A Midsummer Night’s Dream

By: William Shakespeare

DirectorMischa Catalani

Driving Action

LOVE -Everything that takes

place in this play is centered around the idea of love.

ThemesDream, and Magic.

This production of A Midsummer Night’s dream will center around the idea that mortals have entered the fanciful world of immortals (fairies) within their dreams, and are dealing with the confusion and consequences of magic and misfortune in this dream-land. Because it is all taking place within a dream, days are skewed and reality is hard to recognize from illusion. The audience will be taking a look into the world where 4 lovers’ (Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius, and Helena) dreams collide with the fantasies of others’.

Concept

StyleNonrealism. This world within a dream is enchanted and full of

magic, mystical creatures, and unexplainable occurrences.

And draw contrast within the dream world between the humans and the fairies, illusion and reality, and character traits (Titania and Hippolyta, Hermia and Helena etc.) through casting, costume, and lighting

Every aspect of the production will encompass something fanciful crossed with realistic features.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Humans(An air of whim about their appearance)

Egeus… Sherman Howard(Father of Hermia)

Theseus… Henry Cavill(Duke of Athens, engaged to Hippolyta)

Lysander…Jesse Eisenberg(Lover of Hermia)

Hermia…Amanda Seyfried(Lover of Lysander)

Demetrius … Christian Borle(Lover of Helena)

Helena…Zooey Deschanel(Lover of Demetrius)

Hippolyta… Anne Hathaway(Queen, engaged to Theseus

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Fairies(Seemingly ageless)

Puck… Jim Carrey(Mischievous fairy)

Oberon… Orlando Bloom(King of the Fairies)

Titania… Amy Adams(Queen of the Fairies)

FairiesVery human-like, yet have some subtle differences in costume and, lighting.

The strong similarities exemplify the mudding of fantasy and reality in the script.

Fairies glow, while mortals have a duller light.

Every aspect of the fairies are inspired by nature. Clothes, dwellings, props. I

The land where lives of the immortal and mortal intertwine

Setting: in a mystical forest, with the constant feeling of fantastical wonder.

Blackbox theatre will create the illusion distant fairies to depict the

constant presence of fantasy.

Time: 1900’s, spring. No period pieces will be used on stage, as the setting should be timeless and natural.

Ruling Metaphor

The moon symbolizes a far away world where anything can happen. It is present the entire performance to symbolize the constant force of the unknown, and as a unifier between the fantasy and reality.

Costume Design

The theme of the play is whimsical, mystical, curious, and mischievous. The costumes must reflect such a theme from the humans to the fairies.

Both humans and fairies will have different costumes that will fit according to their background. For example, female fairies will have dresses made out of flowers, vines, and greenery while human females will have long flowy dresses made of fabric.

Puck Puck is a mischievous and prankster-like fairy who delights on playing tricks on mortals.

As a servant of the King Oberon, his outfit will not be as formal or regal. For his costume, it will consist of an outfit made of leaves, bark, and wood to symbolize his

fairy origin. The leaves will cover his exposed parts and be woven together to wear as pants or a outfit reminiscent of a toga. He will have no shoes or shirt and be barefoot, symbolizing his carefree nature. His horns will be made of plastic and attached to his

hair, symbolizing his mischievous behavior. This light outfit will allow the actor to move about quickly without restrictions.

Oberon

Oberon is the King of fairies. With such a title, a more formal and elegant outfit is more befitting the title of “King.” The primary outfit will consist of a large cloak to represent his royal status. To add to his fairy origin, his costume should be green or dark green with leaves or patterns of leaves scattered on his clothes. A small ring made of warm colored flowers, leaves, and twigs would be placed on their head, symbolizing a crown.

Titania

Titania, the Queen of fairies, is considered to be very beautiful and fair. A large elegant and exquisite dress would be fit for such a character. The dress should be decorated with many flowers and vines to show her affinity with nature. A more colorful and larger flower crown will adorn Titania’s head, representing her royal status as the Queen. Sticking to the whimsical and fairy theme, her wings will be warm colored.

Lysander

• Lysander is the young man who is in love with Hermia and his love is reciprocated. He is a human and his attire does not resemble much of the forest compared to the fairies. His outfit is made of fabric such as cotton and is loose fitting on him, representing his agreeable personality and allowing the actor to move freely in this outfit. He is not of noble blood and will be wearing a simple commoner’s loose button up white shirt and simple black riding pants to reflect his status in society. His shoes will not be flamboyant as well and are dark dress shoes.

