Download William Shakespeare

a guide to
Aquila Theatre’s
production of the play by
William Shakespeare
Probably composed in 1595 or 1596, A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare’s earliest
comedies and the Bard's original wedding play. Most scholars believe that Shakespeare wrote A
Midsummer Night's Dream as a light entertainment to accompany a marriage celebration; and
while the identity of the historical couple for whom it was meant has never been conclusively
established, there is good textual and background evidence available to support this claim.
At the
same time, unlike the vast majority of his works (including all of his comedies), in concocting this
story Shakespeare did not rely directly upon existing plays, narrative poetry, historical chronicles
or any 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 main plot of Midsummer is a complex contraption that involves two sets of couples (Hermia
and Lysander, and Helena and Demetrius) whose romantic cross-purposes are complicated still
further by their entrance into the play's fairyland woods where the King and Queen of the Fairies
(Oberon and Titania) preside and the impish folk character of Puck (also known as Robin
Goodfellow) plies his trade. Less subplot than a brilliant satirical device, another set of
characters—Bottom the weaver and his bumptious band of "rude mechanicals"—stumble into
the main doings when they go into the same enchanted woods to rehearse a play that is very
loosely (and comically) based on the myth of Pyramus and Thisbe, their hilarious home-spun
piece taking up Act V of Shakespeare's comedy.
A Midsummer Night's Dream contains some 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 upward revision in the play's status, one that overlooks the silliness of its story and
concentrates upon 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.
SYNOPSIS
Theseus (the Duke of Athens) announces
he will marry Hippolyta, the queen of the
Amazons in four days. He hears Egeus'
complaint that his daughter Hermia refuses
to marry his chosen suitor, Demetrius,
since she's in love with Lysander, whom
Egeus dislikes. Theseus declares Hermia
must marry Demetrius, or choose between
death and joining a nunnery. Lysander
instructs Hermia to flee to the forest with
him, so that they can travel to his aunt's
house
to
marry.
Hermia's friend, Helena, the scorned lover of Demetrius learns of this and decides to inform him of the plan in a
bid to win him back. Demetrius, however, loves Hermia. Meanwhile, Quince, Bottom, Flute, Starveling, Snug,
and Snout organize a play to be performed at Theseus' wedding.
In the forest, Oberon (the King of the Fairies) argues with Titania (the Fairy Queen) that he should have her
orphan child as his page. Titania objects, asserting she is queen. They bicker that Oberon loves Hippolyta and
Titania loves Theseus. To procure the boy, Oberon orders the fairy Puck to obtain a flower from Cupid that
causes one to fall in love with the first being seen upon waking. Oberon plans to give it to Titania, to distract her
with false love while he snatches the boy. When Demetrius and Helena appear, Oberon also instructs Puck to
anoint Demetrius with the flower so he'll love Helena rather than Hermia. Oberon then anoints Titania with the
flower. In the forest, Lysander and Hermia lie down to rest. Puck, thinking Lysander is Demetrius, anoints him
with the flower as well. Helena appears and awakes Lysander, who immediately falls in love with her.
In the forest, the troupe of players discusses the
logistics of their play. Puck appears and
transforms Bottom’s head into that of an ass
(donkey). The actors flee, but Titania awakes
and falls in love with Bottom and orders her
fairy servants to attend to him. Puck observes
that Demetrius chases Hermia, yet she accuses
him of murdering Lysander, and realizes he
gave the flower to the wrong man. Oberon tries
to remedy this by anointing Lysander with the
flower so he'll fall in love with Helena, and he
does. However, now both men love Helena,
while she believes both are false. Hermia
arrives and Helena accuses her of conspiring
with the men to tease her.
Oberon, realizing Puck has caused these problems, orders him to make a thick fog to separate the four people and
force them into a deep sleep, so the spell can wear off. He then awakes Titania and transforms Bottom back to a
human. Oberon and Titania then make up and love each other again. In the woods, Theseus, Hippolyta, and Egeus
appear and awake the four. Demetrius and Lysander inform the men of their love for Helena and Hermia
(respectively). The lords agree to let them marry. Separately, Bottom awakes and remembers the night's occurrences.
