To make the characters look visually different I would have Lysander as being again slight, which Demetrius, being militant like, would be stockier. I would have Lysander with light, shoulder length, wavy hair to give him a romantic hero image and to contrast with Demetrius’ short, dark hair. They would both then contrast with their eventual lovers.
Act 3, scene 2 is set in the fairy woods. The first couple to enter are Demetrius and Hermia. If I were to direct this, I would have this part contrast with the next, where Lysander and Helena enter, as this is where all the confusion between the lovers start, as before it has been Helena after Demetrius and Lysander and Helena together. There are several instances in this scene, where the differences or similarities between Lysander and Demetrius can be highlighted. Firstly is when Demetrius and Hermia enter, I would show the difference between Lysander and Demetrius by having my Demetrius being still being quite straight-laced and formal with Hermia. I would have him costumed in a suit, with long black cotton trousers, a dark shirt and a tie, because I feel this is formal attire. Later when he falls under the spell and becomes all romantic, I would have him lose the tie and jacket and have the shirt un-tucked to show his light-hearted side.
When Lysander enters, to show his comical side, as he is already under the flower’s spell, I would have him crawl in, following Helena, on his knees, whilst making exaggerated arm movements. I would have him dressed smartly but not as formally as Demetrius, because they are both of the same social class. Therefore I would have him in dark trousers but with a white, frilly, flamboyant top, to again show a stereotypical image of the romantic hero. To show the difference between Lysander and Demetrius at this stage, I would direct Lysander’s to have a loud voice, especially on the line ‘Demetrius loves her and he loves not you,’ because this line has to wake up Demetrius. Lysander being loud also shows that he is ‘drunk on love’ which helps to reflect that he is under a spell.
When Demetrius wakes up, there is a major change in his character as he is now under the spell too. In my direction of this scene, I would have Demetrius voice go to a higher pitch than before, with more inflections to show how he has lost his formality and rigidity. Here I would have Demetrius’ gestures similar to Lysander as they are now both under the spell and in love with Helena. When Demetrius starts talking, ‘O Helen….’ I would have him rise suddenly onto his knees and make all his gestures towards her. Then when he says ‘O, how ripe in show’ I would have him stand up and walk over to her, whilst taking off his jacket and throwing it to Lysander absent-mindedly, as I feel this would play on the theme of jealousy that arises in the wood between the lovers.
The next part of this scene which I would direct to show a similarity between Lysander and Demetrius is when Hermia first find out that Lysander does not love her. This conversation shows similarities in the way Demetrius treated Helena earlier on in the play. Therefore to show this, I would direct my actors to act the same way, with Hermia on the floor, holding onto Lysander’s leg, while all the time he is trying to brush her off, whilst insulting her, ‘away you Ethiop!’
An important similarity in the two characters, is when Hermia becomes aggressive and tries to attack Helena, the males intervene, leading to, in my production, a series of physical moves, which is why I would cast my actors as having good physical and acrobatical skills. When Helena says ‘Let her not hurt me,’ I would have both Lysander and Demetrius run and stand in front of Helena, whilst holding their arms out, to try and guard her, but also to try and push each other out of the way. I would have this done because this exaggeration is comical, which both Lysander and Demetrius are at this point, because they are both bewitched, but also relates back to the theme of jealousy in the wood. The characters show their similarity through trying to protect the one they love.
The final difference I would highlight in this scene is when the characters enter the stage at different times during their duel and are deceived by Puck imitating their voices. When Lysander enters, I would have him do some karate and martial art moves as his form of defence. I would keep his voice at a higher pitch to contrast with Demetrius, which I would direct my actor to play lower as he is a more militant type before being bewitched and would therefore be more serious during a duel. Therefore I would have my Demetrius enter with a sword, as Puck states that he is ‘drawn and ready.’ His voice would be low and slightly more serious than Lysander.
Therefore Lysander and Demetrius, although both of the same social class, have many differences as well as similarities, which need to be highlighted for the audience. The visuals of the characters also need to be different for the audience to identify the characters.
