Midsummer Nights Dream - Children's Theatre Presentation

Here is a link to mine and Katrina's Slide show on Children's Theatre:

https://prezi.com/uycvckex7hjd/childrens-theatre/

And here is the script to this presentation:

Slide 1 – What is it?

Theatre that is aimed at children and their families which hopes to take children on a journey, educates, entertain and inspire. Children’s theatre is targeted to children ages 3 to 12 and tends to be very colourful, vibrant, fun and loud. They include singing and dancing and interaction throughout the play. Here is a clip of what children’s theatre should look like. This clip is the Cbeebies pantomime version of Aladdin.

Workshop

The acting style of children’s theatre does sort of mirror the behaviour of children. For example if a character is annoyed, they will stomp around grunting and moaning, sort of like how a toddler might act if they were annoyed.

 So now we want you guys to act as children according to these different emotions we are giving you.

·         Bored

·         Tired

·         Happy

·         Angry

·         Excited

·         Love

Now pick your favourite emotion and go wild with it.

Now you know what children’s theatre is about, I am going to tell you a little bit about the origins of children’s theatre

Slide 2 – history

Children's theatre originated from Russia and Britain in 20th century the most recognized practitioner was A.V. Lunacharskii who headed the first state theatre for children in Moscow.

Only the best actors were allowed to perform in front of the children in Russia due to the respect they held for their young minds

·         1904

The first notated performance of children’s theatre was of the play peter pan by J.M.Barrie

·         1920

Britain only really showed children’s theatre around Christmas as a special gift for the season.

·         1940

British children’s theatre companies began to tour in schools and theatres.

British children’s theatre companies drew upon Russia’s original model work for children’s theatre.

·         1960

Theatre in Education (TIE) was created in Britain.

·         2016

There is children’s theatre festivals held all across the world as you can see it has expanded greatly.

Children’s theatre has turned into children’s TV

Children’s TV programmes have now been transformed into children’s theatre productions

Slide 3 – Elements

·         Small cast of versatile actors

·         Portable productions

·         Audience Participation

·         Narration

·         Music, dance and singing

·         Heightened acting

·         Bright, vibrant and interesting set.

·         Set characters

·         Clarity

·         Magic and mystery

·         Puppetry

·         Educational objects – most children’s theatre companies aim their work to suit school curriculums or have some kind of educational moral with in them that designed to make the children think.

·         Colourful costumes – as you saw in the clip previously children’s theatre aims to be bright and colourful and they defiantly don’t forget the costumes. Costumes can be miss matched with clashing patterns and horrendously bright colours which are all ingredients to create a visually stimulating show for the children. In our show some of the costumes include a moon, an orange and yellow lions main, a colourful sparkly fairy dress and many more.

·         Slapstick comedy/silliness – a very appealing element to children’s theatre is the slapstick comedy scenes that explore the silliness of characters. A very famous slapstick scene is when someone throws a cream pie into another person’s face. Slapstick is predominantly used in pantomime however we also use it within our play. For example in the scene change song sparks hits Shakespeare in the face with a mop

·         Various topics- So children’s theatre covers a lot of topics and they can be educational , like a play about the romans , relevant to today’s society a play about pollution they can be about sensitive subjects like divorce and all of these aim to educate and teach the children about the topics that are surrounding or on day may be they also do  folk law and fairy tale children’s show and theses a lot more about fun and entertainment.

Slide 4 - Suitability

When making a children’s production here are things to contemplate…

·         Mental ability – this is important because if the play is not suited to their mental ability then they will not understand or take anything away from the performance

·         Timescale – the timescale of a children’s play is so important as if it is far too long then you shall lose their focus and the will start become fidgety and bored and will yet again take nothing away from the experience

·         School needs – you must be able to suit your play to the schools needs whether it be to their educational curriculum or to their students if for example a student had a learning disability they would need extra support during the performance.

·         Context – the context of your play has to be suitable for the children for example you can’t be doing a play about sexual abused however a play about fairies is suitable.

·         Age – the performance must be age appropriate and there can be no use of foul language or anything inappropriate that could taint their youthful minds

·         Venue – the venue is important to consider if you are touring and going from school to school or place to place. Your set design has to be suitable and able to adapt to its surroundings as well as you actors being prepared for performing with or without light, or with and audience up close, on the floor or in actual seating.