Demetrius

• Demetrius is the fickle man originally in love with Helena before falling in love with Hermia. He is shown to be stubborn throughout the play and scornful of Helena’s love for him. He is also a commoner man and will wear a simple white button down shirt much like Lysander. However, he will also sport a black vest and black riding pants represent his uptight, brash, and unyielding personality.

Hermia

Hermia is the rebellious and outspoken lady that is in love with Lysander. Her stature is short and she is very self conscious about it. Her outfit will be a simple long white and flowy greek dress that covers her legs to represent her insecurity and accentuate her figure.

Helena

Helena is the childhood friend of Hermiaand was once betrothed to Demetrius before he abandoned her. Helena is described as tall yet unconfident in her looks. Her outfit will be a short white dress that shows off her legs in contrast from Hermia’s long dress that covers her legs. Shorter dresses tend to elongate and accentuate the length of legs, giving the actress in the costume the illusion of being very tall.

Egeus

Egeus is the stubborn and demanding father of Hermia who agreed to give his daughter’s hand in marriage to Demetrius. As an older male his outfit is more thicker, less flamboyant, and concealing compared to the younger males in the play. He will wear a dark grey thick overcoat that covers his vest, which also represents his stubbornness, and his shirt. His pants will also be grey to match the outfit and the shoes will be brown dress shoes. Since he is not noted to be of royalty, his outfit will not reflect such standards.

Other minor characters

Other minor characters include the four men chosen to perform a play. They are lower class men and will not wear flamboyant outfits. Instead they will wear generic costumes such as simple and casual button up worker shirts with light brown pants. Nick Bottom, a more recognized character for his transformation into a Donkey head will also adorn a mask of a Donkey to signify his transformation. The mask will be fitted to the actor’s head, allowing sight through the eyes.

Set Design

• The goal of the set is to create a whimsical and dreamlike forest setting.

• While creating the set, there is a need to be able to help distinguish between the realistic world of humans and the fantasy world of fairies.

Background

• The goal of the set background was to have it fit the theme of dreamlike and whimsical while following the play’s setting.

• The play’s time and place is set primarily in the forests outside Athens and the events take place generally from dusk to night.

• Therefore the background is generally set to emphasize the moonlight and trees that will have sparkles for dreamlike effects.

Willow Tree

• In one scene, Titania is sleeping next to a river. It is hard to incorporate a river into the set for the sole purpose of the scene.

• Therefore a willow tree takes its place because willow trees generally grow near bodies of water, and it serves as a physical embodiment of the forest for practical purposes on set.

• The tree also serves as the centerpiece and central image of the set having both elements of realism and fantasy

The Flower

• The chosen flower for the production is the flower of love, the rose.

• The flower is shot with an arrow from Cupid, the god of love, and used by Puck in the play.

• Roses have a connotation for love and it makes sense for them to be incorporated.

Titania’s Bed

• The bed is used by Titania and Nick Bottom, her donkey lover.

• Titania’s bed is a white bed with white drapes adorned with some vines and leaves to portray beauty and incorporate nature.

Set Pieces

• Adding to the non-realistic world of the play, there will be several tree trunks with vines to play off the whimsical theme.

• Their additional purposes are for the actors to work with, for example to help portray Puck’s mischievousness by hiding from the view of the audiences.

Set Pieces

• To add more to the world, adding chairs made from trees to add to the fantasy elements and sell the world of the fairies.

Final Set Design

• The final set design for the production come togetherhas the willow tree as a central image and greek-like structure set pieces to decorate the set.

Light Designer

Melissa Caballero

Dark lighting to resemble the theme of the setting. Spotlight on characters to provide visibility

Bright moon lights up the stage. Light focused on objects to portray shapes and forms.

Light focuses eyes to onstage action. Lighting makes audience more intimate with scene.

Spotlight intensifies fairies performance. A Ellipsoidal reflector spotlight must be used.

Dark lighting reflects mood of scene. Floodlights, strip lights, and border lights should be used.

Tension is around the donkey so a Automated light used to project light on to floor. Bringing attention to the Donkey.

Soft-edged spotlight gives the audience a visual of the main character in the scene

Dark night like lighting brings the setting to life. Moon is brightened to create distribution.

Dark lighting with a spotlight on the fairies. Night sky should suggest time of day.

Spotlight focuses the composition of the scene.