A Midsummer Night's Dream

In seventh grade, my incomparable English teacher guided my class through both a reading and a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. (I played both a fairy and Flute, one of the tradesmen who rehearses and performs "Pyramus and Thisbe" for Duke Theseus and his court.) It's been one of my favorite Shakespearean plays ever since, so when I saw that the New York Ballet Company was going to perform it, I leapt at the chance to buy tickets.

Puck, with the magic flower, watches Helena moon over the sleeping Demitrius.

Ed and I saw it last night, and while it was not what I expected, I was not disappointed. As we waited for the curtain to open, Ed wondered aloud whether someone who didn't know the story would be able to follow it without the words. I wondered the same thing, but by the end I was convinced that the intricate plot, while shortened and simplified, was definitely clear. I was surprised to discover, however, that there were only two acts, and that the entire story is told in the first act! The second act begins at a wedding ceremony for Lysander and Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, and Theseus and Hippolyta, and then continues with plotless dances all glorifying true love. I wouldn't have belived it if you'd told me that the whole plot could be conveyed clearly in a little over an hour through dance, but it certainly was.

I loved the choreography and thought the dancers themselves performed brilliantly. Each managed to make his/her character completely unique by the way they moved their bodies. Both Puck and Titania could perform exactly the same leap, but Puck could use it to convey his barely contained energy and mischievious nature, while the imperious Titania made it look dignified, graceful, and regal. The music was beautiful as well (Mendelssohn is the composer) and while ballets are generally set to purely instrumental music, this one surprised us with a small group of sopranos in the orchestra pit who sang some of the loveliest passages in the play, like the lullaby the fairies sing to Titania as she falls asleep and the benediction Oberon and Titania speak after they have made up at the end.

Enchanted Titiania fawning over enchanged Bottom

A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of the Shakespeare's funniest plays. I'd never seen a funny ballet before, so this was a first for me. Lysander and Demetrius were hilarious as they chased each other through the forest, occasionally spotting each other and engaging in love-addled duels until Puck, with his own sword, pulled them apart and led them in different directions for his own amusement. Even Hermia and Helena had a spat, pulling each other's hair and flailing until Puck separated them, too. And of course Nick Bottom was very funny as a donkey, looking longingly at piles of hay as Titania cuddled him, to his great bemuseument.


This put me in the mood for more Shakespeare. Luckily, there are plenty of opportunities in New York. I'm going to start entering the daily lottery for free Shakespeare in the Park tickets again this summer (not sure what they're performing, but I'm sure it will be good), and, failing that, there's always Shakespeare in the Parking Lot.