Slide 5 – midsummer

We have been mentioning our play and so now is a good time to tell you what our play is and how we have made it suitable for children.

We have chosen Shakespeare’s a midsummer night’s dream and adapted it to make it suitable for ages 3-6. We chose this play because it has an educational aspect through learning about Shakespeare and the language he used but at the same time the story is magical and light hearted as long as you remove the death threats

Which is exactly what we have done? Not only have we have we cut the running time down to 50 minutes by removing unnecessary lines we have also replaced any remotely negative words with lighter hearted ones. For example Demetrius’s line “I am sick when I look on thee” we have changed to “I am sad when I look on thee” to avoid any possible offence. We have also added 3 characters sparks, gaffer and Shakespeare himself. They have been added to explain what a play is who Shakespeare is and they also help the children understand what is happening in the scene with the complex language.

So the end result is a fun play that teaches children a little about Shakespeare and how the theatre works. Sparks and gaffer are also the goofy slapstick characters that we touched upon earlier. 

Slide 6 – skills

·         Dance – dance is included in almost every children’ theatre play, you don’t have to be a great dancer you just need to have some rhythm to manage the light dancer that come hand in hand in children’s theatre

·         Sing – just like dancing, you don’t have to be amazing because a lot of the songs can be sung as your character. For example sparks and gaffer in our play don’t have to be the best vocalists as they have goofy farmer accents. However some characters will have to be able to sing for example the fairy in our production of midsummer night’s dream which is why it is important to have this skill.

·         Act - it is quintessential and almost absurdly obvious that you need this skill to do children’s theatre or in fact any theatre at all.

·         Projection – being able to project is a lot more then shouting it is being able to hear throughout your performing space without shouting and for children’s theatre this is a vital skill as there is a lot of audience of interaction and they need to know what they are meant to be doing.

·         Accents – accents are not always used within children’s theatre however you may be required to put on a funny voice as it is quite funny for the children. This would therefor require you to be clear whilst talking in a accent as the children may not understand what you are saying and you must be constant with your accent as the children may become confused if your voice keeps changing.

·         Stage combat – this sounds a bit odd as you wouldn’t expect any fighting in a children’s show but the reason stage combat is an important is due to the slapstick moment that may appear throughout the show so you must know how to react, or throw yourself or hit someone with hurting them or you

·         Good Memory - learn you lines!

·         Good stamina – it is important to have good stamina because you need to have a high amount of energy in a children’s show and this level of energy must be sustained throughout

·         Attitude – having a positive attitude or the right mind set to the production will enable for the whole experience to seem a lot more enjoyable for the children and yourself.

Slide 7 – creative ideas

Here are some of the ideas that we have had to further develop our play for children’s theatre...

·         Audience participation – we feel that audience participation is lacking in our play and there is missed opportunities to get the audience involved for example the repetitive scene change song, the final chorus could be sung by our audience

·         Interactions – there are many points through the play where the actors on stage could interact with the actors on stage and the audience for example when the mechanical are on stage snug could wave shyly to the audience and then cower when they wave back and also any point when the trio at the back are speaking the other actors on stage could have a bit more interaction with each other

·         Makeup –we also thought that adding specific make up to certain character would enhance the children experience for example we could apply mud to the Faces of the mechanicals in order to show they are work men and not of the same statues of the Athenians  also the fairy would have glitter to heighten the magic element of the play

·         Handouts- as an extra interaction with the audience, we thought it would be fun idea to place glow stick underneath the seats before the show so that the audience can use them during the magical songs when sparks and gaffer tell them to.

·         Set- our current set is minimalistic and with better budget could be extreme and over the top with every single thing represented.

·         Dance- we could further develop of dances by placing actors amongst the audience to break into dance and get everyone dance to the end song, also we could have a simple dance that only involves your arm that they could follow.

·         Multimedia- the use of a projection screen could be very interesting and fun and would also allow the scene to be set without having to use a black out to bring new set on.  Also lyrics to some of the songs could be projected onto to the screen so that the audience could sing along. 

Midsummer Nights Dream - Developing scenes

In Act 1 Scene 2 we first meet the Mechanicals and we thought it would be a good idea to have the workmen enter the stage in a cool eccentric way as it will immediately show that they are the funny characters and it will catch the audience attention straight away. We originally thought that the mechanicals could walking in, following Quince and they would come to a sudden stop and the rest would fall into each other. I think this was a very effective entrance as it is very large and visual on the stage however on some of our rehearsals we would not fall into each other at the right moment and so it sometimes hurt us and it looked very messy.

