Authentic Costumes

In shakespeare's time he likes to use authentic costumes. Even though many of the characters in A Midsummer Night's Dream are fantasy the costume should still be authentic to the idea of them. The costume designer should take this into consideration so then they can keep the tradition of shakespeare going. When Shakespeare did Greek plays he wanted to keep as close to actual Grecian clothing as possible. So if we did a time period that had specific styles to keep true to those styles.

Works Cited: Nagler, A. M. A Source Book in Theatrical History. New York: Dover Publications, 1959. 460-62. Print

Lighting

What does a midsummer day look like? For lightly this is important to know. Lighting a summer day with winter lightly will look out of place to the audience and they will no be playing attention to the play but to the strange lightly. Like people say if people don't notice the lighting or set then they are doing their jobs. Meaning that it looks like they fit together in the world of the play, nothing out of place. Also Lighting a forrest with light beams coming through the trees.

Language

pentameter [pen-tamm-t-er] A metrical verse line having five main stresses , traditionally described as a line of five ‘feet’ (see foot ). In English poetry since Chaucer, the pentameter—almost always an iambic line normally of 10 syllables—has had a special status as the standard line in many important forms including blank verse , the heroic couplet , ottava rima , rhyme royal , and the sonnet . In its pure iambic form, the pentameter shows a regular alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables, as in this line by Percy Bysshe Shelley :

If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

There are, however, several permissible variations in the placing of stresses, which help to avoid the monotony of such regular alternation (see demotion,promotion, promotioninversion ); and the pentameter may be lengthened from 10 syllables to 11 by a feminine ending . In classical Greek and Latin poetry, the second line of the elegiac distich , commonly but inaccurately referred to as a ‘pentameter’ is in fact composed of two half-lines of two and a half feet each, with dactyls or spondees in the first half and dactyls in the second.

It helps to know how speak in Shakespearian language if you know how it is broken down. Like reading poetry knowing when to breathe and take breaks is a very important. You can ruin simple lines if you can't say them right. It takes a special person to pick up on Shakespeare's poetic language.

Works Cited: "pentameter" The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Chris Baldick. Oxford University Press, 2008. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Central Washington University. 11 March 2011

True Shakespeare Performance

As we all know Shakespeare acted and wrote plays for The Globe theatre. But do we really know what it would be like to see or act in a performance space like this. The best place to start interpreting a play is with its history. The Globe has an unique style of structure. Shakespeare plays were perfectly written to work with this type of structure. IF there was a way to slightly convert the theatre space into The Globe, that could create a different play going experience than people were expecting. Have a bigger Outer stage and create a Inner Stage, or maybe add facing to the walls of the theatre that would mimic the Globe's three stories and balconies.

Works Cited: Nicoll, Allardyce. British Drama. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1963. 65-66. Print.

Midsummer movie

This movie can be beneficial because people can get an idea of how to preform this play. Shakespeare has been kept in it original form or has been made into an adaptation. This movie has kept the Shakespearian language but changed the time period. Making these types of decisions are important to the production. The language is a big part of Shakespeare it is a big decision to change the language. On the other hand many people don't understand what is being said. Maybe it is a good idea to change the language so the audience can actually understand what is going on in the play.

Importance of the Forrest

In Laurel Moffatt's Article, The Woods as Heterotopia in A MidsummerNight's Dream, she describes how important and the significance of the woods are. The woods are the only place the lovers could be free, away from the Athenian rule.They can be free to marry people who your parents. "It is by traveling in the woods that the lovers are able to reconcile with one another and Athens, and marry, not illicitly, but rather, in an Athens renewed by what has happened in the woods" (Moffatt). This can helpful for the actors to connect to the set. Having the actors connect and interact with the set helps the world of the play become real for the audience.

Works Cited: Moffatt, Laurel. "The Woods as Heterotopia in A Midsummer Night's Dream." Studia Neophilologica 76.2 (2004). Print.

Playlets with Bottom

Originally when A Midsummer Night's Dream was preformed the the scenes with Bottom's compatriots were playlets. To do the play now the playlets could be brought back to make the play going experience more like it would have been originally seen. This would be great for a period influenced play going experience. Many people enjoy seeing the early days of theatre, the Shakespeare Festival in Oregon is popular for that reason.

Works Cited: A Midsummer Night's Dream Wiki

Bewitching Flower

Puck the mischievous fairy is the one who causes all the mix up and changing of people feelings. The flower that he bewitches everyone with was shot with cupids arrow. This shot made the flower that was once white turn purple with loves curse. Of course the flower must be purple. Also since the flower needs to be able to hold the nectar of the flower so that puck can drop nectar on Titania, Lysander,Demetrius, Hermia, Helena eyes. This drop of nectar make the person fall in love with the next person they see. This is what caused all the confused feelings, for no one saw the person they were supposed to see after they woke. The flower needs to look romanic but also a little unusual. These flowers are romanic but not the common rose.

To make a Man a Donkey

Turning a man into an animal can to difficult. to make things easier give him aspects of the animal. Give him big donkey ears, a hairy face and a tale. This will give the audience the idea of him being turned into a donkey but not loosing him human qualities. This is also simpler for makeup because most of his face is still free and not much needs to be applied to the face. He can still use facial expressions.

Works Cited: Google search- midsummer night's dream characters

Costumes for Faires

The Faires in Midsummer's Night's Dream have names that their costumes mimic. Instead of having all the fairs dressed the same. This would make telling the difference between the actors difficult. To better differentiate between the actors make the costume unique to each faires name.