A Midsummer Night's Dream - State Theatre

A Midsummer
Night’s Dream

2
Welcome!
Welcome to the State Theatre’s
school-day performance of A
Midsummer Night’s Dream. In
BAMA Theatre Company’s inspired
production, eight amazing actors
magically morph into 22 different
characters
These Keynotes will help you
and your students prepare for the
show. Besides exploring the plot,
characters, and background of the
play, the materials will help
audiences recognize and
appreciate the theatrical elements
that set this production apart from
other versions of A Midsummer
Night’s Dream you may have seen.
Enjoy the show!
Contents
Welcome! ....................................................2
Shakespeare & A Midsummer
Night’s Dream ......................................3
The Story......................................................4
Follow the Map! ........................................5
About This Production............................6
Staying on Track........................................7
What’s It All About? ................................8
One Play, Many Stories ..........................9
Meet BAMA Theatre Company............10
Resources ....................................................11
During the Show ......................................12
Keynotes are made possible by a
generous grant from Bank of America
Charitable Foundation.
The State Theatre’s education program is funded in part by Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Colgate-
Palmolive, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, E & G Foundation, Gannett Foundation, The William G. & Helen C.
Hoffman Foundation, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, J. Seward
Johnson, Sr. 1963 Charitable Trust, Karma Foundation, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, McCrane
Foundation, MetLife Foundation, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, National Starch, New England Foundation for the
Arts, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour, Bill & Cathy Powell, The
Provident Bank Foundation, PSE&G, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, TD Bank, and Wachovia Wells Fargo
Foundation. Their support is gratefully acknowledged.
The presentation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is supported in part by PSE&G.
Keynotes are produced by the Education
Department of the State Theatre,
New Brunswick, NJ.
Mark W. Jones, President & CEO
Lian Farrer, Vice President for Education
Online at www.StateTheatreNJ.org/Keynotes
Keynotes for A Midsummer Night’s Dream written
and designed by Lian Farrer.
Edited by Jennifer Cunha.
© 2010 State Theatre
Funding has been made possible in
part by the New Jersey State
Council on the Arts/Department of
State, a partner agency of the
National Endowment for the Arts.
Continental
Airlines is the
official airline
of the State
Theatre.
The Heldrich
is the official
hotel of the
State Theatre.
Find us at www.StateTheatreNJ.org
Contact: education@StateTheatreNJ.org
The State Theatre, a premier nonprofit venue for the
performing arts and entertainment.

3
Shakespeare &
A Midsummer
Night’s Dream
“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”
—Puck, Act 3, Scene 2
Shakespeare’s comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, was first
performed somewhere between 1595 and 1596. The play weaves
together characters and stories from very different worlds: mythical
heroes from ancient Greece, sprites and fairies, two human couples,
and a group of bumbling craftsmen. On Midsummer Eve, their lives and
stories intersect in unexpected ways, with adventures and
misadventures that eventually lead to a happy conclusion.
A poet as well as a playwright, William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is
the most celebrated and influential writer of any era. Despite the
passage of more than 400 years, his plays are constantly being
performed around the world. They have been the inspiration for
countless films, novels, poems, and operas, and even other plays. After
the Bible, he is the second-most quoted writer in the history of the
English language. Shakespeare’s popularity and influence are universal;
at the Shakespeare Centre in Stratford-upon-Avon, the library
collection includes editions of the plays and poems in over 80
languages, from Arabic and Albanian to Yakut and Zulu.
Shakespeare’s influence extended over the English language itself.
No one knows exactly how many new words he created; the estimates
run from a few dozen to ten thousand. Some of the words that are first
seen in his plays include accessible, amazement, assassination,
barefaced, bedazzle, belongings, circumstantial, courtship, critical,
dewdrop, downstairs, employer, epileptic, exposure, fairyland,
fashionable, frugal, homely, impartial, lament, leapfrog, majestic,
moonbeam, paternal, puke, rant, reclusive, roadway, sacrificial,
schoolboy, silliness, useful, vulnerable, watchdog, and zany.
Midsummer is a holiday that has been celebrated since
ancient times. It takes place during the summer solstice, the
longest day of the year. In England, Midsummer was
celebrated with parades, bonfires, feasting, and dancing.
During Shakespeare’s time, some people believed that
Midsummer Night had a special magic. Sprites and fairies
had stronger powers. Flowers gathered on this night could
work magic. People dreamed visions of their true loves.
Some even went insane. From the title alone, Shakespeare’s
audiences would have understood that A Midsummer
Night’s Dream would be about love, magic, and madness.