We decided to experiment with this entrance as we wanted this to be a very iconic moment in the play so we then tried the idea that we would enter by doing some kind of a chant. We all stood in a line and entered by clapping and clicking at the same time as each other. we would then finish by standing in a pose with everyone out of breathe and proud of what they had done. It worked in the sense that it was visually captivating however we thought that is was missing something so we decided to add a song in which we could sing every time we entered onto the stage. We messed around some of the words relating to the play and we finally came up with...

"WE ARE MECHANICALS AND WE ARE PROUD, WE ARE CLUMSY AND VERY LOUD!"

This works very well as we could clap it along to a simple rhythm, it is very catchy and it states exactly what type of characters they are. But once again the way we were entering onto the stage was too tidy even though these characters are meant to be clumsy. So we experimented with more slapstick sketches that would look more appropriate for the play.

So our final entrance is Quince enters singing the chant and everyone else responds by chanting the same line back to her. then after Quince snout walks in and realises his shoe lace is undone so he bends down to tie his shoe. At this point Bottom then leap frogs over Snout and Bottom caries on walking to Quince. Then Flute jumps onto Snout's back and the sort of fumble around and Snout drops him onto the floor. And finally at the back Starveling drags on Snug who is trying to escape off stage.

Midsummer nights dream - rehearsal process

When we started rehearsing we realised that this play would not take long to block simply due to the fact that it is only a 50 minute play however it was crucial that we got the right setup on stage if not the audience would not be able to see or hear us. So when we were deciding  where to put sparks, gaffer and Shakespeare we thought it would be best to have them at the back centre stage as the audience are in a semicircle around the stage as that position would enable everyone to be seen and enough space for the actors to perform.

We then had to think about where the actors entrances and exits were going to be. Since the audience are in a round we thought it would be nice for the actors to enter in between the audience so that the children feel completely emerged into the performance. So we have 5 entrances 1 at the centre back of the stage which is called entrance A, then there is one at upstage left called B, one at downstage left called C, one at downstage right called D and a final one in upstage right called E. Within all of our scripts we have written in each letter so that we will know where we and entering and exiting from.

During the play Titania has fallen asleep on the ground and stays there from page 25 till page 36. This meant that we had to place Titania so that she could still be seen but also so that she doesn't get in the way of the other actors on stage. So we decided to put her centre stage originally as we though it would be the best place for her to be seen however we lost a lot of space for the actors to perform in so instead she is still centre stage but she has been pushed up against the blocks that Shakespeare, sparks and Gaffer stand on so that she is not in the way of the scenes going on. She is also covered in a green blanket which the mechanicals can now reference as the green plot where they can rehearse their play in the woods.

Midsummer Nights Dream - Children's theatre

Children's Theatre is a type of theatre that bases its production for an audience of families and children usually under the age of 12. It's main criteria is to educate children in a certain subject which the play is about and also to entertain them through slapstick comedy and large theatrical dances and songs. children's theatre has become extremely popular that some children's TV programmes have gone on to become theatre productions so that they can enhance the children's enjoyment of the favourite TV programmes.

There are many elements to children's theatre and they can also be found in children's TV programmes as well. For example in the TV programme Balamory uses elements such as ...
. Catchy songs to explain different themes
. Interesting names such as Miss Hoolie
. Charming accents for different characters such as spencer the painter was an American
. Colour matching for each character
. Sound effects
. Facial expressions
. Audience interactions
. And many more
Here is a link to a song that has nearly every element in it from Balamory
https://youtu.be/FlhPre4j1ss

In our production we also use these elements as well

• Catchy songs - we have 7 songs in our play that each describe some kind of element to the play for example the song "scene change" explains to the children what a scene change in the theatre is and also what types of set will be used in the scene.
• Interesting names - since our play is Shakespearean it will already have interesting names such as Lysander and Hippolyta but we also have added characters such as Spark and Gaffer which relate to their jobs as the are theatre technicians.
• Charming accents - in our production we have made it so only the mechanicals have accents as they are meant to be silly characters so in one cast the character Snout has a lisp but in the other cast he has a very deep and bored emotion to his voice.
• Colour matching - for our Athenian characters they will all be in white togas however for each of the couples that end up together they shall have a matching fabric that will show the audience who they are meant to be with.
• Sound effects - we use some sound effects for magic but we also have the characters Sparks and gaffer make some of the sound effects with their mouths like the trumpets that wake up the lovers.
• Facial expressions - since this used in all children's theatre productions we decided to use this to help explain some of the complicated emotions of the play and also to make the characters funnier to the children they will over exsagerate their facial expressions.
• Audience interaction - we use this throughout the play especially the characters spark, gaffer and Shakespeare. At one point Sparks and gaffer get children up from the audience to be fairies for queen Titania and they get to do a dance around the donkey.

