A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Guide to the Play

by Jay L. Halio

A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's happiest comedies and his first clear triumph in that genre. A perennial favorite in stage performance, it has also been made into a number of successful films. Yet the play is also remarkably complex, as Shakespeare presents several different worlds, draws on a rich tradition of folk and fairy lore, and questions the art of dramatic representation. This reference is a convenient and thorough introduction to his comedy.



The book begins with a discussion of the play's genesis and textual history. It then considers his sources and contexts, along with the play's characters, language, and plot. The volume next examines the play's themes and its critical and scholarly reception. Because of the play's tremendous popularity, separate chapters treat stage and film versions. A selected, annotated bibliography summarizes the most important works for further reading.

184 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1995

Reviews

[Candy Wood]

Jay Halio has seen a lot of performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the ones he hasn’t, before 1970, he can describe through access to archives, promptbooks, and reviews. The book’s focus on major productions in Britain and North America (with a chapter about China and some mention of Germany) gives a vivid idea of how stagings of the play have changed over the years, including ones for film and television. He finds more positive features than I remember in the 1981 BBC TV version and is also more complimentary than many critics of the 1992 National Theatre mud-wrestling one directed by Robert Lepage (I avoided that one). Peter Brook’s landmark production in 1970 gets a whole chapter full of helpful details--every production after that is always compared to it. This edition concludes with a brief, favorable account of the 2002 Globe production. A useful, readable book.