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Home , Peter Quince, Philostrate, Puck (opera), Titania (DC Comics)

Play: A Midsummer Night’s Author:Shakespeare

Text used: Arden Library ref:

Key: enter from within enter from without exit inwards Exit outwards act/sc door Entering door Space-time indication Commentary IN characters OUT and notes 1.1 Court scene Hippolyta Attendants Philostrate Out to town. From town, for audience. Lysander Demetrius Theseus Inwards for further conference. Hippolyta Attendants Egeus Demetrius Helena From town, looking for Demetrius. Hermia Returns home. Lysander Ditto, spaced exits stand for physical separation before wedding. Helena Following Demetrius. 1.2 Snug Arriving from outwards to Quince’s Bottom house. Flute Snout Starveling Quince Quince from inwards. Quince Quince returns inwards, others go Snug off whence they came. Bottom Flute Snout Starveling

2.1 Enter a Fairy at one door, and at Marked congestion, minimised by another. stagger. Titania in centre of grove, outwards. Puck Titania Ditto Train Oberon Ditto Train Titania TIT. If you will patiently dance in our Return to home base would seem Train round, And see our moonlight revels, logical; but if she were to go go with us; If not, shun me, and I will outwards it would solve a problem spare your haunts…, away! at end of scene. Puck Outward to find the ‘western’ flower. Demetrius Explicitly coming into the wood. Helena Demetrius Runs off further inwards to ‘hide within the brakes’. Helena She follows. 2 Puck Returns Oberon Split exit: Puck set to follow lovers, Puck Oberon in direction last taken by

Titania. 2.2 Titania Minimal congestion, no matter Train what. BX establishes new location . All but 1 fairy Inwards, one left onstage as sentinel. Not in her bower yet: at end of 3.1 they exit inwards to bower. She falls asleep ‘near to her close and consecrated bower’, in Puck’s words (3.2.7). Oberon Now arriving from outwards. Oberon Exits whence he came. Lysander Have already lost their way in the Hermia wood. Puck He too has been in the middle of the forest. Puck Returns outwards to Oberon. Helena Simultaneous mid-scene. Lost in Demetrius middle of wood. Demetrius Onwards, outwards. Helena Follows him. Lysander Follows Helena Hermia Follows Lysander 3.1 Bottom Should be a min congestion, but Quince Titania remains asleep onstage, so Snout not even really a scene break. Starveling Flute Snug Puck Returns inwards. Bottom ‘Offstage’ is inwards, in ‘brake’. Puck Follows Bottom Returns from inwards. Puck Snug Flee in fear. Flute Starveling Quince Snout

Puck Explicitly follows. Snout Returns, and Snout Exits again. Quince Ditto. Simultaneous mid-scene crossover, but Bottom onstage doing gags to cover. Quince Exits again. Fairies Re-entrance from inwards separated from previous use of inwards door as ‘offstage’ by 40 lines between Bottom and Titania who has woken. Titania TIT. Lead him to my bower. Inwards to bower. Bottom Fairies 3.2 Oberon Returns from outwards. Puck Ditto Demetrius Ditto Hermia Hermia Continues inwards. Puck Sent out around wood to find 3 Helena. Puck Returns, Lysander Followed by Lysander and Helena. Helena Hermia Now returns, oppositional pattern. Demetrius Exit inwards. Lysander Helena HEL. My legs are longer though, to run Escapes Hermia’s wrath, outwards. away. (343) Hermia HER, I am amaz’d, and know not what Inwards, just for opposition: to say.(344) rhetorical exit. Oberon Inwards, towards Titania. Lysander Puck has 4 line spacer before re- entrance of L. Doesn’t then exit as modern editor suggests: he remains on stage. Demetrius Enters following L. Puck Puck leads D off… Demetrius Puck They dodge about the stage. And returns with him once L is Demetrius asleep. Lovely SD Helena Ladies now return from whence they exited. Hermia Puck Returns outwards having sorted all. 4.1 Titania Not even a proper scene break, Bottom since 4 characters remain asleep on Fairies stage. Oberon Fairies Puck Returns from outwards Oberon OBE. We the globe can compass soon. Exit outwards Titania TIT. In our flight.(98, 100) Puck Theseus No congestion, 4 still asleep. Hippolyta Egeus Attendants Attendant THES. Uncouple in the western valley; Sent out to loose the hounds. let them go. (106) Theseus THES. Away, with us, to Athens. (183) Returning to Athens. Hippolyta Egeus Attendants Demetrius DEM. Let’s follow him. (196) Follow. Helena Lysander Hermia Bottom BOT. I will get to write a Ditto, back to Quince. ballad. (213) 4.2 Quince At Quince’s house, no sign of Flute Bottom. Snout Starveling Snug With news of Theseus’s marriage. Bottom Ditto Bottom and Off towards palace. fellows 5.1 Theseus Hippolyta Philostrate Attendants 4 Demetrius LYS. Your royal walks, your board, Seems they have been put up at the Helena your bed! (30) palace. Lysander Hermia Philostrate Sent out… Philostrate …and returns Quince …with Quince. All play-within- play entrances and exits can be from one door: possible congestions covered by spacer dialogue from onstage audience, marked below as *. Bottom * 8 line spacer. Flute Snout Starveling Snug Quince Bottom Flute Snug Starveling Bottom * 2 line spacer. Flute Bottom Flute Snout Snug * 10 line spacer. Starveling Flute Flute Snug Bottom * 3 line spacer. Starveling Moonshine exits, Pyramus dies. Flute * 6 line spacer. Quince Return to dance Bergamask, then Snug Snout Starveling Bottom and his Exit outwards. fellows Theseus THES. To bed. Inwards. Hippolyta Philostrate Attendants Demetrius Helena Lysander Hermia Puck Simultaneous mid-scene entrance and exit. Oberon Following, having entered the Titania house. Fairies Puck OBE. Now, until the break of day, Inwards. Oberon Through this house each fairy stray. Titania Fairies Puck Ditto.