A wildly original take on Shakespeare’s magical romantic comedy.
By William Shakespeare (watch this biography online)
Directed and Adapted by Benjamin Schostakowski
Designer Dann Barber
Lighting Designer Jason Glenwright
Sound Designer Wil Hughes
with Emily Burton, Brian Lipson, Kathryn Marquet, Christen O’Leary, Pacharo Mzembe & Kieran Law
Four awkward teens find themselves entangled in a god-awful love quadrangle. A sextet of amateur drama enthusiasts earnestly rehearse a play for a wedding. The Godfather and Godmother of the fairies are locked in a bitter argument over an adopted child, which they seek to resolve through the careless application of dodgy witchcraft.
Benjamin Schostakowski, director of multi award-winning A Tribute of Sorts, transplants Shakespeare’s enchanted lovers, fools and fairies from the wilderness of Athens to a nostalgia-tinged vision of Australian suburbia. Think lava lamps, slide nights and macramé wall-hangings. A Midsummer Night’s Dream promises to deliver a sensuous cocktail of hyper-theatricality; equal parts strange, dark and hilarious.
“Shows like this make your heart sing, as they take off into new and always expanding realms, exploring what theatre can do by building on old traditions.” Crikey on A Tribute of Sorts
More at La Boite
La Boite season trailer
Traditional characters:
- Theseus, Duke of Athens
- Egeus, father of Hermia
- Lysander, in love with Hermia
- Demetrius, in love with Hermia
- Philosrate, Master of the Revels
- Quince, a carpenter
- Snug, a joiner
- Bottom, a weaver
- Flute, a bellows-mender
- Snout, a tinker
- Starveling, a tailor
- Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons; betrothed of Theseus
- Hermia, in love with Lysander
- Helena, in love with Demetrius
- Oberon, King of Fairies
- Titania, Queen of Fairies
- Puck, or Robin Goodfellow
- Peaseblossom, a fairy
- Cobway, a fairy
- Moth, a fairy
- Mustardseed, a fairy
- Other Fairies, attendants to Oberon and Titania
- Attendants to Theseus and Hippolyta
Traditional play - links below:
Here is the entire play
Plot Summary
Scene by scene
This may help you to understand the play:
Short Synopsis
Medium Synopsis
Hermia is in love with Lysander, but her father wants her to marry Demetrius. To escape the arranged marriage, she and Lysander elope into the woods. Demetrius follows them, and he is pursued by Helena, who nurses an unrequited passion for him. A love quadrangle develops among the young lovers when mischievous Puck plays Cupid. "The course of true love never did run smooth" says Lysander. Meanwhile, a group of amateur actors rehearses a badly-written play in the woods, and soon all find their lives changed by the doings of Oberon and Titania, the warring king and queen of the fairies. Magic, action, love and humor are the ingredients for this unforgettable spell.
This work is widely performed around the world, and no wonder - it's about the world's most popular pastime, falling in love. But as Puck knows, falling in love can make fools of us all. Love is crazy, love is mad. Will love win out in the end?