At dinner, they all hear Quince's ten word, tedious, brief, tragical play. In it, Thisby (played by Flute) and Pyramus
(played
by Bottom) whisper their love through a chink in a wall (played by Snout). They vow to meet at Ninny's
tomb, but a lion (played by Snug) attacks Thisby. Pyramus arrives and finds her scarf, assumes she's dead, and kills
himself Thisby arrives to find him dead, and kills herself. After the play, at midnight, all go to bed, then the fairies
appear and frolic.
Cast of Characters
the court
Theseus duke of Athens, engaged to Hippolyta
Hippolyta
warrior queen of the Amazons
Philostrate master of revels at Theseus’ court
Egeus father of Hermia
the lovers
Hermia daughter of Egeus, loves Lysander
Lysander
in love with Hermia
Demetrius in love with Hermia
Helena in love with Demetrius
the fairy kingdom
Oberon king of the fairies
Titania queen of the fairies
Puck (Robin Goodfellow) Oberon’s servant
Peas-blossom
fairy
Cobweb
fairy Moth
fairy Mustard-Seed
fairy
the mechanicals
Peter Quince
carpenter, manager of the acting
company
Nick Bottom a weaver
Francis Flute
a bellows mender
Tom Snout a tinker
Snug a joiner
Robin Straveling a tailor
____characters in the interlude
Pyramus
Thisbe
Wall
Moonshine
Lion
Did You Know...?
Rock guitarist Steve Hackett
of Genesis produced a
classical adaptation of the play
in 1997.
Felix Mendelssohn initially
wrote the infamous Wedding
March for an 1843 Prussian
production of Midsummer in
Potsdam.
Two moons of Uranus
discovered in 1787 are named
Oberon and Titania after the
Fairy King and Queen in the
play.
Have people always enjoyed A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the same reasons?
How have critics from different eras reacted to the play? Here is a sampler box of
diverse responses from the seventeenth century to today.
a timeline of critical responses
1677
1662
The most insipid
ridiculous play that
I ever saw in my life.
Samuel Pepys
Poets may be allow’d
the…liberty, for
describing things
which…exist not, if
they are founded on
popular belief: thus
Midsummer Night’s
Dream is to be
defended.
1710
John Dryden
[A Midsummer Night’s
Dream] can never bear
the Test of the Rules.
The time is by Theseus...
fixt to at least four Days…
But it does not appear that
there is any more time
spent in the Action than
one Day and one Night,
and a piece of a Day, and a
part of one Night.
William Gildon
1770
1817
[Shakespeare’s genius]
never appears with so
much strength…as when
he bursts into the ideal
world and presents to our
view the characters and
offices of supernatural
beings…
All that is the finest in
the play is lost in the
representation. The
ideal can have no place
upon the stage. Where
all is left to the
imagination (as is the
case in reading) every
circumstance…has an
equal chance of being
kept in mind…The
boards of a theatre and
the regions of fancy are
not the same thing.
William Duff
William Hazlitt
1951
1904
The greatest of
Shakespeare’s…plays…
The amazing symmetry…
The events in the
wandering wood…are not
merely melancholy but
bitterly cruel and
ignominious.
…[One of] the lightest
and…most purely
playful of Shakespeare’s
plays…[The] world of
sense…is but the surface
of a vaster unseen world
in which the actions of
men are unaffected or
overruled.
G.K. Chesterton
Howard Goddard
Chesterton, G.K. The Common Man. New
York: Sheed and Ward, 1950.
Copyright © Sheed and Ward.
Reprinted by permission.
Goddard, Howard C. The Meaning of
Shakespeare, Vol. II. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1960.
Copyright © University of Chicago.
Reprinted by permission.
1964
1971
The dream is the most
erotic of Shakespeare’s
plays. In no other
tragedy, or comedy…is
the eroticism expressed
so brutally.
Jan Kott
1998
…[The] borders
between dream, drama,
and waking reality
deliquesce…Nothing
has a definite, invariable,
statis shape…Oberon
and Puck are analogous
not only to playwright
and players but to the
audience as well.
Shakespeare visualized
an ideal summer…
Bottom is amiably
innocent, and not very
bawdy. [He is] gentle,
mild, good natured…
Unfortunately, every
production of [the play]
that I have been able
to attend has been a
brutal disaster…
James Calderwood
Harold Bloom
2003
Timely and pleasing…
this ‘Dream’ soothes
the eye and tickles the
funny bone.