Midsummer Nights Dream - Character Costumes

Egea's Costume:
Since Egea is a noble Athenian from Greece, she and all the other Athenians will wear toga's because it is a traditional garment of Greece. A toga is sort of a white sheet that wraps around your body so it looks like a dress once it is draped upon a persons body. It was a semicircular length of cloth about 12 and 20 feet long. This costume not only showing the Greek culture but it also gives the character Egea a high statues as it was considered a noble garment. 

Snug's Costume:
Since Snug is apart of the mechanicals and it probably one of the lowest statues characters, she is not going to be in the toga's like the Athenians. Instead she is in a matching set of waist coat and shorts that are white and blue striped and a yellow strips on the side. With this she shall wear a bright yellow to underneath her out fit. The reason she is wearing yellow is because in children's theatre, most characters will have bright colours and costumes to make it eye catching for the children. Also the yellow will also match the lion's main that she must wear for the play with in the play. The lion's main in a hat with orange, gold and yellow string attached to it that will match with the yellow colours already on her costume.

Sparks's Costume: 
Since Sparks is a part of the stage crew, she is going to be wearing a black pair of dungarees, with a colourful top underneath and a pair of trainers. This costume symbolises the handyman job aspect but it also has a hint of colour that will be suitable for the children's theatre style. Also she will have a head set which will also link to her job title. for her hair I thought that i would have two backcombed pigtails on each side of my head to show a more childish nature to my character and some spiky hair ties that sort of look like sparks which will be wrapped around my pigtails.

Midsummer Nights Dream - Sparks Character Profile

Name: Sparks
Statues: Narrator's helper (Stage Crew)
Relationships: Friends with Gaffer and Shakespeare
Play: Midsummer Nights Dream
Part Of The Play: appears through out the play however it is an extra character that has been added to the original play


Right to left: Sparks, Shakespeare and Gaffer

Sparks's Character:
Sparks is an extra character that has been added to our production as well as Gaffer and William Shakespeare. this three character's narrate the play for the children due to the fact that the original Shakespearean language would be hard to follow for children aged 3 to 6. So instead Sparks and Gaffer, who are considerably dumb stage crew, continually ask Shakespeare questions about what is going on which is then explained by Shakespeare in modern language so that the children will understand.
for example:
"Where is puck going?" - Sparks
"Don't worry Oberon has sent Puck to fetch a Magic flower, he won't be long" - Shakespeare

This device of having Shakespeare, Sparks and Gaffer narrating and asking questions throughout the play makes it more understandable as it breaks down what happens with each character and it reassures the audience on what is going on.

Sparks is a dumb comic relief in the play as he is one part of a double act with gaffer and they  pop up during the play to make jokes, sing songs and be silly for the children. I have decided to make Sparks a character who always tries to please Shakespeare and believes that she is smart but she actually gets most stuff wrong. 

for example:
"oh can we go and wake the Atheneninians?" - Sparks
"Athenians, no the duke Theseus is going to do that now" - Shakespeare

As you can see, Sparks says the word 'Atheneninians' which is wrong as she believes thats how you say Athenians. this joke is used throughout the whole play and both Sparks and Gaffer use it. I feel that it shows she is trying to be smart but she is still getting it wrong. 

