John, Paul, Pyramus, and Thisbe: The Beatles performing Shakespeare
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Author
Daniel Blank
Did you know that the Beatles once performed the “Pyramus and Thisbe” scene from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night’s Dream"? Although they mainly stick to Shakespeare’s script, the moments when they play with the text stand out.
Bottom's dream - Excerpt: 'Reading Shakespeare Reading Me' by Leonard Barkan
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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond
This excerpt from Leonard Barkan's new book "Reading Shakespeare Reading Me" explores Bottom's awakening and recollection of his enchantment as a donkey in "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
In Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, much of the comedic conflict derives from the application of the nectar of a magic flower. Under its influence, the queen of the fairies (Titania) becomes enamored of a donkey, and, through a bit…
Introducing Shakespeare and Greek Myths: Theseus and Hippolyta
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Author
emma poltrack
Welcome to our new Shakespeare and Greek Myths series. We're starting off with Theseus and Hippolyta--figures who are not only referred to in the plays, but are also fully formed characters in two of them: A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Two Noble Kinsmen. But who are they and what are their backstories?
“Good Peter Quince:” Shakespeare’s most autobiographical character
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Author
Austin Tichenor
Richard Ruiz (Peter Quince) and Holly Twyford (Bottom) in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Folger Theatre, 2016. Teresa Wood. A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream is one of William Shakespeare’s most popular plays, and for good reason. Frequently a young person’s introduction to…
‘In the spiced Indian air’: Trading coin and cloth in the empire of the Great Mughal
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Author
Lubaaba Al-Azami
The spiced air of India was the stuff of legend in Shakespeare’s England, and is brought to vivid life in this famous passage from "A Midsummer Night’s Dream." These were images which Shakespeare knew his audiences would understand, during a period in which England had begun its sea voyages to Asia in earnest, and the fabulous possibilities of directly accessing the merchandise of India were being realized for the first time.
ENCORES: A selection from “The Fairy Queen” presented by Folger Consort (2007)
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Author
emma poltrack
Folger Public Programs is pleased to present ENCORES. Enjoy a selection from Folger Consort’s ‘The Fairy Queen’ (2007) featuring Lynn Redgrave, Sir Derek Jacobi, and Richard Clifford.
“More strange than true”: Finding America among the fairies
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Author
Victoria Muñoz
“I have had a most rare vision…” Bottom’s words in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” echo the language of Spanish conquistadors describing Aztec Mexico.
And so they play their parts: Double-casting Shakespeare’s plays
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Author
Austin Tichenor
Double-casting is a theater technique (as opposed to a literary one) that creates a meta-narrative, transforming a large-cast play into a present-tense adventure. Actors swapping costumes and changing roles (and sometimes genders) becomes part of the thrilling ride, and theater’s fundamental artifice becomes its strength. Theater’s very artificiality becomes a feature, not a bug. Shakespeare utilized this trick to both amplify subtext and heighten the drama.
To get you ready for a summer in the Athenian woods, we wanted to share with you a guide to the variety of ways you can explore A Midsummer Nights Dream online before seeing it at the National Building Museum.
