Adaptations and cultural references A Midsummer Night's Dream

1 adaptations , cultural references

1.1 literary
1.2 musical versions
1.3 ballets
1.4 film adaptations
1.5 tv productions
1.6 astronomy

adaptations , cultural references


literary

st. john s eve written in 1853 henrik ibsen relies heavily on shakespearean play. botho strauß s play park (1983) based on characters , motifs midsummer night s dream.

neil gaiman s comic series sandman uses play focal point in issue no. 19. in it, shakespeare , company perform play real oberon , titania , audience of fairies. play heavily quoted in comic. shakespeare s son hamnet shakespeare appears in play indian boy. hinted later taken away titania, changeling in story. issue first , comic win world fantasy award best short fiction, in 1991.

terry pratchett s book lords , ladies (1992) parody of play.

michael gow s play, away (1986), features inter-textual references midsummer night s dream, , opens performance of final part, protagonist, tom, in role similar of puck.

in ballet shoes, children s novel noel streatfeild, published in 1936, 3 sisters pauline, petrova , posy perform in midsummer night s dream dancers , actors.

themes in john crowley novel little, big draw heavily shakespeare play.

musical versions

henry purcell fairy-queen henry purcell consists of set of masques meant go between acts of play, considerable rewriting of play current 17th century audiences.

felix mendelssohn bartholdy

in 1826, felix mendelssohn composed concert overture, inspired play, first performed in 1827. in 1842, partly because of fame of overture, , partly because employer king friedrich wilhelm iv of prussia liked incidental music mendelssohn had written other plays had been staged @ palace in german translation, mendelssohn commissioned write incidental music production of midsummer night s dream staged in 1843 in potsdam. incorporated existing overture incidental music, used in stage versions through 19th century. best known of pieces incidental music famous wedding march, used recessional in weddings.

the choreographer marius petipa, more famous collaborations tchaikovsky (on ballets swan lake , sleeping beauty) made ballet adaptation imperial ballet of st. petersburg additional music , adaptations mendelssohn s score léon minkus. revival premiered 14 july 1876. english choreographer frederick ashton created 40-minute ballet version of play, retitled dream. george balanchine create midsummer night s dream ballet based on play, using mendelssohn s music.

between 1917 , 1939 carl orff wrote incidental music german version of play, ein sommernachtstraum (performed in 1939). since mendelssohn s parents jews converted lutheranism, music had been banned nazi regime, , nazi cultural officials put out call new music play: orff 1 of musicians responded. later reworked music final version, completed in 1964.

ralph vaughan williams on hill, on dale , act 2, third of 3 shakespeare songs set music british composer ralph vaughan williams. wrote pieces cappella satb choir in 1951 british federation of music festivals, , remain popular part of british choral repertoire today.

benjamin britten play adapted opera, music benjamin britten , libretto britten , peter pears. opera first performed on 11 june 1960 @ aldeburgh.

moonwork theatre company, moonwork put on production of midsummer in 1999. conceived mason pettit, gregory sherman , gregory wolfe (who directed it). show featured rock-opera version of play within play, pyramus & thisbe, music written rusty magee. music rest of show written andrew sherman.

the donkey show donkey show disco-era experience based on midsummer night s dream, first appeared off broadway in 1999.

other in 1949 three-act opera delannoy entitled puck premiered in strasbourg. progressive rock guitarist steve hackett, best known work genesis, made classical adaptation of play in 1997. hans werner henze s eighth symphony inspired sequences play.

the alexander w. dreyfoos school of arts theatre department presented show musical adapted/directed beverly blanchette (produced marcie gorman) using songs of moody blues. show called midsummer , subsequently performed @ morsani hall/straz performing arts center in tampa, @ florida state international thespian society festival. text/concept copyright, 9 december 2011.

in 2011, opera memphis, playhouse on square, , contemporary cappella groups deltacappella , riva, premiered michael ching s midsummer night s dream: opera cappella.

ballets

george balanchine s midsummer night s dream, first original full-length ballet, premiered new york city ballet on 17 january 1962. chosen open nycb s first season @ new york state theater @ lincoln center in 1964. balanchine interpolated further music mendelssohn dream, including overture athalie. film version of ballet released in 1966.
frederick ashton created dream, short (not full-length) ballet set exclusively famous music félix mendelssohn, arranged john lanchbery, in 1964. created on england s royal ballet , has since entered repertoire of other companies, notably joffrey ballet , american ballet theatre.
john neumeier created full-length ballet ein sommernachtstraum company @ hamburg state opera (hamburgische staatsoper) in 1977. longer ashton s or balanchine s earlier versions, neumeier s version includes other music mendelssohn along midsummer night s dream music, music modern composer györgy sándor ligeti, , jaunty barrel organ music. neumeier devotes 3 sharply differing musical styles 3 character groups, aristocrats , nobles dancing mendelssohn, fairies ligeti, , rustics or mechanicals barrel organ.
elvis costello composed music full-length ballet il sogno, based on midsummer night s dream. music subsequently released classical album deutsche grammophon in 2004.

