We’re all for the avant-garde here, but this was just gross. At the Bristol Old Vic-Handspring Puppet Company’s production of the Shakespearean comedy — which drew mixed reviews across the globe, as well as from our reviewers — Bottom, the pompous workman-turned-actor who gets turned into an ass by the mischievous Puck, is taken quite literally. To signify the transformation, the actor was placed on a contraption that tilted him face-down, a tail was placed on his head, and donkey ears were affixed to his bare ass. If you know the play, you know Bottom’s a donkey for quite a while. Let’s just say the entire audience relaxed once poor Bottom was restored to his former shape.