A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Production: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Text: William Shakespeare
Director: Gerben Kamper
Venue: Wynand Mouton Theatre
Dates and times:
24 March 2011 19h30
25 March 2009 19h30
Bookings: Computicket (Mimosa Mall and Checkers)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta. Bottom, a local craftsman, and others agree to write and produce a play in honour of their marriage. The main plot of Midsummer involves two sets of couples, Hermia in love with Lysander and Helena in love with Demetrius. However Hermia’s father, Egeus, insists on her marrying Demetrius. She and Lysander then decide to elope to the enchanted forest. Helena, having knowledge of this plan, tells Demetrius in order to win his love. Demetrius decides to follow with Helena hot on his trail. In the meantime the players decide to rehearse their play in the same enchanted forest.
Fairies, who have come to bless Theseus’ wedding, are haunting the same wood where the craftsmen and lovers plan to meet. Oberon, king of the fairies, and Titania, his Queen, is in conflict over the possession of a changeling boy. In revenge for his wife’s actions, Oberon sends Puck to gather a flower necessary to make a love juice. This love juice will cause the one who has it squeezed into his/her eye while asleep to fall in love with the first being they see when waking up. After witnessing Demetrius’ distain towards Helena, Oberon then orders Puck to squeeze the love juice in Demetrius’ eyes so that he may fall in love with Helena. Puck however mistakenly squeezes the juice in Lysander’s eyes, causing him to fall in love with Helena.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream has all the ingredients to make an audience enjoy the play: the love stories, the sexual overtones, mistaken identities, the foolishness of Bottom, the magic of the fairies mixed with their human traits of jealousy and unreasonableness, and Puck darting from person to person, trying to right his errors.
A delightful play to open the newly renovated Wynand Mouton Theatre presented in Afrikaans and English. Directed by Gerben Kamper and features the Drama Department's junior staff and Post Graduate students. Tickets available at Computicket
Sound sponsored by BigRig sound.