4
The Story
In Athens, Theseus prepares for
Hermia and Lysander (the man
Demetrius and Helena used to
The six mechanicals discuss a
his wedding to Hippolyta.
she loves) decide to run away
be a couple, but he broke up
play called Pyramus and Thisbe,
Egeus comes to demand that
and be married. They agree to
with her. Desperate to win him
which they will perform at the
his daughter Hermia be forced
meet in the forest outside of
back, Helena decides to tell him
wedding of Theseus and
to marry Demetrius. According
town the following night.
about Hermia and Lysander’s
Hippolyta. They agree to
to ancient law, Hermia must
Hermia confides in her friend
plan to elope.
rehearse later in the woods
obey her father, or else be sent
Helena about the plan.
outside the city.
to a convent or put to death.
Puck, a mischievous spirit,
Oberon decides to get back at
Oberon sees Helena chasing
As Titania lies sleeping, Oberon
works for Oberon, the King of
Titania. He orders Puck to find
Demetrius through the woods.
applies the magic juice to her
the Fairies. Puck explains that
a magic flower. If you put the
He feels sorry for her and
eyes.
Oberon’s wife, Titania, Queen of
juice from this flower on
orders Puck to put the flower
the Fairies, has stolen a young
someone’s eyes, they will fall
juice in the eyes of the young
boy from Oberon. Oberon is
madly in love with the first
man (meaning Demetrius) to
furious, and exchanges some
creature they see.
make him fall in love with
bitter words with Titania.
Helena when he wakes up.
Puck finds Hermia and Lysander
Helena comes across the
In another part of the forest,
Bottom can’t understand why
asleep in the woods. He
sleeping couple. Lysander
Puck sees the mechanicals
his friends fled from him. He
mistakes Lysander for
wakes up and the first thing he
rehearsing their play. Just to
wanders through the forest and
Demetrius and puts the flower
sees is Helena. He falls instantly
make mischief, he magically
comes across the sleeping
juice in his eyes.
in love with her and starts
transforms Bottom’s head into
Titania. She awakens and
chasing her through the forest,
a donkey’s head. Terrified, the
immediately falls in love with
leaving behind the sleeping
mechanicals run away from
the donkey-headed Bottom.
Hermia.
their friend.
Puck tells Oberon that Titania is
When Demetrius falls asleep,
Hermia arrives and accuses
Furious with Puck for causing
in love with a donkey.
Oberon applies the juice to his
Helena of stealing Lysander’s
so much trouble, Oberon
Demetrius appears, along with
eyes. Demetrius awakens, sees
affections. Lysander continues
orders him to remove the
Hermia, who is desperately
Helena, and falls in love with
to fight with Demetrius over
flower juice from Lysander’s
trying to find Lysander. Oberon
her on the spot. Now both
Helena. The two men go off to
eyes so he will fall back in love
realizes that Puck put the magic
Lysander and Demetrius are in
fight a duel. All four Athenians
with Hermia. He casts a spell to
juice into the wrong man’s eyes.
love with Helena. She is sure
set off through the forest. Puck
make Hermia, Helena, Lysander,
He sends Puck to find Helena.
they’re just making fun of her.
makes sure they lose one
and Demetrius fall asleep.
another.
Surrounded by her fairies,
Titania lavishes kisses and
caresses on the donkey-headed
Bottom. Oberon feels sorry for
her and releases her from the
spell. Puck transforms Bottom
back into human form.
Theseus leads a hunting party
in the woods. They come across
the two couples asleep on the
ground. Demetrius tells Egeus
that he loves Helena and no
longer wishes to marry Hermia.
Theseus declares that there will
be a triple wedding.
Back in Athens, the mechanicals
are upset about Bottom’s
disappearance. He arrives just
in time to join the celebration.
The wedding couples and their
guests watch in amusement as
the mechanicals act out the
story of Pyramus and Thisbe.
The three newlywed couples
retire to bed. Oberon and
Titania give their blessing to
the marriages. Puck turns to
the audience to say the whole
thing has been a dream.