film adaptations

a midsummer night s dream has been adapted film many times. following best known.

a 1925 german silent film wood love directed hans neumann.
a 1935 film version directed max reinhardt , william dieterle. cast included james cagney bottom, mickey rooney puck, olivia de havilland hermia, joe e. brown francis flute, dick powell lysander , victor jory oberon.
a midsummer night s dream/sen noci svatojánské (1959) directed czech animator jiri trnka. stop-motion puppet film followed shakespeare s story narrator. (the english language version narrated richard burton).
a 1968 film version directed peter hall. cast included paul rogers bottom, ian holm puck, diana rigg helena, helen mirren hermia, ian richardson oberon, judi dench titania, , sebastian shaw quince. film stars royal shakespeare company, , directed peter hall.
a 1969 film version directed jean-christophe averty. cast included jean-claude drouot oberon, claude jade helena, christine delaroche hermia, marie versini hippolyta, michel modo flute, guy grosso quinze.
a midsummer night s sex comedy (1982) written , directed woody allen. plot loosely based on ingmar bergman s smiles of summer night, elements shakespeare s play.
bottom s dream (1983) animated short directed john canemaker, showing events of play point of view of bottom. film uses selections of mendelssohn s music, lines play, , surreal imagery convey bottom s experience.
dead poets society features play production neil perry tries out , wins role of puck, in spite of father s disapproval of acting aspirations.
a 1996 adaptation directed adrian noble. cast included desmond barrit bottom, finbar lynch puck, alex jennings oberon/theseus, , lindsay duncan titania/hippolyta. film based on noble s hugely popular royal shakespeare company production. art design eccentric, featuring forest of floating light bulbs , giant umbrella titania s bower.
a 1996 french film l appartement directed gilles mimouni has many references play.
a 1999 film version written , directed michael hoffman. cast includes kevin kline bottom, rupert everett oberon, michelle pfeiffer titania, stanley tucci puck, sophie marceau hippolyta, christian bale demetrius, dominic west lysander, , calista flockhart helena. adaptation relocates play s action athens fictional monte athena , located in tuscany, italy, although textual mentions of athens retained.
a 1999 version written , directed james kerwin. cast included travis schuldt demetrius. set story against surreal backdrop of techno clubs , ancient symbols.
the children s midsummer night s dream (2002) directed christine edzard, produced sands films @ studio in rotherhithe, london using 350 school children southwark, between ages of 8 , eleven, theatrically untrained. sets , costumes designed scale , made on site.
a midsummer night s rave (2002) directed gil cates jr. changes setting modern rave. puck drug dealer, magic flower called love-in-idleness replaced magic ecstasy, , king , queen of fairies host of rave , dj.
were world mine (2008) features modern interpretation of play put on in private high school in small town.
strange magic (2015) inspired play.

tv productions

the play within play act v, scene i, pyramus , thisbe, performed members of british pop music group beatles on 28 april 1964 british television special, around beatles. paul mccartney appeared pyramus, john lennon thisbe, george harrison moonshine, , ringo starr lion. performance, before live audience, done great comic intent , included number of intentional hecklers. broadcast in uk on itv on 6 may, , in on abc on 15 november.
the 1981 bbc television shakespeare production produced jonathan miller , directed elijah moshinsky. starred helen mirren titania, peter mcenery oberon, phil daniels puck, robert lindsay lysander, geoffrey palmer quince , brian glover bottom.
an abbreviated version of midsummer night s dream made animated short (with same title) walt disney television animation in 1999 part of mouse tales series. featured in 2002 episode of disney s house of mouse ( house of scrooge , season 3, episode 34). star-crossed lovers played mickey mouse (lysander), minnie mouse (hermia), donald duck (demetrius), , daisy duck (helena). character based on theseus played ludwig von drake, , character based on egeus scrooge mcduck. goofy appears accident-prone puck. story ends revelation dream experienced mickey mouse while sleeping @ picnic hosted minnie.
in 2005 shakespeare-told, bbc tv series, aired updated of play. written peter bowker. cast includes johnny vegas bottom, dean lennox kelly puck, bill paterson theo (a conflation of theseus , egeus), , imelda staunton wife polly (hippolyta). lennie james plays oberon , sharon small titania. zoe tapper , michelle bonnard play hermia , helena.
bbc1 s 2016 production 90-minute filmic adaptation russell t davies directed david kerr starring matt lucas bottom, maxine peake titania, , diverse cast including nonso anozie oberon, prisca bakare hermia , hiran abeysekera puck.

astronomy

in 1787, british astronomer william herschel discovered 2 new moons of uranus named after characters in play: oberon, , titania. uranian moon, discovered in 1985 voyager 2 spacecraft, has been named puck.