New York Times critic
Lawrence van gelder
praises Aquila Theatre’s production
Kott, Jan. Shakespeare Our Contemporary.
Trans. Boleslae Taborski. New York:
W. W. Norton & Company, 1966.
Copyright © Doubleday & Company,
Inc. Reprinted by permission.
Calderwood, James. L. “A Midsummer
Night’s Dream: Art’s Illusory Sacrifice.”
From Shakespearean Metadrama by
Calderwood. Minneapolis: University
of Minnesota Press, 1971. Copyright
© University of Minnesota.
Bloom, Harold. Shakespeare: The Invention
of the Human. New York: Riverhead
Books, 1998. Copyright © Harold
Bloom. Reprinted by permission.
Up until the early 20th century, Dream was
notorious for elaborate over-the-top staging
featuring enormous casts. In 1914, Harley
Granville-Barker removed both the music
of Felix Mendelssohn, opting for Elizabethan
folk music instead, as well as the huge casts.
Complex sets were replaced with a simple system
of patterned curtains, while the fairies were
originally portrayed as golden robotic insectoid
creatures based on Cambodian idols. This
simplicity and emphasis on directorial
imagination (save for the robotic insects) have
dominated subsequent stagings of Dream.
Modern
Midsummer
After he fled Germany, Max Reinhardt
staged a spectacular outdoor version of
Midsummer at the Hollywood Bowl in 1934. The
shell of the theatre was replaced by a “forest”
planted in tons of dirt hauled in especially for
the event, and a trestle was constructed from
the flanking hills to the stage. The cast featured
Mickey Rooney and Olivia de Havilland while
the dance corps included Katherine Dunham
and Butterfly McQueen with the music of
Mendelssohn. Warner Brothers even signed
Reinhardt to direct a filmed version, which was
Hollywood’s first Shakespeare event since the
Taming of the Shrew in 1929.
In 1970, Peter Brook created a landmark
production of Midsummer with the Royal
Shakespeare Company. Brook staged the play in
a blank white box in which masculine fairies
engaged in a variety of circus tricks, and he also
introduced the subsequently popular idea of
doubling Theseus/Oberon and
Hippolyta/Titania, suggesting that the world of
the fairies mirrors that of the mortals. Brook’s
production has inspired directors to allow their
imaginations to run wild, between the repressive
setting of the human palace and the
unrestrained, sexual and terrifying wood.
Brook’s Midsummer has become something of a
Holy Grail in Shakespeare production study as it
was enormously innovative, changing Midsummer
staging forever, and is now nearly impossible to
find (the staging was never filmed in its entirety).
a Shakespeare timeline
1564.
Born in Stratford-upon-Avon,
England, the eldest son of John
and Mary Arden Shakespeare.
1578.
Completes seven years of
education at local grammar
school.
1582.
Marries Anne Hathaway.
1583.
Daughter Susanna born.
1585.
Twins Hamnet, and Judith are
born.
1592.
Moves to London. Writes Henry
VI - Part I, his first play.
1595.
The Lord Chamberlain’s Men,
his acting company, has great
artistic and financial success.
1596.
Hamnet dies at age 11.
1597.
Buys New Place, the grandest
house in Stratford.
1599.
The open-air Globe Theater, the
home of many Shakespeare’s
plays, opens in London.
1600. As You Like It is written.
1603.
Queen Elizabeth I dies. King
James I is crowned. The
Chamberlain’s Men becomes
The King’s Men, playing about
12 performances each year at
court.
1609.
The King’s Men begin
performing indoors at Blackfriars
Theater.
1610.
Retires and moves to Stratford.
1613. Henry VIII, his final play, is
written.
1616.
Dies in Stratford.
William Shakespeare is considered one of
the greatest writers of all time and the greatest of all
English dramatists. Scholars and readers alike have
marveled that one man could have such a
comprehensive understanding of the human
psyche. He understood lovers, tyrants, kings and
queens, servants, clowns, the lucky, the jealous, and
the powerful. He wrote 38 plays, including
tragedies, comedies, romances, and histories in
addition to 154 sonnets and other poetry. He
created a pantheon of unforgettable, timeless and
complex characters.