5
Follow
the Map!
EGEUS
Wants Theseus
to force Hermia
to marry
Demetrius
asks for help
THESEUS
King of Athens
engaged to
HIPPOLYTA
Queen of the
Amazons; defeated
by Theseus
This map shows the
complicated
relationships among the
characters in the play.
Can you follow the
map?
Key
The Royals
The Lovers
The Mechanicals
The Fairies
Other Humans
father of
HERMIA
Facing death for
refusing to marry
Demetrius
friends
HELENA
Loved by
Demetrius, until
he dumps her
for Hermia
truly loves
loves because of the flower juice
loves
LYSANDER
The man Hermia
wants to marry,
against her
father’s wishes
uses flower juice on
uses flower juice on
serves
PUCK
A mischievous
fairy
OBERON
King of the Fairies
married to
True Feelings
loved, then didn’t
Under a Spell
AMAZONS - a nation of
female warriors
MECHANICAL - In
Shakespeare’s time, it
meant someone from the
lower class who works at a
manual trade, such as a
carpenter or bricklayer.
truly loves
loves because of the flower juice
PETER
QUINCE
Writes Pyramus
and Thisbe
PLAYERS
Along with Bottom, the
men who perform in
Pyramus and Thisbe:
Flute, Snout, Snug, and
Robin Starveling
DEMETRIUS
The man Egeus
wants Hermia
to marry
transforms into a donkey
BOTTOM
A weaver who plays
Pyramus in the playwithin-a-play
loves because of the flower juice
TITANIA
Queen of the Fairies
FAIRIES
Servants of Titania:
Peaseblossom,
Cobweb, Moth, and
Mustardseed

6
About This
Production
8 actors. 22 roles. 1 trunk. Proof that magic still exists.
BAMA Theatre Company performs Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with
just eight actors, some costume pieces, and a stage that is completely bare, except for a
large trunk. There are no high-tech visual effects, no recorded music or sound effects.
All of the theatrical magic is created by the actors themselves.
Why did the company decide to do away with many of the elements we associate
with live theater?
“The emphasis for us was always on Shakespeare’s
words,” says Greg Foro, BAMA’s co-artistic director. “For
us, that meant there would be no extravagant costumes
or sets to distract the audience from the real ‘meat’ of
the play. We asked ourselves the question: Would a
modern audience see Shakespeare in a different way?”
Without the usual visual cues to identify the
“What if the audience was
simply asked to hear the
poetry and see the play come
to life in its purest form?”
—Greg Foro
characters and settings, how do you keep the audience from getting lost?
Greg explains: “We chose basic costumes with one or two identifying pieces so that
the audience knows right away who each character is. For instance, an actor may be in
basic black, but when he becomes Oberon, he need only put on a large cloak. When he
becomes one of the mechanicals, a simple vest and glasses will tell the audience right
away that there has been a change.”
Performing a play with 22 characters using only eight actors means that everybody
has to contribute at all times. Each actor plays at least two and as many as four roles.
(To see how this is done, read page 7, “Staying on Track.”) When the show begins, the
company uses blue tape to mark off a big rectangle on the stage floor. The story is
played out inside the rectangle. Actors who aren’t in a scene remain onstage, outside
the box, where they continue to be part of the performance. They use their voices and
bodies to create sound effects that help create a specific mood that adds to the drama.
Alison Frederick, the company’s co-artistic director, comments: “Each member of the
company is showing his/her support for his/her fellow actors as well as for the integrity
of the piece by being present….literally. The energy coming from outside the playing
space is just as important as what comes from within.”
During the performance, pay
particular attention to:
• The actors on the sidelines. How
do they help tell the story in
scenes that don’t include them?
• How the actors make their
transitions from one character
to another.
• How the actors suggest the
various locations in the play
without having any scenery or
special visual effects to help.
• Your own reactions. Are you
enjoying the performance? Can
you follow the story? Can you
understand what the characters
are saying?

