Lucien Joyce

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Act Three, Scene Two of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ begins with Oberon, the king of fairies and Puck the servant talking to each other about the previous incidents which had just occurred. Puck was ordered to put a certain love juice in Demetrius’ eyes so that he fell in love with Helena which would leave Lysander and Hermia to their undying love for one another. But seeing as Puck is shown to be a character that plays practical jokes on others, he plants the juice into the wrong man’s eyes, Lysander. This causes Demetrius and Lysander to both love Helena and leave Hermia mystified and in a state of total confusion.

The setting I would choose to direct ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ would probably be somewhere quite detached from the outside world, somewhere like the woods. The surroundings would be very misty and I would make the atmosphere eerie by putting in occasional wolf cries or sudden movements in the bushes. This would all add to help build the new scenario in this play to display some subsequent changes in the moods of the actors.

By beginning this scene I would show Oberon in the woods, looking forward to the effects of the love juice, I would make a close up view on his glowing face for a few seconds which would show him as being quite excited. I would dress Oberon in white robes and he would have glowing skin, which would be a typical description of a fairy. The Elizabethan audience would also relate to this because they wouldn’t understand the other kinds of fairies we see in other plays and films these days, they would most likely have preferred it basic and simplistic. I would show him wondering if ‘Titania be awaked’, who is the queen of fairies. I will then make Puck come into the scene in a bizarre fashion either by tripping over or falling from somewhere just to show what type of character he is and to add a bit of humour. I would make Puck wear rags and he would look very small making him look like a creature rather than a human just to add to the surrealism. I can tell by Shakespeare’s language that he portrays Puck as having a clown-like personality because of his immature quotes such as ‘I go, I go; look how I go, swifter Than arrow from the Tartar's bow’ and ‘Then will two at once woo one; That must needs be sport alone; And those things do best please me That befall preposterously’, which shows he likes to be voyeuristic when it comes to disorder. 

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I would make Hermia wake up first so the audience are aware that she is searching for Lysander, her true love who has unexpectedly disappeared. I would show her becoming very anxious with restless eyes, whilst looking in many directions for him then finding Demetrius by her side with disappointment. I would show her becoming paranoid with an exaggerated expression which would help display this theme, and immediately accuse Demetrius of ‘slaying Lysander in his sleep’, but Demetrius would then reply with great disbelief and shock and reveal he is ‘not guilty of Lysander’s blood’. I would make an ...

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