Midsummer Nights Dream - Snug Character Profile

Name: Snug the Joiner
Statues: Mechanical
Relations: friends with Bottom, Quince, Snout, Starveling and Flute
Play: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Part of the play: Act 1 Scene 2, Act 3 Scene 1 and Act 5 Scene 1

From left to right: Snout, Flute, Snug (Girl in Yellow), Quince, Starveling and Bottom


Snug's Character:
Snug is to be apart of a play that will be presented for Duke Theseus as he is getting married to Hippolyta. They will show it on their wedding day. Quince is the leader and writer for their amateur company  and within their first scene we see Quince giving each of the actors their parts. Snug is left till last as is given the role of Lion. However Snug is a very timid and slightly dumb character so playing the lion seems like a confusing concept as snug isn't brave or loud like a lion and he is scared about playing the character due to the lines. Therefore he says:

"Have you the lion’s part written? Pray you, if it be, give it me, for I am slow of study."
Act 1 Scene 2 - Snug

This line basically shows Snug's character to be shy, dumb and nervous about performing the play to people. Quince then tells Snug...

"You may do it extempore, for it is nothing but roaring."
Act 1 Scene 2 - Quince

It shows how quince as been kind to Snug as he says that you can basically improvise the character as it is nothing but roaring. It also show that Snug is probably well looked after by all the mechanicals as they are considerate enough to put him into the play and they consider how hard it is for Snug to learn his lines. Therefor I believe that Snug is probably more confident with the mechanicals compared to when he is performing the play within the play as he is not comfortable with the lords and ladies.

Our Version of Snug:
Originally the play within the play tell the story of the lovers Pyramus and Thisbe who have been separated by a wall of their families land. They therefor plan to meet at Ninnies tomb so that they can be together. However a lion intercepts Thisbe and it tears of a piece of Thisbe's clothing which is now covered in blood.  Pyramus then finds the clothes and believes that Thisbe had died so he takes his life. Later Thisbe then finds Pyramus dead and she also takes her own life. It is sort of a take on Romeo and Juliet. 

Due to the fact that we are performing to children age 3-6, we have had to change the play within the play's storyline as it originally contains to many inappropriate themes for this audience. Therefor the story now goes ...

Pyramus and Thisbe hear a strange cat like sound and they see a tail flick through a whole in the wall. They decided to climb over the wall to see what the sound is and they find a 'cat'. They therefore bring up the cat as their pet but one night the moon shines on the cat and it actually shows that it is a lion. the lion then says goodbye to Pyramus and Thisbe and runs of to be free.

This version of the play within the play is a lot more suitable for the young audience as it not only doesn't contain the inappropriate themes but it also uses slapstick humour when Pyramus and Thisbe try to climb the wall but instead they go through the walls legs. 

Midsummer Nights Dream - Egeus Character Profile

Name: Egeus
Statues: A gentlemen of Athens
Relations: Father to Hermia
Play: A midsummer Night's Dream
Part of the play: Appears in Act 1 Scene 1 and the second to last scene Act 4 Scene 1

Egeus is the lady on the left, then Duke Theseus and Hippolyta 



Egeus's Character:
We first see Egeus in the house of the Duke Theseus where he appeals to the duke to allow him to be able to choose his daughter's (Hermia) husband. Hermia is in love with a man called Lysander but Egeus doesn't like him and Egeus wants Hermia to marry a man called Demetrius instead. 

In the original text it says:

"I beg the ancient privilege of Athens.
As she is mine, I may dispose of her—
Which shall be either to this gentleman
Or to her death—according to our law
Immediately provided in that case."
Act 1 Scene 1 - Egeus

This basically says that Egeus is so determine to choose for his daughter that he would rather her be killed then have her marry Lysander. Since he is a high gentleman in society he also is able to hold the law up against is word as he is educated and he has high statues and control over his daughter. to me this show that Egeus probably isn't a very caring father as he cares more about controlling her then considering her feelings on the matter. therefore I feel everything about his character should be upright and cold since he doesn't show any compassion to his daughter.

Our Version of Egeus:
Since our version of the play is based for children between the ages of 3 - 6, we are not going to say that Hermia must die instead of marrying Demetrius as this would be a very inappropriate theme to put to children of that age. Also the two actors who are playing Egeus (myself included) are both female so in order not to make the children confused we are changing Egeus to Egeia. So this means that references of Egeus must change so that they are female.

For example...
"Be advised fair maid:
to you your father should be as a god;"
Act 1 Scene 1 - Theseus

it will change to...
"Be advised fair maid:
to you your Mother should be as a Goddess;"
Act 1 Scene 1 - Theseus

Midsummer Nights Dream - Globe Theatre Performance

Compared to the original performance of 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' there has been many modern adaptations since that have altered aspects of the performance to suit the modern era. our class recently went to see an adaptation of 'Midsummer' in the globe theatre which was considerable different compared to the original performances. 