7
Staying on Track
The ‘Mechanicals’ present their play. Left to right:
Starveling, Snout, Flute, Bottom, Peter Quince, and Snug.
BAMA Theatre Company’s eight actors portray all 22
characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. To make this work,
each actor is assigned a ‘track’—anywhere from two to four
roles they will play in the show.
Figuring out the tracks was a complicated puzzle. First of
all, the company had to make sure that the same actor wasn’t
assigned to play more than one character in the same scene.
The first thing the company did when they decided to
perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream was to map out, on a
grid, the characters that appear in each scene. First they made
the obvious choices for the major characters. Then they
worked out which actors would be available to take on the
other roles.
Because the play has more male than female characters, it
became clear that some of the male roles would have to be
played by women. BAMA’s Allison Frederick enjoys the
challenge. “In Shakespeare’s time it was normal for men to
play all the parts, including the female roles, because women
were not allowed on the stage. Thankfully, that is no longer
the case. Not only can women be in Shakespeare’s plays, they
can play any role they want. It’s high time that women got in
on the action!”
The Grid
William Greg Alison Nathan Nick Lauren Anne Chris Sarah
A1, S1 A1, S2 A1, S3 A2, S1 A2, S2 A2, S3 A2, S4 A2, S5 A2, S6 A3, S1 A3, S2 A3, S3 A3, S4 A3, S5 A4, S1 A4, S2 A4, S3 A5, S1 A5, S2 A5, S3
Theseus
Egeus
Lysander
Demetrius
Philostrate
Peter Quince
Bottom
Flute
Snout
Snug
Starveling
Hippolyta
Hermia
Helena
Oberon
Titania
Puck
Peaseblossom
Cobweb
Moth
Mustardseed/First Fairy

8
What’s It
All About?
“Innocent fantasy or sinister
nightmare—A Midsummer Night’s
Dream seems in the 20th century, at any
rate, to yield anything we might wish to
find in it.”
—R.A. Foakes
“For me, it is ‘bully Bottom’s’ play,
though its four realms of being—
fairies, ancient Athenians,
contemporary rustics, and erotically
confused young women and men—
all afford extraordinary vistas upon
colliding dreams and realities.”
—Harold Bloom
Ask ten Shakespeare scholars, ten actors, or ten theatergoers to
identify the main theme of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and you
might get ten different answers. No one answer will be the ‘right’
one or the ‘wrong’ one. That’s one of the things we love about this
play, and most plays in general: it invites us to create our own
meaning; to see the story and characters through our own eyes.
That’s why every production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is
different from the others. Each interpretation uses the same
words—the ones Shakespeare wrote. But every new creative team
(director, designers, actors, etc,) has their own ideas about the play.
They make artistic choices that will affect how the audience sees
the play.
What do you think is the main theme of A Midsummer Night’s Dream?
Write an essay explaining your choice. Include at least five lines or speeches
from the play that support your opinion.
Create a collage of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that represents your
personal understanding and interpretation of the play. Incorporate a variety
of materials to give your collage visual interest.
Watch at least two of the film versions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
(See the list on page 10 of this guide.) Compare and contrast: How is the
meaning of the play the same in each version? How is it different? What are
the specific elements (performances, lighting, costumes, settings, etc.) that
change the audience’s understanding of the play?
“The whole question which is
balanced, and balanced nobly
and fairly in A Midsummer
Nightʼs Dream, is whether the
life of waking, or the life of the
vision, is the real life of man.”
̶G.K. Chesterton
“Our version of A Midsummer Nightʼs Dream is
about the magic of love. Love touches
everyone: young and old, rich and poor, those
who return it and those who run from it. Any
way you find it, love changes you. It builds you
up and makes you believe that anything is
possible. It turns a gaggle of amateur actors
into a class act, fit for a king. It inspires lovers
to brave the forest in the hopes of finding a
brighter tomorrow. It can even alter nature and
change the seasons when the King and Queen
of the Fairies are in love. Love inspires us to be
a part of something greater than ourselves and
that is what makes it truly magical.”
̶Alison Frederick,
BAMA Theatre Company

