A Midsummer Night’s Dream

[osprey_archer]

In high school, I read A Midsummer Night’s Dream in British Lit. In fact, we acted part of it out, which was delightful fun. Then Mr. Jeffries let us watch the Diana Riggs film, in which Diana Riggs probably played a side role of some kind, but at the time I was deep in my Avengers phase (John Steed & Emma Peel, not the Marvel Avengers) so it was of course Diana Riggs who caught my attention.

And in 2023, I saw a delightful ballet version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. And in between… surely I’ve seen other versions over the years? I feel like I’ve seen it lots of times! I’m very familiar with the story! But I’m coming up empty on other productions.

Maybe it feels so familiar because A Midsummer Night’s Dream often shows up in children’s books, most notably Susan Cooper’s King of Shadows, where Nat plays Puck.

Anyway. The university theater department put on a production, and although college theater can be a bit of a crapshoot, I can’t turn down reasonably priced Shakespeare.

And it was fantastic! I went with my parents (the tickets were my dad’s birthday present) and we all laughed so hard. The conceit was that the play was taking place at a music festival, and the rude mechanicals were the backstage workers, so the play started with them wandering around the theater pretending to make last minute adjustments: “Does it look like that light is going to fall again?” “No, it couldn’t possibly fall a third time.”

The rude mechanicals may have been my favorite part of the show, particularly Bottom who is such a recognizable type as an extroverted clueless dude who seems vaguely stoned but is probably just Like That as a person. The rude mechanicals are putting on a play and Bottom, who has been cast as Pyramus, excitedly offers to play every single part. Meanwhile, Flute shudders to hear he’s been cast opposite Bottom as Thisbe. (Flute was played by a girl who is playing a man who is playing a girl, and as Thisbe she had the highest, twitteriest possible falsetto. I couldn’t exactly understand what she was saying but it was so funny it didn’t matter.)

But how can I say that the rude mechanicals were my favorite when the fairies were also so delightful? Oberon was played by a girl dressed like Xena, Warrior Princess, with gigantic platform stompy boots. Puck was madly in love with her, and Oberon flirted back because that’s just what Oberon does. At one point they’re literally eating popcorn as they watch the four lovers quarrel.

(And I can’t sleep on the four lovers, either! I particularly loved Helena, in hopeless love with Demetrius and taking a big swig from the wine bottle about it, but Demetrius and Lysander were also lots of fun, strutting and preening once Puck’s love-in-idleness has made them both madly in love with Helena. I had a little trouble understanding Hermia but she had the spirit.)

But, returning to the fairies, although Oberon flirts with Puck, at the end of the day she has eyes only for Titania (and Puck gazes after Oberon wistfully as Oberon goes back to her wife). And Titania’s four fairies were so much fun. Special shout-out to Cobweb, the goth fairy, who is so done with everything but ESPECIALLY so done with feeding grapes to the donkey-headed Bottom.

The program noted that, rather than having a traditional director, this play had been a collaboration between all the performers. You could especially see this in the interplay between the fairies and the rude mechanicals, both of whom have a web of relationships with each other. For instance, when Bottom returns to the rude mechanicals with his own head again, he’s hugging and fist-bumping everyone, and then he’s going in for a hug with Flute - and at the last moment they’re both like, nope, we don’t actually like each other, glad you’ve got your head back bro but not gonna hug you.

They played on a basically bare stage: a moon hanging in the background, a platform surrounded with sticks (this is where Oberon and Puck sat eating popcorn), and a bed that rolled out from under the platform for Titania’s bower. The costumes in contrast were pretty elaborate. I’ve already mentioned Xena, Warrior Princess Oberon and Cobweb the goth fairy, but there was also Bottom’s cardboard donkey head (somehow more impressive for being obviously cardboard) and the rude mechanicals’ costumes for the play within a play, including the guy who played Wall wearing two sheets, and the girl who played the moon by standing on a little stepladder and holding up a disco ball and gazing out at us with simulated petrifaction. (The play within a play was so funny I laughed till I cried.)

Just a great time all around. I wish we hadn’t gone to the last performance, because I would have loved to go see it again.

Comments

[troisoiseaux]

This sounds so fun!!!!

[osprey_archer]

Now that I've seen it, I want to see the NTAH version too! But maybe I should let a month or two elapse so I'm not comparing them too directly.