Shakespeare set his plays all over the world. Yet, it
appears that he never traveled out of his native
England nor had a terribly eventful life. He culled
and conjured his characters, his plots and his
settings in part from books and his great fund of
general information but most of all from his
inspired imagination.
Often, genius goes hand in hand with a colorful,
and sometimes tortured life. However, it appears
from the few remaining relevant documents that
this giant among dramatists lived a rather prosaic,
undramatic life. Shakespeare did not possess a vivid
personality: his friends found him genteel, even selfeffacing. He was also extremely practical, a sober
man of business. Perhaps his genius had not had
time to waste in the real world, so William
Shakespeare put all his passion and drama into his
work, both as an actor and a playwright. The
Romantic poet and critic Samuel Coleridge called
him “myriad-minded.” He had a gift of insight
unsurpassed and the ability to get inside the hearts
and minds of all manner of men and women.
Although Shakespeare's plays were performed at other
venues during the playwright's career, the Globe Theatre in
the Southwark district of London was the venue at which
the Bard's best-known stage works were first produced. The
Globe was built during Shakespeare's early period in 1599
by one of his long-standing associates, Cuthbert Burbage.
The original Theatre stood until June 29, 1613, when its
thatched roof was set ablaze by a cannon fired in a
performance of Henry VIII and the Globe burned to the
ground. The Globe was reconstructed in 1614, with tiles
replacing flammable straw on its partial roof. In 1642,
however, a quarter-century after Shakespeare's death, a
new, Puritanical and decidedly anti-theater regime assumed
power in England and closed down all of the country's
theaters. Two years later, the site was leveled to make room
for tenement housing.
Shakespearean Theatre
We have the names of 26 “Principal Actors” of Shakespeare’s
company at the Globe, including Richard Burbage, brother to
Cuthbert, who was the foremost tragedian of the Elizabethan stage.
His roles included Hamlet, Lear, Othello, and Richard the III.
Prior to the Globe’s opening in 1599, Will Kemp was the leading
comic actor of the Chamberlain’s Men. He played the servant Peter
in Romeo & Juliet, (probably) Bottom in Midsummer and (possibly)
Falstaff in the Henry IV plays. Later, Robert Armin joined the
Chamberlain’s Men and became legendary through his wordplay in
the roles of Touchstone in As You Like It, Feste in Twelfth Night and
the Fool in King Lear.
Shakespeare’s name also appears in cast
lists, and although there is no indication
of the roles that he played, tradition
ascribes him two parts: the Ghost of
Hamlet’s Father and Adam, the loyal,
aged servant in As You Like It. It seems
that Shakespeare’s acting was
subordinate to his work as a both a
playwright and producer.
…rich
and poor alike rubbed elbows in this “microcosm or little world of
man”
…capacity between 2000 and 3000 spectators
…most performances happened during the day because there was no
artificial lighting
…actors had to shout their lines because the stage was “open-air”
…no background scenery, although costumes and props were utilized
…no curtains and no stagehands besides the actors themselves
…surrounded by a pit where “one-penny” spectators stood and a gallery
with seating for “two-penny” goers
…adjacent “tiring” house where costume changes were made
Shakespearean Vocabulary
changeling a child exchanged for another by the fairies
cheek by jowl side by side
con to memorize or to learn by heart
a dear expense worth the trouble
Fates the three sisters Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos who spin
and snip the threads of human life
favors tokens of love
Furies the fierce, vengeful goddesses of Greek
mythology
give me your hands applaud!
gleek to jest or to scoff
hempen homespuns clothes made from
rough hemp fabric, worn by the Mechanicals
lingers postpones
lob country bumpkin
lodestars guiding stars
make all split to cause a stir or bring the house down
moused torn or bitten
Phoebe a Greek goddess believed to be the moon
puppet Helen is calling Hermia a short and dwarfish woman
spotted morally deficient or sinful
tear a cat to rant
translated transformed or changed
turns to a crow seems black by comparison
waggish playful or mischievous
wanting lacking
wood mad
your wrongs do set a scandal on my sex your actions do cause me to behave in an
unladylike manner
Activities and Discussion Questions
Discuss what you know about A Midsummer Night’s Dream. What do you think it’s about?
