A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Written to celebrate a wedding at court, this is a play of the courtly loves of Theseus and his followers, of the squabbles in fairyland, and of the ham-handed theatricals of the Athenian Working Men's Amateur Dramatic Society.

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Probably written to celebrate a wedding at court, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a "play of the courtly loves of Theseus and his followers, of the squabbles in fairyland, and of the ham-handed theatricals of the Athenian Working Men's Amateur Dramatic Society. From the first appearance of the fairies to the general awakening the play is a dream and therefore full of puckish misunderstanding and incongruity. After the return to daylight, we hear the very tragical mirth of the one and only performance of "The Tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe". But when the players have withdrawn! the fairies come tripping back, and we are left wondering and rubbing our eyes, uncertain where reality ends and fancy begins". - G.B. Harrison, Editor of texts for the Shakespeare Recording Society. Paul Scofield as Oberon, King of the Fairies at whose bidding the mirth and misunderstandings are released, gives a masterful performance.