[landofnowhere]

That sounds great! I saw this play many times in my youth, but only once in the last decade, but have done a few Discord readings, and in audio format I felt like the non-play-within-a-play (play without the play?) bits were disappointing. It really is a play that sets people up to go overboard with the staging!

(Ballet Shoes has the Midsummer Night's Dream ballet, right? I'm not sure where else it comes up in childrens' lit; Enchanted Glass is extremely loose fanfiction but isn't using most of the story.)

[osprey_archer]

I was surprised how much I liked the play-within-a-play, because when we did it in class I remember finding it dull and cringeworthy. I felt the same about the Dogberry scenes in Much Ado about Nothing until I saw them done by an actor with good comic timing. Some parts of Shakespeare really are better when you see them performed!

I feel sure that I've seen A Midsummer Night's Dream elsewhere in children's lit, just as I feel sure that I've seen the play performed more times than I can recall in this post... but in both cases I can't actually remember more. But I know the play so well! It can't all be from a high school class nearly twenty years ago, can it?

[ethelmay]

It's in Puck of Pook's Hill, for one. And Ballet Shoes.

[raven]

This sounds so lovely! I've never seen Oberon played by a woman and now I'm wondering why the fuck not, that's perfect.

[osprey_archer]

This is the standard by which I will judge every future Oberon tbh. Does this Oberon measure up to Xena, Warrior Princess eating popcorn with Puck as they watch the lovers quarrel? And if not, why NOT?

[msilverstar]

Sounds splendid!

[osprey_archer]

It was super fun!

[littlerhymes]

rather than having a traditional director, this play had been a collaboration between all the performers
This is so cool, I love this idea.

I've heard the best performances are often at the end of the run, because everyone is really well practised and they know their strengths by then, but also yes what if you like it a lot! Also, previews are cheaper...

[osprey_archer]

Yes, the whole "collaboration between the performers" thing turned out well! They were all masters students in theater which I'm sure helped, although it would certainly be interesting to see what a bunch of fourth graders would come up with in similar circumstances.

[kore]

This sounds amazing!

[osprey_archer]

Yes, it was a blast!

[asakiyume]

Wow, that sounds fantastic! What a great birthday present for your dad!

[osprey_archer]

They do a Shakespeare most years so he MAY be getting Shakespeare tickets for his next birthday too.

[konstantya]

Oh, that sounds absolutely delightful! Very jealous of you getting to see it, if only the once.

I think I mentioned it before, but my high school at one point put on a 1960s' teen/beach version of the play, called Midsummer Nights. (Research indicates it was actually a musical, but sadly I don't remember any of the songs!)

[osprey_archer]

The one drawback of posting about theater is that no one else is likely to have a chance to see any performance I post about it! And vice versa with everyone else posting about theater: skygiants posted about a ballet Hamlet recently that I've been pining for ever since.

[lirazel]

Oh, this sounds delightful! I'm so glad you got to to see it!

[osprey_archer]

Yes, it was loads of fun!

[lokifan]

Susan Cooper’s King of Shadows, where Nat plays Puck.

KING OF SHADOWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I loved it so much!!!!!!

It also gave me my Puck/Oberon ship (the part where Oberon catches Puck's chin in his hand Awakened Something in young me) so I appreciate that this production had some of that too.

I'm so glad you had a great time :D What they did with the mechanicals sounds so fun!

At one point they’re literally eating popcorn as they watch the four lovers quarrel.

LOLLLLLL

For instance, when Bottom returns to the rude mechanicals with his own head again, he’s hugging and fist-bumping everyone, and then he’s going in for a hug with Flute - and at the last moment they’re both like, nope, we don’t actually like each other, glad you’ve got your head back bro but not gonna hug you.


Love this!

[osprey_archer]

King of Shadows was so formative. Classic.

Puck pining for Oberon who is definitely flirting back but emotionally is all about Titania was SO good for me in this production. Honestly the whole thing was just a thing of beauty and a joy forever. And it was so great all the little bits of business that the side characters worked in, like that thing with Bottom and Flute, or the bit with Titania's fairy handmaidens who were literally shoving each other, like, YOU go deal with the queen's weird new donkey-headed crush.

[silverusagi]

Oberon was played by a girl dressed like Xena, Warrior Princess, with gigantic platform stompy boots

Well, this sounds incredible. I do love how Shakespeare gets set and interpreted in any and every possible way.
(sorry I've had this tab open for like a month)

[osprey_archer]

Haha, no worries! I've been answering neglected comments on AO3, some of which are... over ten years old... so a comment on a merely month-old post is nothing!