'There shall the pairs of faithful lovers be wedded' by Tom Hunter

On Friday 4 November, LCC photography alumnus and Research Fellow Tom Hunter, will open a new photographic exhibition at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).

Inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the paintings of Romantic artist Henry Fuseli, Hunter has distilled the play into a series of nine images which weave together contemporary city life with that of the celebrated tale of love and illusion.

'There sleeps Titania sometime of the night' by Tom Hunter

His contemporary reworking of the play is set in Hackney where the artist lives and works, and features local people and communities including samba dancers, pearly kings and queens, a thrash metal band and a pole dancer.

'And I serve the Fairy Queen to few her orbs upon the green' by Tom Hunter

“All these people are involved in their own performances. They live in parallel worlds, which rarely overlap. I really love the way Shakespeare has mixed everybody up… As our society gets more complicated, it gets more disconnected,” says Hunter.

Tom Hunter: A Midsummer Night’s Dream runs from 4 November – 1 April 2012 at the PACCAR Room, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon