Last night I joined Peter Hall, Jeremy Paxman, Samuel West* and Melvyn Bragg (among other celebs and lots of happy civilians) in the audience at A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Rose Theatre in Kingston.

This was the opening night of a much-anticipated show, directed by Peter Hall, and starring Judi Dench as Titania, Queen of the Fairies. A winning partnership, Hall and Dench first did this show some 38 years ago.

Played on a dark, black stage with few props, this is a traditional-dress production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with lots of stars in the cast. Diana Rigg’s daughter (Rachael Stirling) plays Helena, one of the lovers, alongside sexy Ben Mansfield from Primeval. Oliver Chris gets lots of laughs as Bottom, and wears the most gorgeous, realistic donkey head we’ve ever seen in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

We asked one of the many families in the audience for their views:

Susan, mum:
I thought it was beautiful. The costumes were wonderful. I’ve never seen it done in traditional dress, and I loved it. I’ve seen it with hippies, or modern, or whatnot, but not in period like this. It’s excellent.

Joe, 12:
I really liked Oliver Chris, the guy from Green Wing, as Bottom. He was really funny.

Hannah, 15:
It was excellent. I really liked all of it, the mechanicals especially. Oberon and Puck were great too.

Peter, dad:
It was fantastic, just as Shakespeare should be done: bare stage, a few props, just the words. You could hear every word, the speaking and acting was fantastic. I’m not sure Judi Dench added much: she just wafted in, spoke beautifully, and wafted out, but it didn’t matter.

Susan:
I wasn’t sure about having the old Titania either, but she was lovely, and she speaks beautifully. It was a fantastic show.

Have you seen this new A Midsummer Night’s Dream? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

A Midsummer Night’s Dream plays at the Rose Theatre until 20 March

[*UPDATE:  as pointed out in the comments below, it was Timothy West, not his son Sam I saw in the crowd. Sam was obviously otherwise engaged, on stage, in Enron.]

Wicked has been voted the best musical of the Noughties by visitors to show-and-stay.co.uk, with Spring Awakening and Avenue Q coming in second and third. It’s nice for the Wicked team, but to be honest, I’m not convinced by any poll that has Billy Elliot at No.7 (surely top 3?), and is missing Mamma Mia, Phantom of the Opera and Les Mis.

Next up is Dirty Dancing, which is having a Valentine’s Day Charity Gala on 13 February in aid of Magic 105.4′s Cash for Kids charity. If you’re a fan, make sure you’re there for this special show.

Also this week, the Tricycle Theatre’s announced the third play in their Irish Season. Pat McCabe’s The Dead School joins Greta Garbo Came To Donegal and Chronicles of Long Kesh at the theatre this spring. The Dead School arrives at the Tricycle after a Ireland and a sell-out run at the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival in 2009, where it was nominated for three Irish Times Theatre Awards including Best Production. If you saw it, tell us about it!

But all the big news today has been about the National Theatre’s new season. And it’s got me breathless with excitement.

There’s Oscar-winner Danny Boyle directing a new take on Frankenstein, and (my personal favourite) Rupert Goold directing a new play by Mike Bartlett about global warming called Earthquakes In London. Shakespeare fans can see a £10 Hamlet with Clare Higgins and Rory Kinnear, directed by Nicholas Hytner, as well as Twelfth Night directed by Peter Hall for his 80th birthday, starring his daughter, film and stage actress Rebecca Hall, as Viola. Wow.

There’s more: I’m personally chuffed to see two shows transferring from my hometown theatres in Northampton: Eugene O’Neill’s Beyond The Horizon and Tennessee Williams’s Spring Storm from the Royal & Derngate Theatres start the new season in April.

Read the whole story of the National Theatre’s 2010 plans on the Official London Theatre website, and put the booking dates in your diaries today! It’s going to be great.