One way in which the modern performance was different was through the change of culture. When it was first performed in the 1500's it was deemed acceptable for young nobles to be set up in arranged marriages where as now-a-days it is not as common and in some countries it is even illegal. So in order for the this concept to seem realistic in the modern world, they made the main lover, Hermia, who is being put in an arranged marriage a part of Indian culture. This is more plausible to a modern audience as some Indian families do set their children in arranged marriages due to their cultural beliefs. 

Furthermore, the Indian culture meant that they could change the music of the performance to traditional Indian music. In most of Shakespeare's plays there would have been songs or music in their performances however this music would have been of its era so it makes sense for the modern production to modernise the music. For intense they referenced modern pop culture through the use of the song 'Ring on it' by Beyonce to help explain that Lysander and Hermia were running away to get married. This not only made a joke for the modern audience but it also helped explain the context of the story. They also used a tradition sitar player that was seated on the balcony who accompanied through out the performance. the music not only heightened the atmosphere but it also helped represent the magic being used and it link the Indian heritage of some of the characters to the story line. 

Finally they made a drastic change to characters in the modern performance by linking the modern acceptance of homosexual couples. In the original, the are two couples of lovers, Hermia with Lysander and Helena with Demetrius. However in this adaptation they decided to change Helena to a boy and call him Helenus. By doing this it meant that there was not only a confusion of who everyone was meant to be in love with but also there was confusion on the lover's sexuality. this defiantly made it suitable for modern audiences as we have accepted homosexuality and it is currently all over the media. However if this was showed to Shakespearean audiences it would probably been frowned upon as it was illegal. So I think the use of homosexuality in the modern play shows our progression of acceptance of homosexuality over the years.

Midsummer Nights Dream - Historical, Social and Cultural Context

Historical Context:
Shakespeare produced most of his known work between the years 1589 to 1631 and his earlier plays were predominantly comedies or histories. A Midsummer Nights Dream was originally written in 1595 making it one of Shakespeare's first Comedies and one of the most well known as well.
It is believed that Shakespeare based most of the characters in "Midsummer" around other characters through out history. Here are some of the examples...

1. The characters Theseus and Hippolyta were thought to be based and inspired by Greek Gods
2. The character Titania, Queen of the Fairies, was apparently taken from Ovid's 'Metamorphoses'
3. The character Oberon , King of the Fairies, was believed to be from the medieval romance 'Huan of Bordeaux'

The first ever performance was believed to have been performed at a country house in front of a young nobleman for his wedding celebration. This is a very interesting concept as it evokes the theory of Metatheatre. it is believed that Metatheatre is the concept that forces a challenge to the audience of a theatre to believe that it is actually real.

For example, when the play was first performed at the nobleman's wedding, Shakespeare was asking the audience to pretend that the setting of the play took place in a forest even though in reality is was probably performed in the nobleman's house. Shakespeare was asking them to use their imagination. Within the play there is a mini play within the play. So now this nobleman's audience is not only having to believe the play is set in a forest (even though its being performed in the nobleman's house) but  they are also being asked to believe that there are some actors who are rehearsing a play...
  "This green plot shall be our stage, this hawthorn-brake our tiring-house" Quince - Act 3 Scene 1
The audience are now being asked to believe that there is a stage upon a stage and where every part of the stage is in comparison to the mini play's rehearsal. Basically it questions the audience's minds on what is the real stage and what if the fake stage being used for the mini play. i know very confusing but a very interesting concept to be put forward to the performance.

Social Context:
Shakespeare was very clever in the way he related the Society of the Elizabethan Era to his play and Midsummer Nights Dream defiantly has some hidden references. Here are a few examples...

1. Shakespeare could have written the mechanicals as parodies of Actors that were around in the Elizabethan Era. Some male actors had to play female roles in Shakespeare's play. This is represented through the character Flute when he is told he must play " the lady that Pyramus must love" Quince - Act 1 Scene 2. Also Bottom's character is based around some actors who used to see themselves as higher status then they actually were.

2. It is also believe that the character of Titania was originally based around Queen Elizabeth 1st which makes sense as it was also believed that at the first performance of 'Midsummer' Queen Elizabeth was there.
"vestal throned by the west" This is said by Oberon about Titania. "Vestal" means virgin and it could be linked to the fact that Queen Elizabeth was known as the Virgin Queen.

