As Nicholas Hytner’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream continues its promenade run at the Bridge Theatre this summer, comparisons to his earlier and wildly successful production of Guys & Dolls are inevitable as well as deserved. Both productions invite the audience to move with the action, immersing them in richly choreographed worlds where the staging shifts around them. But can ‘Dream’ replicate the same acclaim? Perhaps the answer lies, at least in part, beneath the audience’s feet.

Hytner’s Guys & Dolls, which wrapped its extended run earlier this year, set a new standard for immersive theatre at the Bridge. The show unfolded in 360°, with platforms rising and falling in real time and scenes playing out across a constantly reconfigured landscape, drawing audience members into the story, literally, standing shoulder to shoulder with gamblers, showgirls and street vendors.

This reimagining of the Broadway classic earned praise not just for its energy and innovative approach but for outstanding technical execution. With no overhead rigging and a fully mobile stage, the production posed a critical challenge: how to light a world that’s always on the move without breaking the illusion.

The solution came in the form of embedded, low-level lighting. This approach transformed the scenic elements into self-illuminating architectures where the lighting was integrated into trims, risers and plinths, rising and falling together with the platforms and illuminating the environment from the ground up. No visible fixtures and no overhead rigs. Just a subtle glow that moved in perfect sync with the story.

This case study, provided by Ultra LEDs, highlights how this type of ‘quieter’ lighting work became essential to the production’s immersive impact. It wasn’t there to steal the show (no pun intended); it was there to enhance and support the illusion. Embedded lighting made the space atmospheric and dynamic, all without pulling focus.

As A Midsummer Night’s Dream now picks up the mantle with its own shifting stages and walk-through format, it poses a natural question: will it also achieve the same immersive cohesion? If Guys & Dolls taught us anything, it’s that immersive theatre is as much about the unseen infrastructure as it is about the performers. Sometimes, the glow you barely notice is the thing that holds the magic together.