The play is one of Shakespeare’s comedies – what makes it a comedy? How is it like other
Shakespearean comedies? Do you like Shakespeare? Why or why not?
Before seeing the play, have students brainstorm a list of the types of characters, situations,
emotions, themes, locations and images they think might be included in a play called “A
Midsummer Night’s Dream.” What are some other possible titles for the play? Why do
they think Shakespeare chose the title he did? Have the students adjust the list as they read
the play, or after they have seen the production.
“The course of true love never did run smooth,” Lysander laments in the opening act of
Midsummer. He’s not the only one who finds that love can be difficult, even painful at
times. Can you think of examples, either from your own life or other stories, of a difficult or
frustrating experience with love?
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is believed to have been written between 1594 and 1596.
What was going on in England during this time? Around the world? Create a timeline of
major events and important figures and discuss how they might have influenced
Shakespeare’s writing.
Though Shakespeare lived and wrote in Elizabethan England, several of his plays—including
A Midsummer Night’s Dream—are set in ancient Greece and Rome. Why do you think he
chose these settings for so many of his stories? What about the cultures and time periods
might have inspired him? Cite specific examples in Midsummer of ancient Greek
references.
Choose two love relationships in the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream to compare and
contrast. How do these relationships change throughout the play? What is Shakespeare
trying to communicate through these characters? Why do you think he included them in his
play? Use text from the play to support your argument.
Write a review of Aquila’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Describe what it was like to watch
the play, but be sure to write about more than just the story told by the play. Think about
how the play tells its story. Make the experience of watching the play come alive for your
reader by writing about several of the play’s elements, including costumes, lights, props, and
music, as well as how the actors performed in their roles. Let the audience decide for
themselves if the play is worth seeing.
Lover Diagram: Confused by all of the love relationships in this play and how they change?
Map it out! Create a diagram of the four lovers (Hermia, Helena, Lysander and Demetrius)
as well as Oberon, Titania and Bottom. Using pictures and arrows, map out who loves
whom at the beginning of the play, in the middle (following Puck’s mischief) and at the end.
Aquila has performed Shakespeare in over
47 states, including off-Broadway in New
York City and at international festivals.
Shakespeare by
Aquila
The Aquila Theatre Company was founded in
London in 1991 by Peter Meineck and has
been based in New York City since 1999.
Aquila presents a regular season of plays in
New York, at international festivals and tours to
approximately seventy American towns and
cities a year. The name “Aquila” means
“eagle” in Latin.
Aquila has a very particular mission to make
classical theatre accessible and relevant to
everyone. Peter Meineck manages to
modernize plays while keeping true to the spirit
of the original text. Encounters with works of
art can change people, causing them to view
the artwork and the world in a new way. In
addition, artworks do not immediately reveal all
that is there to be seen. Perception of artworks
can be compared to peeling the layers of an
onion – they can be seen on many levels and
from many perspectives.
As You Like It
2009-2010
Twelfth Night
2005
Comedy of Errors
2008-2009
Othello
2004
Julius Caesar
2007-2008
A Midsummer Night’s
Dream
2003
Romeo & Juliet
2006-2007
Much Ado About
Nothing
2006
Hamlet
2005-2006
The Tempest
2001-2002
King Lear
1999-2000
Macbeth
1996
The White House
The Supreme Court
Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington DC
La Jolla Playhouse
Shakespeare Festival/LA
NYU Skirball Center
Lucille Lortel Theatre
Baruch Performing Arts Center
New Victory Theater
East 13th Street Theatre
Clurman Theatre, Theatre Row
45 Bleecker
Manhattan Ensemble Theatre
Clark Studio Theatre at Lincoln Center
Shakespeare Festival in Globe Neuss, Germany
Edinburgh Festival, UK
Festival of the Aegean, Greece
The Bermuda Festival
Shakespeare Fesztival, Gyula, Hungary
Shakespeare Festival in Gdansk, Poland
The aquila theatre company
4 washington sq. north, #452
new york, ny 10003
Telephone – 212-992-9642
Fax – 212-995-4352
Email – [email protected]
Website - http://www.aquilatheatre.com