3. Also there is a reference to Queen Elizabeth's almost assassination.
"But I might see young Cupid’s fiery shaft
Quenched in the chaste beams of the watery moon,"
This line translates as...
"But I could see that Cupid’s fiery arrow was put out by watery, virginal moonbeams,"
It therefore once again reference Queen Elizabeth's virginity but also the arrow misses the person that cupid wanted to shoot like how the assassin missed the Queen as well.

Cultural Context:
The title of the play, A Midsummer Nights Dream, links to a traditional English holiday custom 'Midsummer's Eve' or 'The Summer Solstice' on June 23rd. Men and Women where known to have spent the night/evening outdoors and around bonfires, telling supernatural tales of fairies and witchcraft. The supernatural element is very apparent with in 'Midsummer Nights Dream' as they have fairies and Magic spells so it is very likely Shakespeare based some the characters from this celebration.

Also is is believed that Puck and the fairies are used as digs against the English Puritans of the Elizabethan Era. Their characters are believed to be taken from 'All Hallows Eve' or as we known it 'Halloween'. Puritans originally saw the 'Halloween' tradition as pagan practices which were considered as evil and mischievous. So the character's of Puck and the fairies are representations of what the Puritans believed to be devilish creature. As you could tell Shakespeare didn't like the English Puritans as they were very against theatre and so this would have been a very cunning way to get back at them for hating theatre.

Midsummer Nights Dream - Themes

There are many themes that are hidden in Midsummer Nights Dream. Here are just a few of them...

1.Order and Disharmony:
The order of Egeus' family is threatened when Hermia goes against her father's wishes to marry Demetrius. The problem is that it pushes the conventions of social class in Elizabethan era as it shows shows the disobedience from Hermia that would not have been acceptable in that era. It was common in Elizabethan era for girls to be set up in arranged marriages by their fathers as women were seen as property of men.
Theseus - act 1 scene 1 "To you your father should be as a god"
This line shows how men had higher status to women and that women were expected to know that they were seen as lesser humans. However having Hermia refuse her father, makes her father seem like the weaker figure even though he has the higher status and therefore it brings disharmony to the order of status in their family.

There is also a struggle with order in the fairy kingdom as both the King and Queen a arguing over a small Indian boy.
Puck - Act 2 Scene 1 
"A lovely boy stolen from an Indian king.
She never had so sweet a changeling.
And jealous Oberon would have the child" 
The text describes how the boy is a changeling which means that he is some kind of servant or follower to Titania (Queen of the Fairies). I think that this is very interesting as it means that 2 of the highest status characters in the play are arguing over a very low status which show how the order's have been reversed and this argument therefore causes a discord in the fairy kingdom as they are split to either the King or the Queen. It also suggests that their whole argument is a struggle for power as they both only want the boy to annoy the other one.

Therefore I believe that the main course for the disharmony in the play is due to the change in status through out the characters and that there is only real peace again when people are put back into their proper places.
In Elizabethan era status was very important as even in their theatres the higher and lower classes were separated. The lords and the ladies in the Globe theatre would have sat in the balcony looking down on the actors and they had seats to watch the performances. where as the lower status commoners (or known in the globe as groundings) would have been in the pit where they would have to stand for the entire 3 hours of performance. However now-a-days status is not as common as anyone is allowed to sit anywhere in the theatre as long as the pay for their place.

2. Feminism 
Another key theme is feminism which is shown in every female character is Midsummer Nights Dream. For example when we first see Helena and Demetrius in the forest, it is clear that she is almost trying to woo him.
Helena - Act 2 Scene 1 "You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant."
In this line Helena is almost trying to flirt with Demetrius in order to confuse and dis armour him. It is a very feminist move as instead of waiting for the man to make his move, Helena takes matters into her own hands and she defies all conventions on wooing. In Shakespeare's time it was only proper for the man to make the move so seeing these acts of feminism would have been quite scandalous to be seen as it could have put new thoughts into ladies heads. Where as now-a-days there are no rules to flirting and it is more common for both men and women to make a move no matter what sex they are.

