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A Midsummer Night's Dream The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: Know-the-Show Guide A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare Know-the-Show Audience Guide researched and written by the Education Department of Artwork by Scott McKowen The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: Know-the-Show Guide In This Guide – The Life of William Shakespeare ............................................................................................... 2 – A Midsummer Night’s Dream: An Introduction ......................................................................... 3 – A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Synopsis ................................................................................. 4 – Who’s Who in the Play ............................................................................................................. 6 – Sources and History .................................................................................................................. 7 – Aspects of Midsummer ............................................................................................................. 8 – Midsummer Tidbits ................................................................................................................. 10 – Commentary & Criticism ........................................................................................................ 11 – Theatre in Shakespeare’s Day .................................................................................................. 12 – In this Production ................................................................................................................... 13 – Explore Online ....................................................................................................................... 14 – Sources & Further Reading ...................................................................................................... 15 – Additional Opportunties for Kids and Adults ........................................................................... 16 1 The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: Know-the-Show Guide The Life playwright. He wrote approximately 38 plays, two epic poems, and over 150 sonnets. His work was immensely popular, appealing William to members of all social spheres including Queen Elizabeth I and Shakespeare King James I. While the plays were well-liked, Shakespeare’s work was not considered by his educated contemporaries to be of exceptional. By 1608, Shakespeare’s involvement with theatre William Shakespeare, widely began to dwindle, and he spent more time at his country home in recognized as the greatest English Stratford. He died in 1616. dramatist, was born on April 23, 1564. He was the third of eight Most of Shakespeare’s plays found children born to John Shakespeare their first major publication and Mary Arden of Stratford- in 1623, seven years after upon-Avon in Warwickshire, Shakespeare’s death, when England. Shakespeare’s father was two of his fellow actors put a prominent local merchant, and the plays together in the First Shakespeare’s childhood, though Folio. Other early printings National Portrait Gallery, London little is known about it for certain, of Shakespeare’s plays were appears to have been quite normal. called quartos, a printer’s In fact, it seems that the young term referring to the format in Shakespeare was allowed considerable leisure time because his which the publication was laid writing contains extensive knowledge of hunting and hawking. out. These quartos and the First In 1582, he married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a farmer. Folio texts are the sources of all She was eight years his senior, and the match was considered modern printings of Shakespeare’s unconventional. plays. The Shakespeare Family Coat of Arms It is believed that Shakespeare left Stratford-upon-Avon and went to London around 1588. By 1592, he was a successful actor and 2 The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: Know-the-Show Guide Like in many of Shakespeare’s plays, there is a movement from chaos, conflict and danger to a restoration of harmony in the human and natural A Midsummer worlds. At the opening of the play, Hermia is given a choice between marrying a man she does not love, being put to death, or living a life Night’s Dream of chastity in a convent. Helena is desperately in love with a man who An Introduction now shuns her and has transferred his affection to Hermia, Helena’s best friend. On a more cosmic scale, the feud between Titania and Oberon Considered Shakespeare’s most successful and popular comedy, A over the custody of a human child has turned the weather topsy-turvy. Midsummer Night’s Dream has something for everyone. From the When the fairies begin to intervene in the dilemmas of the humans, this regal elegance of the Athenian court to the lowbrow antics of the already-troubled world falls further into chaos and disarray. The delusions “rude mechanicals,” from the passion-filled plights of the lovers to the of love are compounded by the illusions of magic. mischievous magic of the fairies, Midsummer is sure to please almost any audience. It is the most frequently produced of all Shakespeare’s But just as the chaos reaches its peak, Shakespeare magically resolves the plays. Some say, it is in performance somewhere in the world every day dilemmas of humans and fairies alike, and returns the world to a state of of the year. blissful, primordial harmony. As Puck puts it: Jack shall have Jill; Nought shall go ill; In creating this hilarious, silly, and sometimes deeply moving play, The man shall have his mare again, and all shall be well. Shakespeare pulled situations and ideas from many diverse sources, merging Greek myth, European folklore and his own firsthand knowledge of English country life into a tightly-woven rollercoaster ride of a play. MIDSUMMER’S EVE At the heart of the play, as in most Elizabethan comedies, are issues Midsummer Eve, the Vigil of St. John the Baptist, June 23, was of love and marriage. “Midsummer madness” was a colloquial phrase traditionally a time of magic, when spirits supposedly walked to refer to someone sick with love, and the play can be seen as a abroad and played their tricks upon mortals. It was a time for certain celebration of love’s magic (and madness) in many stages: adolescent traditional rites, such as the burning of bonfires, which go back to love, as exemplified by the two pairs of young Athenians; adult the fertility celebrations of pre-Christian Britain. By using certain love, as seen with Theseus and his captive bride-to-be, the Amazon magical charms, it was believed maidens on Midsummer Eve might have dreams of who their true loves were to be. In general, the season queen Hippolyta; and from the perspective of a long-married couple was associated with love and marriage, and it is appropriate that struggling with their less-than-perfect relationship, Oberon and Titania. Shakespeare would choose such a title for a marriage play. 3 The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: Know-the-Show Guide offers Hermia the alternate choice A Midsummer of becoming a nun. Lysander and Hermia decide to run away and to Night’s Dream marry far from Athens. Before they A Synopsis leave, they see Helena, Hermia’s best friend, and tell her of their plans. Please note: Below is a full summary of the play. If you prefer not Helena is in love with Demetrius to spoil to plot, consider skipping this section. and, in hopes of proving her loyalty to him, tells him of Hermia’s escape. A Midsummer Night’s Dream The story of may be best explained The Mechanicals flee from the As Lysander and Hermia travel by dividing it into its three basic units: the Royals and Lovers, the transformed Nick Bottom. through the woods the following night, Mechanicals, and the Fairies. Demetrius attempts to track them down with the love-sick Helena close in tow. While in the woods, fairies play tricks on the young lovers. Through THE ROYALS AND THE LOVERS: magic, Demetrius and Lysander both suddenly fall madly in love with As Theseus, the Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, Helena. This confusion leads to a quarrel, which Oberon, King of the prepare for their wedding, Egeus, a nobleman of the town, comes Fairies, stops. Oberon then has his henchman restore the relationships to before them to seek assistance their rightful state: Demetrius is in love with Helena, and Lysander is in with his disobedient daughter, love with Hermia. When they wake the next morning, the Duke overrides Hermia. Egeus wants her to marry the law, and decides to allow Lysander and Hermia to marry. Demetrius, Demetrius, but she wants to marry transformed by the evening in the woods, proclaims his renewed love Lysander. According to an ancient for Helena. They joyously return to Athens and are married alongside law of Athens, she must marry Theseus and Hippolyta. the man her father chooses or die. Theseus acknowledges that THE MECHANICALS: Egeus has the law on his side, but Several of the workers of Athens have decided to perform a play for the Theseus and Hippolyta from a Duke on his wedding day. Peter Quince, a local carpenter, gathers the sketch by Edwin Austin Abbey, five craftsmen thought best skilled to perform the play; Nick Bottom, 1893. 4 The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: Know-the-Show Guide Francis Flute, Robin Starveling, Tom Snout, and Snug. Bottom, a weaver him. Before releasing her with great aspirations
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