About the work
William Shakespeare's comedy in five acts, written around 1595-96, is among his most performed and beloved plays. Set in a forest outside Athens where mortals and fairies encounter each other over a single midsummer night, the work blends classical mythology, English folklore, and rustic comedy into a virtuoso display of theatrical imagination. Felix Mendelssohn's incidental music of 1843 remains inseparable from many productions.
Plot
Four young Athenian lovers—Hermia, Helena, Lysander, Demetrius—flee into the forest to resolve a dispute about who loves whom. A group of Athenian craftsmen, led by the weaver Bottom, rehearses a terrible play nearby. Meanwhile, Oberon and Titania, king and queen of the fairies, are quarrelling. Oberon uses a magic flower to make Titania fall in love with Bottom, whose head has been transformed into that of a donkey. The same flower enchants the lovers into a cascade of shifting affections. By morning, order is restored, the couples are paired correctly, and the craftsmen perform their tragic play as unwitting farce at the wedding feast.
Cultural significance
A Midsummer Night's Dream has been a staple of theatrical repertoire since its premiere and has inspired operas by Purcell (The Fairy-Queen) and Britten. Max Reinhardt's 1935 Hollywood film with James Cagney as Bottom introduced the play to global cinema audiences. Peter Brook's 1970 Royal Shakespeare Company production on a white-walled set with trapeze-swinging fairies transformed modern Shakespeare staging. The role of Puck, the mischievous fairy, is among the most memorable smaller parts in the classical repertoire.