9
One Play, Many Stories
A Midsummer Night’s Dream has many
different stories in one play, among them:
• The wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta
• The two mixed-up Athenian couples
• The conflict between Oberon and Titania
• The mechanicals preparing their play
• The play-within-the-play, Pyramus and
Thisbe.
From these many different threads,
Shakespeare wove a colorful tapestry
combining elements of comedy, tragedy,
history, mythology, and the supernatural. He
borrowed characters and plots from a wide
range of sources, including Greek and Roman
mythology, medieval and Renaissance literature,
and English folklore. The play contains
references to London actors, Indian kings,
Tartars, French and English coins, centaurs,
mermaids, the Man in the Moon, Jack and Jill,
magic herbs, swords, guns, and the Antipodes.
Are there any similarities among the various storylines
in this play? Differences?
Most of the plot threads have something to do with
love. How does love affect the different characters?
Does class or social stature seem to make a difference
in the way they be have under the influence of love?
Try writing your own story ‘mashup.’ Pick three sources
from the menu below. Combine them into one story,
making sure the plots and characters intersect.
• your family
• a nursery rhyme or children’s song
• a work of fiction you read for school
• a reality-tv show
• ancient mythology (any civilization)
• a famous (real-life) scientist or inventor
• a song lyric
• a real-life animal (or animals) that lives in the
ocean
Pyramus and Thisbe
“This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard.”
—Hippolyta: Act 5, Scene 1
The story of Pyramus and Thisbe (PEER-a-miss and THIZ-bee) is an
ancient Greek myth. Shakespeare would have known it from reading The
Metamorphoses, a long poem in 15 books by the Roman author Ovid (43
BC - AD 17). The poem is a collection of mythological and legendary
stories in which metamorphosis (transformation) plays some part.
Like Hermia and Lysander—and Romeo and Juliet, too—Pyramus and
Thisbe are young lovers who are kept apart by their parents. Through a
crack in the wall that separates their two houses, they arrange to meet
by moonlight at the tomb of Ninus (a character from Greek mythology).
Thisbe is the first to arrive at the meeting-place. She sees a lion, its
mouth still bloody from a recent kill. She flees in terror, accidentally
dropping her cloak. The lion grabs the cloak and rips it apart.
Pyramus arrives and finds the blood-stained cloak. He assumes that
Thisbe has been killed. Grief stricken, he draws his sword and kills
himself. A short time later, Thisbe returns to the tomb and finds Pyramus’
body. She kills herself with Pyramus’ sword. Her parents answer her dying
prayer and bury her in the same tomb with her beloved Pyramus.
The transformation in Ovid’s story has to do with a mulberry tree that
grows near Ninus’ tomb. The white fruit of the tree becomes stained by
Pyramus’s blood when he stabs himself. Before she kills herself, Thisbe
prays to the gods to forever change the color of the mulberry fruit. Her
wish is granted, and to this day, mulberry trees bear purple-red fruit.

