In Shakespeare's day, there were two evenings of the year specially devoted to merrymaking - the eve of the twelfth day after Christmas and the eve of June 24th. For the one, Shakespeare wrote Twelfth Night and for the other, A Midsummer Night's Dream, two of the most perfect and well-loved comedies of all time.
A Midsummer Night's Dream was written around 1594, the time of a very bad summer in England, an event to which the Fairy Queen, Titania, refers during the play. It was intended originally for private performance, celebrating the wedding of a courtly relation of a patron of Shakespeare's theatre company. Marriage is much mentioned and Elizabeth I herself appears, acknowledged as a "fair vestal throned by the West.”
The “tedious brief scene of young Pyramus and his love Thisbe" with its 'tragical mirth’ as performed by the craftsmen features a “vile wall which did these lovers sunder,” an idea used again by Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet, written about the same time.
The appeal of the Dream lies in the harmony it brings to the moon drenched confusions of mortal-lovers; the elemental magic of hobgoblin Puck; and the efforts of the "rude mechanicals” and their hero Bottom.
The Elizabethan universe was one of order and harmony with everything in a prescribed place. The mixture of different elements permits the play to move between being funny and serious, rational and irrational. At times the action is an intriguing mixture of several elements all at once.
This beguiling concoction provides us with an ideal play for a young people's festival period. We hope your visit to A Midsummer Night's Dream will be lead to many more visits to the theatre, and to Shakespeare's plays.
