A Midsummer Night's Dream

Though many praise this version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, I find it strange, creepy, and hilarious. Maybe I can't appreciate it because I'm only in high school, but after studying the play, the movie was not what I expected. Though it looks like it was produced in someone's basement while they were under the influence, most of the movie is just funny. Many of Shakespeare's dirty jokes are stressed, and that's the strange part. Also, the boy supposedly dreaming this enters whenever he pleases. Not only is he annoying, but he looks about 6 or 7. I hope my 6 year old never dreams about the content in A Midsummer Night's Dream, especially the way it's portrayed in this reproduction. Weird!!!

"On one night of every year, the boundary between the daylight and twilight worlds is thin as air." Shown as a stage play but uses excessive camera tricks to display a colorful version that still keeps iambic pentameter. At least it is not one of those present-day versions that force Shakespeare into contemporary clothing.

Only occasionally moving a play to a different time or place can it keep its magic. This presentation is of no real-time or place but seems to have borrowed from the junk leftover from previous plays, containing part stage and part Victorian England, with a dash of Alice in Wonderland.

Lots of nice colors and music. However, everyone goes around kissing everyone but the person they should be kissing; you can call it artistic license but I call it a distraction for the purpose or base story. For those people that do not like the introduction of bicycles and nudity as in another version, take heart as there is no nudity or bicycles. The bicycles are replaced with Mary Poppin's type of umbrellas. O. K. I lied there is the E. T. bicycle scene, motorcycles with sidecars motorcycles.

Usually, this tail is played out by well-known actors so I must confess that even though this is the Royal Shakespeare Company production I do not recognize anyone.

One big missing part is where Nick Bottom is transferred into a donkey. Too bad as that is one of the best parts. He just pops up with ears and teeth. That is like showing Hamlet without Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

You need to watch any other production before this one as "Who would not change a raven for a dove?"

Presented by the "Royal Shakespeare Company" Starring:

Lindsay Duncan as Hippolyta/Titania Alex Jennings as Theseus/Oberon

Desmond Barrit as Nick Bottom Barry Lynch as Puck/Philostrate

The Lovers:

Hermia - Monica Dolan Demetrius - Kevin Doyle Lysander - Daniel Evans Helena - Emily Raymond

Egeus - Alfred Burke The boy - Osheen Jones.

After it's been through hundreds of different settings and thousands of different interpretations, it's hard for directors to come up with original concepts for William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". As a result, we either get productions with highly original concepts that are terribly distasteful or we get a rather conventional interpretation that leaves us bored.

Adrian Noble has tried to transfer this masterpiece from the stage to the screen, and I'm afraid that he doesn't do a particularly good job. The concepts are original and quite intriguing, but the movie itself lacks the dynamism that this play has when performed on stage. The concept of adding The Boy is in my mind great, especially for the movie. Otherwise, I find the settings bland and monotonous.

The Royal Shakespeare Company does an excellent job in acting (of course they do - it's the RSC!) and I would love to see this performed on stage. As for the movie . . . not incredibly satisfying.

I would have liked to have seen this production on the stage without the introduction of a boy whose ambiguous presence is supposed to give the production its "dream-"like quality. I'm afraid, as the other reviewers here have noted, a well-intended and, for the most part, well acted version of one of the Bard's best known and most loved romps, alas, fall flat. The RSC is great but I found the presentation of Alex Jennings in the double role of Theseus and Oberon to be unconvincing. His facial expressions reminded me of one who's stepped out of the loo remarking about the lack of potty-paper. Lindsay Duncan, is lovely and fun in her double role as is the feckless Bottom given in fun by Desmond Barrit. Finbar Lynch's Puck has a darkness not often seen in other presentations but it works. My only quibble besides Mr. Jennings perpetual sneer and the wandering (as another reviewer here noted, a Macaulay Culkin look-alike) kid, is the flatness of the effects-- which I'm sure, worked wonderfully on the stage. Cross-overs into other media can be tough. All in all, an earnest albeit not wholly satisfying effort as earlier versions or the one two years later.

This is a fantastic play.With the exception of Daniel Evans, who's strong Welsh accent becomes grating when reciting Shakespeare, so were the players.Congrats to RSC on keeping the original idea of each actor playing two characters.They could've easily gone the easy route.However, you lose all that in the presentation.The bright colors and bizarre props( bubbles,bicycles,umbrellas etc)distract from the actors.The whole thing has a very sixties acid trip vibe. Thumbs up for Barry Lynch. He made an excellent Puck.And Philostrate. I recommend the version with Stanley Tucci over this one, however. now they're saying I need at least ten lines which I thought I had but o well, I'll try to fix it.