10
Meet BAMA Theatre Company
The BAMA Theatre Company was
founded by eight graduate students from
the University of Alabama while they were in
residence at the Alabama Shakespeare
Festival. They developed this production of A
Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2007. Two
years later, they brought the show to the
William Brock
Bottom, Egeus
Greg Foro
Oberon, Quince,
Philostrate
Alison Frederick
Hermia, Starveling,
Cobweb
New York International Fringe Festival, where
it received terrific reviews. The company
returned to the Fringe Festival the following
summer with As You Like It.
BAMA Theatre works as a true ensemble.
From the very start, all members of the
production team—from actors to stage
managers—are involved in conceiving the
concept and then bringing the ideas to life
onstage. Like the performance itself, BAMA’s
creative process is built on collaboration and
cooperation.
Nathan T. Lange
Demetrius, Mustardseed/
First Fairy, Snug
Nick Lawson
Lysander, Flute, Moth
Lauren Anne Martin
Titania, Hippolyta
Visit BAMA Theatre Company at:
www.bamatheatrecompany.org
“Are you sure
That we are awake? It
seems to me
That yet we sleep, we
dream.”
Chris Roe
Theseus, Puck
Sarah Walker
Thornton
Helena, Snout,
Peaseblossom
Matt Renskers
Stage Manager/
Company Manager
—Puck, Act 3, Scene 2

11
Resources
BOOKS
The Friendly Shakespeare: A Thoroughly Painless Guide to the
Best of the Bard, by Norrie Epstein. Penguin, 1994.
Includes notes on theater and staging, authorship,
characters, and actors; a glossary of Elizabethan sexual
slang; interviews; and a chapter entitled “Why Is
Shakespeare Boring?”
Manga Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, illustrated
by Kate Brown. Amulet Books, 2008.
Shakespeare’s language remains largely intact, and is
illustrated with the style and visual language of manga.
The Shakespeare Miscellany, by David Crystal and Ben Crystal.
Overlook Hardcover, 2005.
A witty, insightful book with fascinating facts and insights
into Shakespeare’s life and works.
Shakespeare’s Words: A Glossary and Language Companion, by
David Crystal and Ben Crystal. Penguin, 2002.
A glossary of more than 14,000 words from Shakespeare,
explained and illustrated with quotations.
Shaking Hands with Shakespeare: A Teenager’s Guide to
Reading and Performing the Bard, by Allison Schumacher.
Kaplan Publishing, 2004.
An overview of Shakespeare’s work with an emphasis on
engaging the material the way actors do: through text
analysis, character study, reading aloud, and acting.
Includes information about Shakespeare’s life and times,
how to understand his language, the plots and characters,
and how to be an audience member.
FILM
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935). Directed by William
Dieterle and Max Reinhardt. Starring James Cagney and
Mickey Rooney. 133 mins. Not rated.
A black-and-white production featuring a cast of
Hollywood stars not especially known as Shakespearean
actors. But the film is a lot of fun and has some terrific
special effects.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1968). Directed by Peter Hall.
Starring Helen Mirren. 124 mins. Not rated.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1993). Directed by Adrian
Noble. Starring Lindsay Duncan and Alex Jennings. 103 mins.
Rated PG-13.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999). Directed by Michael
Hoffman. Starring Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Stanley Tucci,
Rupert Everett, Calista Flockhart, and Christian Bale. 116 mins.
Rated PG-13.
Shakespeare Retold: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2005).
Directed by Ed Fraiman, adapted from Shakespeare by Peter
Bowker. 90 mins.
Part of the BBC-TV series of Shakespeare plays reimagined
for modern audiences.
ON THE WEB
“In Search of Shakespeare,” PBS’ site for students and
teachers, offering games, lesson plans, resource list, and an
exploration of Shakespeare’s life and times.
www.pbs.org/shakespeare
Folger Shakespeare Library
www.folger.edu
Shakespeare Resource Center
http://www.bardweb.net/
Folger Shakespeare Library
www.folger.edu

12
During the Show
THE SHOWʼS
STARTING.
TURN ME OFF!
Live theater is a collaboration
between the performers and
the audience. The artists have
spent weeks, months—even
years—creating a show to
inspire and entertain you.
Your role in this artistic
collaboration is very
important to the success of
the performance. Make sure
you understand your part and
follow these four simple rules.
2
Focus your
full attention
on the stage.
1
Turn off all
electronic
devices. Keep
them off for
the entire
show.
3
No recording
or photography
of any kind.
4
No texting or
checking messages.