A Midsummer Night's Dream - Shakespeare's Classic Comedy Play | Perfect for Theater Performances, English Literature Studies & Book Club Discussions

Certainly traditionalist Bard-oholics (and I am a member of that group often but not all of the time) will complain about this version. I understand why they might complain, but I don't agree with them. I loved loved loved this version. it is indeed DREAM-like (Duh, Shakespeare clued us in on this in the title), magically colorful, colorfully magic, fast-paced, rollicklingly funny (bravo to the troupe of Rude Mechanicals), ENCHANTING when appropriate (you remember that there are magical fairies in this play, right?) romantic ( two pairs of mixed up young lovers) and sexy as hell ( any scene involving Lindsay Duncan as Titania and Alex Jennings as Oberon).Okay, maybe the movie framing device using a present day "changeling child" doesn't really work; the adorable modern ten year old boy at times is a spectator/participant of the on-stage action in Arden Forest or Theseus' palace which didn't make sense to me. maybe the text cuts went a bit too far-- but productions have made justifiable cuts to Hamlet and the Earth has neither entirely split open nor have demons flown up out of those cracks. And Hamlet is canonical isn't it?This video is indeed a modern-ized (mostly) stage production which draws you into itself,literally. But, be not afraid, it's not set in some dystopian or utopian sci-fi future, but rather in the ever-present land of the imagination. All of it spoken in iambic pentameter -expertly so- because this is the RSC!!!!!!!