Started: July 16, 2023 | Finished: July 16, 2023
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Capture a moonbeam and make it into a play and that play would be "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
In "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Shakespeare took the magic of a peaceful moonlit night in a forest and distilled it into a literary potion. Everytime I read the play that magical night comes alive in my mind and brings me to that bewitching forest. For me this is the enchantment inherent in "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
This "potion" is made up from some truly excellent components. First, is the Greek setting and flavor; references to Greek myth and lore are sprinkled throughout the work. Next, are those crazy, hormone-powered teenagers; the two pairs of lovers provide the primary comedic foils of the play. Next would be the heavy fantasy element of the play typified by Oberon, Titania and the fairies, especially Puck. The last group would be the ones referred to by Puck as "rude mechanicals", Quince, Bottom, and there crew. All these "ingredients" Shakespeare mixes up for one heck of a fun play.
This is a lighthearted romp but it does not lose the depth and genius we have come to expect from Shakespeare. It jumps at me merry and bright because the only other Shakespeare play I've reviewed before this is "Macbeth" and that play, to paraphrase a brilliant review about it, paints with just two colors in the palette: black and red; lots of bloody red. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is full of all the shades of blue and green and presents a light alternative to the heavy tragedy of "Macbeth".