by William Shakespeare
directed by Tim Robinson
A Midsummer's Night Dream
Probably
composed in 1595 or 1596, A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of
Shakespeare's earliest comedies, distinguished because it is his original
wedding play. Most scholars believe that Shakespeare wrote A
Midsummer Night's Dream as light entertainment for a marriage celebration,
and while the identity of the historical couple has never been conclusively
established, there is textual evidence to support this claim. Unlike
most of his work, in concocting this story Shakespeare did not rely on
existing plays, narrative poetry, historical chronicles or other primary
source materials, making it a truly original piece. Most critics agree
that if a youthful Shakespeare was not at his best in this play, he certainly
enjoyed himself in writing it.
The complex main plot of Midsummer involves two couples (Hermia &
Lysander and Helena & Demetrius) whose romantic cross-purposes are
complicated by their entrance into the fairyland wood where the King and Queen
of the Fairies (Oberon & Titania) preside and the impish Puck (Robin
Goodfellow) plies his trade. Less subplot than brilliant satirical
device, another set of characters -- Bottom the weaver and his bumptious band
of "rude mechanicals" -- stumble into the main doings when they come
into the same enchanted wood to rehearse a play loosely (and comically) based
on the myth of Pyramus and Thisbe.
A Midsummer
Night's Dream contains wonderfully lyrical expressions of lighter
Shakespearean themes, most notably those of love, dreams, and the stuff of
both -- the creative imagination itself. Indeed, close scrutiny of the
text by twentieth-century critics has led to a significant elevation of the
play's status, one that overlooks the silliness of its story and focuses on
its unique lyrical qualities. If A Midsummer Night's Dream can be
said to convey a message, it is that the creative imagination is in tune with
the supernatural world, and is best used to confer the blessings of Nature
(writ large) upon mankind and marriage
Players'
Ring