A Midsummer Night's Dream at Richmond Shakespeare

Probably written between 1594 and 1596, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. It is set across two worlds – the court of Athens and a mystical forest that lies beyond the city’s walls. The play is a comedy and explores themes of the irrationality of love, desire, friendship, possession, jealousy, and magic.

On Midsummer’s Night, the real and fairy worlds collide.  Four young lovers, faced with the prospect of unhappy marriage or worse, flee the court of Athens and stumble into an enchanted forest. Nearby, a group of amateur actors rehearse a play to celebrate an upcoming royal wedding. As these mere mortals cross paths with a warring fairy King and Queen, chaos reigns in the natural world. The lines between reality and illusion start to blur and no-one but mischievous Puck knows what is true and what is magic.

Authors

• Allen Shawn
• Caca Rosset
• Ellen Bower
• Ken Guilmartin
• Michael Philip Ward
• William Penn
• William Shakespeare

Tony Awards and Nominations for A Midsummer Night's Dream