A Midsummer Night's Dream

This is the second time I've seen her in this play, first as Titania. The first time she was in a movie version of the Dream she was Hermia, one of the lovers. This is a good version for a class room viewing. It lacks the nudity and innuendos that Hall's and Hoffman's exhibited. This is also the one I know of where Puck is a punk. I love this version because it doesn't cut out any of the dialogue. It heightens the tension and passion Mirren's character had in the section about the environmental affects her feud with her husband has had. The costumes do not blend well with one another. It makes it hard to date and does not give the story a sense of timelessness. Also, you can get this on video. It's hard to find but it can be located at a library near you. Blockbuster will not carry it for whatever reason. PBS is a good source too but don't hold out for it.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1981/I) (TV), directed by Elijah Moshinsky, is a BBC video production. Between 1978 and 1985, the BBC produced all 37 of Shakespeare's plays for British television. They are now available on DVD.

Although Midsummer Night's Dream is sometimes considered just a frivolous minor comic piece, it's actually a sophisticated and thought-provoking play. When it was written, Shakespeare was already a successful playwright, at was almost at the peak of his powers. He had command of his medium to such an extent that he could add two additional plots to the usual high comedy/low comedy convention of his day.

We have two sets of star-crossed lovers-- Hermia, who is loved by Lysander and Demetrius, although she only loves Lysander, and Helena, who loves Demetrius, although he loves Hermia. Hermia's father demands that she marry Demetrius. (Her other choices are to be executed or to enter a convent.) That's just one plot.

Meanwhile, in a wooded area outside the city, Oberon, the King of the Fairies, and Titania, the Queen of the Fairies, are feuding over a young servant boy. The boy is with Titania, but desired by Oberon for his entourage. When these two fight, nature goes into disarray, and people suffer.

Theseus--the mythic hero--is ruler of Athens, where the play is set. He has defeated the Amazons and captured their queen, Hippolyta. He plans to marry Hippolyta in four days, so we know that all other matters must be settled by then.

Finally, a group of working-class men ("rude mechanicals") is preparing a play to celebrate the nuptials. The play is Pyramus and Thisbe, which is about two truly star-crossed lovers who die because of their love. (Perhaps not the best choice for a wedding celebration, but that's the play they've chosen.)

Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy, so we know that the play won't end with dead actors being carried offstage. However, sorting out and bringing all these plots to fruition required the genius of William Shakespeare.

The BBC did an excellent job with this play. Helen Mirren is superb as Titania, the Queen of the Fairies. (It's interesting that 20 years earlier she had played Hermia.) Titania is surrounded by her entourage of fairies, played primarily by children, and you really get the sense that something magical is happening. The fairies don't float in the air like Tinkerbell. They stumble and tumble along in front of, alongside, and behind Titania.

I checked the bios of the other principle actors, and they are all solid professionals. However, as far as I could tell, none of them ever attained the stature of Helen Mirren. Nonetheless, they play their parts well and they work well together in ensemble.

As I wrote in my review of the BBC's Hamlet, this movie presents us with good, solid Shakespeare. It's a very satisfying production, and definitely worth seeing. The BBC Shakespeare series was particularly popular for use in schools, colleges, and public libraries. Because they were made for TV, they work very well on the small screen.

The DVD's are expensive to purchase individually, although the boxed sets are more reasonably priced. My suggestion is to check the DVD out of your local or college library, and treat yourself to over two hours of excellent Shakespeare.

Most of the productions in the BBC's Shakespeare series range from good to excellent, but there are a few duds. This production falls into the latter category. It is perhaps the worst, and certainly one of the worst, in the whole series.

The shortcomings arise chiefly from the inept directorial job by Elijah Moshinsky (though Nigel Davenport doesn't help with some painfully bad acting -- or, rather, expressionless reciting in lieu of acting -- in Act I). The four actors who portray the young lovers deliver excellent performances, but their efforts are undermined in Act III.ii by the director's disastrously ill-advised decision to have them speak quite a few of their lines simultaneously. Equally bizarre is the director's tendency to chop up and rearrange portions of the dialogue and to delete other portions. (Contrary to what is stated in two of the other reviews on this site, it is certainly not the case that all the dialogue is included in this production. A few of the deletions are well judged, though most of them are at best pointless.) If a director has so little respect for Shakespeare's art, why would he take on the task of directing this play at all?!

