20th and 21st centuries A Midsummer Night's Dream

vince cardinale puck carmel shakespeare festival production of midsummer night s dream, september 2000



performance saratov puppet theatre teremok midsummer night s dream based on play william shakespeare (2007)

herbert beerbohm tree staged 1911 production live rabbits.

max reinhardt staged midsummer night s dream thirteen times between 1905 , 1934, introducing revolving set. after fled germany devised more spectacular outdoor version @ hollywood bowl, in september 1934. shell removed , replaced forest planted in tons of dirt hauled in event, , trestle constructed hills stage. wedding procession inserted between acts iv , v crossed trestle torches down hillside. cast included james cagney, olivia de havilland, mickey rooney , victor jory, , corps of dancers included katherine dunham , butterfly mcqueen, mendelssohn s music.

on strength of production, warner brothers signed reinhardt direct filmed version, hollywood s first shakespeare movie since douglas fairbanks sr. , mary pickford s taming of shrew in 1929. rooney (puck) , de havilland (hermia , zara) holdovers hollywood bowl cast. james cagney starred, in shakespearean role, bottom. other actors in film played shakespearean roles once included joe e. brown , dick powell. erich wolfgang korngold brought austria arrange mendelssohn s music film. not used midsummer night s dream music several other pieces mendelssohn. korngold went on make hollywood career, remaining in after nazi germany annexed austria.

director harley granville-barker introduced in 1914 less spectacular way of staging dream: reduced size of cast , used elizabethan folk music instead of mendelssohn. replaced large, complex sets simple system of patterned curtains. portrayed fairies golden robotic insectoid creatures based on cambodian idols. simpler, sparer staging influenced subsequent productions.

in 1970, peter brook staged play royal shakespeare company in blank white box, in masculine fairies engaged in circus tricks such trapeze artistry. brook introduced subsequently popular idea of doubling theseus/oberon , hippolyta/titania, if suggest world of fairies mirror version of world of mortals. british actors played various roles in brook s production included patrick stewart, ben kingsley, john kane (puck) , frances de la tour (helena). since brook s production, directors have used imaginations freely in staging play. in particular, there has been increased use of sexuality on stage, many directors see palace symbol of restraint , repression, while wood symbol of unrestrained sexuality, both liberating , terrifying.

a midsummer night s dream has been produced many times in new york, including several stagings new york shakespeare festival @ delacorte theatre in central park , production theatre new audience, produced joseph papp @ public theater. in 1978, riverside shakespeare company staged outdoor production starring eric hoffmann puck, karen hurley titania , eric conger oberon, directed company founder gloria skurski. there have been several variations since then, including set in 1980s.

the university of michigan s nichols arboretum s programme shakespeare in arb has presented play every summer since 2001. shakespeare in arb has produced midsummer night s dream 3 times. these performances take place in 123-acre (50 ha) natural setting, lush woods, flowing river, , steep hills. performance takes place in several places, actors , audience moving each setting. 1 critic commented, actors used vastness of arb[oretum] stage full advantage, making entrances behind trees, appearing on rises , vanishing woods.

in first production of emma rice artistic director of shakespeare s globe (2016), has carried play indies, indian characters, reference gervinus. changing characters athenians hoxton hipsters , creating male love triangle between lysander, demetrius , helenus (a male helena), play carried more gender fluid era. last performance broadcast live around world through internet.