Another act of feminism happens with Hippolyta when she is for most of the play silence but in the final scene she gains her voice and she even makes fun with Duke Theseus, her husband.
Theseus - Act 5 Scene 1 "The best in this kind are but shadows, and the worst are no worse if imagination amend them."
Hippolyta - Act 5 Scene 1 "It must be your imagination then, and not theirs."
In this line Hippolyta is actually joking with her husband by saying it is his imagination and not the play that is interesting. This is very striking as not many women would have spoken so forwardly with their husbands without being belittle afterwards. She is also the only woman who talks in act 5 after the wedding which shows how perhaps she defies convention as in the Elizabethan era women were seen as men's property in marriage and it would have been common for the women's husbands to speak for them. However now-a-days everybody is equal and all women in modern society are allowed their own voice among people.

3.Dreams and Reality
Another key theme is Dreams and Reality. not only is Dreams referenced in the title, but it is also used as an excuse for all of the things that happen within the play.
Puck - Act 5 Scene 1 
"If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended—
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear."
In this final dialogue of the play, Puck states that if the audience believes that they have just dreamed the play in their sleep, then they shouldn't be too offended by what they have watched. It sort of suggests that dreams are not explainable and there is nothing that can be done to change them so we should just accept them for what they are. It also explains how none of what they have seen is real as they call the dreams visions which could be considered as false illusions.

The play also shows how dreams and reality can become mixed up by the mortals as they question whether the supernatural events that have happen are real or not.
Lysander - Act 4 Scene 1
"My lord, I shall reply amazèdly,
Half sleep, half waking. But as yet, I swear,
I cannot truly say how I came here."
In this line Lysander contradicts himself by saying is asleep and he is awake, so it shows how they are confused between the differences of dream and reality. also it shows how people just amused that the supernatural events must be explainable through something. And therefore it shows how deserving the mystic elements are due to magic and manipulation.

 I feel that this theme is one of the reasons that this play is considered as one of Shakespeare's comedies simply due to the fact that they cover up all of the distressing events through the idea that everything was just a dream. It sort of sugar-coats all of the play in a friendly and light setting. To a Shakespearean audience I think it would have been an interesting concept to watch as there was many things like diseases and science that people of that era wouldn't have been able to explain where as this play gives its audience an explanation. And i also feel that this play will work for our modern interpretation of the play as we doing children's theatre. I believe that having the dreams resolve the problems will make it easier for the children to understand and it would also add a bit of wonder to the performance. 

William Shakespeare

Born: April 1564

From: Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England

Died: 23rd April 1616

Period: English Renaissance, Elizabethan Era

Occupation: Playwright, poet, actor, businessman

From what has been learn about Shakespeare, it is believed he has written 38 plays, 2 long narrative poems, some rhythmic verses and around 154 sonnets. He produced most of his known work between the time of 1589 and 1613. His earlier plays were predominately Comedies and Histories and then he wrote mainly Tragedies until about 1608. In the final six years of his known career he wrote tragicomedies (romances).


Shakespeare's Dialogue:

Singular Pronouns:
. Thou = You (subject) "Thou art my brother"
. Thee = You (object) "Come let me clutch thee"
. Thy = Your (Possessive Adjective) "What is thy name"
. Thine = Your (Possessive noun) "To thine own self be true"
. Ye = You (crowd/group) "Ye shall know me"

Verb Inflections:
. est - "Thou liest malignant thing"
. st - "What didst thou see"

Common Shakespearean Words:
. you - aye/yea
. no - nay
. until later - anon
. day - morrow
. why - wherefore
. maybe - mayhap/belike/perchance
. belief - troth

Iambic Pentameter:
 . It has ten syllables in each line
 . It is also known as Blank verse
 . It has five pairs of stressed and unstressed syllables
 . The rhythm in each line sounds like:
ba-BUM/ba-BUM/ba-BUM/ba-BUM/ba-BUM

Rhymed Verse:
. It is also known as Calatectic Trochaic Tetrameter
. It has eight syllables in each line
. It has four pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables
. It usually rhythms at the end of each line
. The rhythm in each line sounds like:
DUM-da/DUM-da/DUM-da/DUM-da

Rhetorical Devises of Shakespeare:
. Alliteration - e.g silly sausage
. Single Syllables Words - (to be or not to be) naturally slows downs the dialogue
. End Words - important to get across the meaning of the line (text)
. Assonance - vowel sound that clash with each other
. Disonance - simular but not rhythming vowel sounds
. Antithesis - using opposites to get across their points
. Shared Lines - blank verse rhythm is shared over two characters dialogue
. Caesura - a full stop to end a character's thought