A Midsummer Night's Dream

by William Shakespeare (Adaptor), Clare Higgins (Narrator), Simon Russell Beale (Narrator)

A retelling of Shakespeare's light-hearted comedy of mistaken identity, tangled lovers, meddling fairies, and bumbling amateur actors, set in a wood on a midsummer night.

Genres: Classics, Shakespeare, Fantasy

Audio Cassette

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI and I of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminge and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".

Reviews

[Kahmal Sealey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah, Shakespeare.

Honestly, it upsets me a bit that it doesn’t ‘click’ straight away and I have to employ some serious concentration when reading but I enjoyed the bits I did understand!

I enjoyed the 3 entirely separate events; the wedding between King and Queen, the 4-person love story and the play preparation for the wedding as it made it feel dynamic and that tied together the individual events quite well

I think it work wonderfully on a stage, but reading it, it doesn’t flow as smoothly as some of the others I’ve read

[Jamie Gottlieb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first of this series for kids that I have read - it really was a great way to share the story with kids. I read it to my 5 and 7 year old and they both loved it! The 7 year old was already familiar with the story from listening to an audio CD version. The cartoon pictures helped us keep track of the characters which is especially helpful considering the names are unusual and similar sounding!

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was probably amazing at the time Shakespeare wrote it but it’s honestly okay now.

[Sally Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

More poetic than previous plays but still difficult to follow. I like it better on stage than reading it.

[Ния Иванова · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many people

[Scarlett Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

well i accidentally started this book but it was gold

[Lauren Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

why was this lowkey good what the heck

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I loved the concept of this book, I couldn't help but try to determine its appropriate audience while I was reading it. The book comes complete with the true Shakespearian language that only I would say late middle schoolers would be able to comprehend, I found the illustrations to be highly juvenile which might turn off readers. On that note, I love that this age group is being introduced to the wonderment of Shakespeare at all and found this a beautiful way to make it happen.

[Arshia Zehra · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good book but not that gr8 compared to other Shakespeare's books............

[Abbi]

Not a bad start...