A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
Players' Theatre, Nantwich; 1-9 July 2016
'Oh, what fools these mortals be'
Hermia loves Lysander; Lysander loves Hermia; Demetrius loves Hermia; Helena loves Demetrius; Theseus loves Hippolyta; Oberon loves not Titania; Puck loves Mischief; Titania loves Bottom, who loves Himself.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream stitches together four intertwined stories; the marriage of the Athenian Duke Theseus to the Amazon Queen Hippolyta; the warring between Oberon and Titania, King and Queen of the Fairies; the madcap follies of Four Lovers lost in the forest and the comically earnest efforts of a group of Working Men to stage a love-play for the royal wedding.
Hermia's father wants her to marry Demetrius, who chases the eloping pair into the woods, pursued by Helena. They are all fair game for the mischievous Puck, Oberon’s servant who scrambles their desires - as well as Titania’s.
As the Working Men press on with their rehearsals, the otherworldly night of confusion, passion and diligence proves oddly momentous, touching every life to the quick.
This fantasia of light and shadow, breathes with the miraculous charm and powerful illusion of love.