The performance by Phil Daniels as Puck is quite good, but it could have been much better if a competent director had reined Daniels in when he became too brisk and shrill in his articulation of his lines. Directorial incompetence is even more woefully evident in Act V. The mechanicals' play within a play is grimly unfunny. Having seen 60-70 productions of "Dream" during the past quarter of a century, I have never come upon a worse rendering of the final Act.

Helen Mirren is superb, but Peter McEnery is far too fierce in his portrayal of Oberon. He is clearly an adept actor, but he was let down by the director; a competent director would have reminded him that "Dream" is a comedy and that he ought to be striving for more humor and less ferocity.

This production does not altogether obscure the magic of Shakespeare's wonderful play, but it is overall a sore disappointment.

ADDENDUM: Having watched this production four more times since writing the review that appears above, I want to add a few comments. First, although I fully stand by my remark about the disastrously ill-judged directing of scene III.ii, I should note that the simultaneous uttering of lines blessedly comes to an end after Lysander and Demetrius exit cheek by jowl. Thereafter, the scene is well presented. Second, although Nigel Davenport does sometimes briefly descend into expressionless recitation in the opening scene of the play, my remark above now strikes me as too harsh. Third, likewise somewhat too harsh is my remark about the final Act. Though I have witnessed far better renderings of the play within the play, this rendering is sometimes mildly amusing. Fourth, I'm inclined to intensify my remark about the deletion of portions of the dialogue. In such a short play, there is no adequate justification for the deletions.

There are two reasons why you might want to watch this version of Midsummer Night's Dream. One is Helen Mirren. She is lovely and perfect as Titania throughout and her delivery of the long monologue to Oberon in Act 2 Sc. 1 does not lose the viewer's attention for a moment. That is an awesome feat considering what a difficult passage it is.

The other shining moment occurs in Act 3 Sc. 2, starting about when Demetrius wakes up to find that he is in love with Helena. The ensuing lines are delivered over top of each other, as the lovers engage in a confused quarrel. The actors add to this by pushing each other, trying to get around or over or under to talk to someone other than the one that's talking to them. Great directing and perfect timing make this scene race by like I've never seen it before.

These two shining moments hardly make up for the rest of the performance which lacks sparkle. Some parts are sung (Puck's "Jack shall have Jill" speech) which is just incongruous. Perhaps the fact that Starveling sings his part as Moonshine is a bit of self-satire.

Which brings me to the rude mechanicals who are particularly lacklustre. Geoffrey Palmer is absolutely wasted here. "Pyramus and Thisbe" is absolutely boring. There are exactly two bits of comic business (Bottom steals food from the wedding table on the line "'Deceiving me' is Thisbe's cue" and Starveling as Moonshine tries to upstage Bottom by hanging the lantern in front of his face) and they aren't exactly hilarious. If it's not funny, it should at least be moving, but although Flute (a very feminine Flute) tries, the director has cut most of the wedding party's backchat and they seem to have little interest in what is going on on the stage. Small wonder really.

There's nothing about the sets and costumes, which suggest the English Civil War, to get us excited. The entire first scene is set in a library against a background of a ticking clock. What a great way to remind us how slowly the scene is moving!

After reading some previous comments, I can only conclude that some people were watching a different movie altogether. I found this version Of A Midsummer Night's Dream to be far superior to any other that I've ever seen .

This is my favorite of all Shakespeare's plays, so I generally stand to be critical of the various treatments offered. However, I found this cast and direction to be outstanding, visually, and emotionally. The costumes were spectacular, the settings haunting, and the acting...flawless. I loved Geoffrey Palmer's work as well. I was lucky enough to catch a repeat of it years ago, and quickly taped it so I could watch it every summer.I themed my wedding after this play.

I loved Helen Mirren's portrayal as the faerie queen, Titania. I found her to be perfect in the role. Judi Dench, I believe, played it all too 70s hippie-angsty, and could have done very well without the overexposure.

The casting of an older boy as Puck, while at first seemed unfamiliar, and wrong, he quickly won me over, and soon his age didn't matter a bit. He sure beat a manic Mickey Rooney in the Hollywood version of 1935! Who, by the way, was 15 when he played the role.

I saw some scenes on Youtube the other day, and the background music has been playing in my head for 2 days now. I'm hooked again.

My birthday is next month..my husband is buying me the entire boxed set of the BBC Shakespeare comedies! Helen Mirren as Rosalind in As You Like It is superb again...as is John Cleese as Pertruchio in The Taming of the Shrew. I can't wait till next month...I'll be in Shakespeare Utopia.