A Midsummer Night's Dream

Cast resources

Open air performances at Berkshire College of Agriculture [map], Maidenhead

Tues 22nd - Fri 25th July 2008, 7.45pm

Dear all,

A Midsummer Night’s Dream [Script]

[rehearsal schedule]
cast [per scene]

Thanks

Tricia

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare written sometime in the 1590s. It portrays the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of amateur actors, their interactions with the Duke and Duchess of Athens, Theseus and Hippolyta, and with fairies who inhabit a moonlit forest. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is widely performed across the world.

This is one of Shakespeare’s earlier comedies but, unlike the others which were derived from other primary source materials, this is a truly original piece.

The play’s main plot involves two sets of couples whose romantic cross-purposes are complicated even further by their entry into the fairyland woods where the Fairy King and Queen preside. In a brilliant satirical device, another set of characters - Bottom the weaver and his “rude mechanicals”- are introduced. They have entered the same enchanted woods to rehearse a home-spun play which leads to hilarious results.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream contains wonderfully lyrical expressions of lighter Shakespearean themes, notably love, dreams and the creative imagination itself. A truly ideal entertainment for a summer’s evening in a sylvan setting.

Ticket prices: £11, £9 concessions

Telephone the Box Office on 01628 635017
or email boxoffice@maidenhead-drama.co.uk