Bottom and the other fairies and mortals of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream – Puck even has his own adjective (puckish) describing anyone with his mischievous sense of humour. The work has inspired countless plays, musicals, films and ballets, and yet we still can't get enough. It seems juxtaposing relatable human emotions with an enchanted fairyland is a winning formula – and adding Mendelssohn's music makes for pure magic. The Northern Ballet's version brings the action into a post-WWII touring ballet company, with all the petty politics that entails. Creative, accessible and with moments of genuine comedy, Dream can get you through an otherwise mundane winter.

Born in Canada, Northern Ballet's artistic director, David Nixon, has been dancing his entire life. 'I was constantly asking to take lessons,' he recalls. 'My mother finally gave in when I was four.' After time with the National Ballet of Canada, Deutsche Oper Ballet and Ohio's BalletMet Columbus, he headed to the UK's Northern Ballet in 2001. The then-drifting organisation was badly in need of a rudder. But Nixon did more than elevate the company's technical skills and financial status; he eased them away from classical ballet and towards literature-based dance theatre, creating their distinct, popular, reliable identity. He even incorporated dramatic training. For Wuthering Heights he took the entire company out to wander the moors of the book, and for Madame Butterfly they worked with butoh and kabuki teachers. 'I like literature because of the complexities and characters, and the subsequent challenges,' he says. 'Dream needs strong dancing abilities and great acting skills; these are heavily detailed roles. In many respects it is more of a show than a pure ballet, and requires various styles and approaches.'

However, unlike with their previous roles, this ballet-company-playing-a-ballet-company probably needed little research. 'The hierarchy and myriad of problems in the story seemed familiar,' says Nixon. 'Setting this in a ballet company would also show the audience what a company was really like.' Designer Duncan Hayler was keen on trains, which made the post-war era a perfect fit and led to their 'unexpected' and 'untraditional' take on the well-worn classic.

Nixon has had a fondness for the story ever since he danced Oberon in Frederic Ashton's The Dream: 'The combination of romance and comedy works beautifully in dance, and choreographing two different worlds is wonderful.' Indeed, it is the dual-world design that has drawn the most accolades from international press, as the sleek black, white and chrome rehearsal studio magically transforms into a chugging train complete with steam, red lamps and sleeping compartments. Puck is the dance master, Bottom is the stage carpenter, the four lovers are the four principals, and even before they all hit fairyland, their jealousies, rivalries and egos are on display. Act two sees the now-shrunken train suspended overhead, along with two ascending and descending beds, while Titania sports giant wings and Oberon wears a headpiece representing his fleeting thoughts.

Unusually, Nixon has his dancers speak. 'We use dialogue both as part of the show and to get the dancers to inhabit their roles more intelligently,' he says. 'In rehearsals dancers create dialogues that are verbalisations of the choreography. This clarifies their understanding and stimulates their imaginations. At Northern Ballet we create real characters.' Maybe so, but Nixon doesn't forget who came first, laying a wreath of dialogue at the feet of the master. 'The very end pays tribute to Shakespeare by reading the final words of the play,' he says. It's good to pay homage where homage is due.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is at the NCPA, Thursday 23 January to Saturday 25 January.