A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of William Shakespeare's most beloved comedies. It portrays events surrounding the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, and... More > the adventures of four young Athenian actors, the couples Hermia and Lysander, and Helena and Demetrius. The couples get lost in the woods, but not just any woods: the romantic interplay is turned up when they enter faerie land, over which Oberon and Titania, the King and Queen of the Fairies, reign. We find unforgettable characters like the mischievous Puck, who gets a little liberal with the Fairy Spanish Fly. While most of Shakespeare's plays relied heavily on existing history, myths, or narrative poetry, A Midsummer Night's Dream was conjured out of the ether. It isn't his absolute best work according to scholars, being complex sometimes to the point of confusion, but it is a brilliant feat of light comedy. The myriad characters and plot twists which abound make this play one that should certainly be viewed....< Less
It is not known exactly when A Midsummer Night's Dream was written or first performed, but it is assumed to be between 1594 and 1596. Some have theorized that the play might have been written for... More > performance at the wedding of Sir Thomas Berkeley and Elizabeth Carey, in February, 1596.
There is no known source for the plot of A Midsummer Night's Dream, although individual elements can be traced to classical literature; for example, the story of Pyramus and Thisbe is told in Ovid's Metamorphoses and the transformation of Bottom into an ass is descended from Apuleius' The Golden Ass; Shakespeare would have studied both texts at school. In addition, Shakespeare would have been working on Romeo and Juliet at about the same time that he wrote the Dream, and it is possible to see Pyramus and Thisbe as a comic reworking of the tragic play.< Less
Magic, fairies, young lovers chasing each other through a forest, a man with a donkey’s head, and impish Puck wreaking havoc right and left. What’s going on here? It’s A Midsummer... More > Night’s Dream, Shakespeare at his most fanciful. The play opens with Theseus, Duke of Athens, preparing for his wedding. Egeus complains to Theseus that his daughter Hermia refuses to marry Demetrius…< Less
The main plot of The Dream is a farce that involves two sets of Athenian couples (Hermia & Lysander and Helena & Demetrius) whose romantic schemings are brought to a head when entering the... More > forest where Oberon, the King of the Fairies and his Queen, Titania are resident. Puck is a major character who is full of mischief and tricks. Other visitors to the enchanted forest include Bottom the weaver and his friends Snug, Snout, Quince and Flute who want to rehearse their dire but hilarious rendering of the play for wedding climax. Geof Walker, retired headteacher, produced Shakespeare comedies at his school to great effect and decided to turn the success into scripts available for others. Here is the recently revised script of The Dream.< Less
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