A Midsummer Night's Dream
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William Shakespeare
Magic, fairies, young lovers chasing each other through a forest, a man with a donkey's head, and impish Puck wreaking havoc right and left. What's going on here? It's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare at his most fanciful. The play opens with Theseus, Duke of Athens, preparing for his wedding. Egeus complains to Theseus that his daughter Hermia refuses to marry Demetrius. When Hermia is given the choice between marriage to Demetrius or life as a nun, she and her true love Lysander flee into the forest. Demetrius follows them; and Helena, who loves Demetrius, follows him. Also in the forest are Oberon and Titania, king and queen of the fairies, at odds with one another. At Oberon's behest, Puck causes Demetrius to fall in love with Helena -- oops, he missed, that was Lysander instead. Mayhem ensues. In the meantime, a group of bumbling craftsmen rehearses a play. Puck gives one of them, Bottom, the head of an ass and makes Titania fall in love with him. Further hilarity results as Bottom sees nothing at all odd about this. Eventually everything is straightened out, Bottom and the rest "perform" their play, there is a triple wedding, and Puck assures us the whole thing has been a dream. Number of quotes you know: 5 (what fools these mortals be). Useful insults: 19. (Summary by Laurie Anne Walden)
Cast:
Theseus, Duke of Athens – Mark F. Smith
Egeus, father to Hermia; and Snout, a tinker – John Lieder
Lysander, in love with Hermia – mb
Demetrius, in love with Hermia – David O'Connell
Philostrate, master of the revels – Philippa
Quince, a carpenter – Brian Edwards
Snug, a joiner – Elizabeth Klett
Bottom, a weaver – Simon Taylor
Flute, a bellows-mender – David Nicol
Starveling, a tailor – Jessica Miller
Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons – Cori Samuel
Hermia, daughter to Egeus, in love with Lysander – Laurie Anne Walden
Helena, in love with Demetrius – Rosalind Wills
Oberon, king of the fairies – Fr. Richard Zeile of Detroit
Titania, queen of the fairies – Deborah Irving
Puck, or Robin Goodfellow – Karen Savage
Peaseblossom – Larysa Jaworski
Cobweb – Charlene V. Smith
Moth – Alana Jordan
Mustardseed – Jamie Ash Young
Stage directions – Paul Williams<
Fairy song composed and performed by Rosalind Wills; performed by Rosalind Wills and Larysa Jaworski
Audio edited by Cori Samuel and Laurie Anne Walden (2 hr 4 min)
Chapters
Bewertungen
PTS
Excellent performance. I am listening at the gym and people are wondering why I chuckle as I ride the elliptical machine.
GraceV
I love this play! We had to read it in class and I read ahead. My favorite Shakespeare play!
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Emmalillian Gonzolas
Wow... I was a little confuzzled at first but then I read the discription and got back on track. This is now my second or third, i can't decide, favorite Shakespeare play.
I love this book
XxcaitlynxX
this book was very entertaining I am in year 7 and enjoyed reading this and it helped my concentration and it was fun to listen to thank you for putting this on here because I am learning about this in school
Truly stunning
Acutie
A fine collaboration of many talented folks. This shall bring forth sweet dreams and fine fantasies.
I LOVED IT!!!!!!
tiger
What!?! I loved the readers they did an excellent gob!
Very nice.
Stephen D.
Glad I found this on LibriVox! Very well read (acted?) Shakespearean play, I remember acting in this on back when I was 10. Alas, the play is difficult to understand for the casual listener! It takes dedication to read, or listen to, it watch a Shakespeare play. Dedication that is common in those whose years number at the least, 12. Dedication among listeners, alas, has dropped in frequency over the years, and there are many cries of “Forsooth! I shall not listen to this wretched tome!” But, uh, yeah. You should, like, probably read it. I guess.
amazing! I love it!
Tiger
Hi I'm Gilligan, and I rily love this play, and I love how Shakespeare makes his girls have feeling and are not just there, this is my second favorite play he wrote.