William Shakespeare's most popular comedy was written around 1595, but its themes of love and its complications: lust, fickleness, disappointment, and marriage are potent today. It has three plots connected by a celebratio... more »n of the wedding of Duke Theseus of Athens and the Amazonian queen Hippolyta.
In the opening scene, Hermia refuses to comply with her father Egeus's wish for her to marry his chosen man, Demetrius. In response, Egeus cites an ancient Athenian law whereby a daughter must marry the suitor chosen by her father, or else face death or lifelong chastity as a nun. Hermia and her lover Lysander therefore decide to elope by going camping in the forest. Hermia informs her best friend Helena, but Helena has recently been rejected by Demetrius and decides to win back his favor by revealing the plan to him. Demetrius, followed doggedly by Helena, chases Hermia, who, in turn, pursues Lysander, from whom she becomes separated.
Meanwhile, Oberon, king of the fairies, and his queen, Titania, arrive in the forest to attend Theseus and Hippolyta's wedding. Oberon and Titania are estranged because Titania refuses to give her Indian page-boy to Oberon for use as his henchman. Oberon seeks to punish Titania's disobedience and recruits the mischievous Puck (also called Robin Goodfellow) to help him apply a magic juice from a flower called love-in-idleness, which makes the victim fall in love with the first living thing they see when they wake up. Oberon applies the juice to Titania in order to distract her and force her to give up the page-boy.
Things become more complex when Oberon encounters the Athenian lovers and tells Puck to use the magic to aid their love lives. Due to Puck's errors, Hermia's two lovers temporarily turn against her in favor of Helena. The four pursue and quarrel with one another, losing themselves in a smog of Puck's doing and in a maze of their romantic entanglements.
Meanwhile, a band of rustic mechanicals (lower-class craftsmen) have arranged to perform a crude play about Pyramus and Thisby for Theseus's wedding, and they venture into the forest to rehearse. Nick Bottom, a stage-struck weaver, is spotted by Puck, who transforms his head into that of a donkey. Titania is awakened by Bottom's singing, and she immediately falls in love with him. She treats him as if he were a nobleman and lavishes attention upon him. While in this state of devotion, she encounters Oberon and, during a dance duet, gives him the Indian boy.
Having achieved his goal, Oberon releases Titania and orders Puck to remove the ass's head from Bottom. The magical enchantment is removed from Lysander but it is allowed to remain on Demetrius, so that he may reciprocate Helena's love. The fairies then disappear, and Theseus and Hippolyta arrive on the scene during an early morning hunt. They wake the lovers and, since Demetrius no longer loves Hermia, Theseus overrules Egeus's demands and permits the two couples to marry. The lovers decide that the night's events must have been a dream.
Meanwhile, Bottom awakes, and he too decides that he must have experienced a dream 'past the wit of man to say what dream it was.' In the ruins of Athens, Theseus, Hippolyta, and the lovers watch the craftsmen perform the badly-written play 'Pyramus and Thisby.' It is badly performed and ridiculous but gives everyone pleasure regardless, and after the mechanicals dance a Bergomask, everyone retires to bed.
Finally, as night falls, Oberon and Titania bless the house, its occupants, and the future children of the newlyweds, and Puck delivers an epilogue to the audience asking for applause.
This work is widely performed around the globe, 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.« less
Actor:Actors of Virus Theater Director:Bo Bergstrom Genres:Comedy Sub-Genres:Romantic Comedies Studio:Cinesthetic Film Format:DVD - Full Screen DVD Release Date: 11/29/2010 Release Year: 2010 Run Time: 2hr 37min Screens: Full Screen Number of Discs: 1 SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 1 MPAA Rating: G (General Audience)
