Details

On a midsummer's night Hermia and her lover Lysander flee from Athens and Demetrius - the man Hermia's father favours as a son-in-law. Demetrius follows, pursued by Helena who loves him in spite of being spurned in favour of Hermia. On the same night Bottom and his friends leave Athens to find somewhere quiet to rehearse their play which is to be performed at the wedding feast of Duke Theseus. Drawn into the woods they enter a world of magic, mystery and wonder. Abridged. Garsington Opera's Artistic Director, Douglas Boyd, collaborates with Gregory Doran, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, on a venture involving artists from both companies. Mendelssohn's shimmeringly beautiful and evocative music will bring fresh illumination to Shakespeare's brilliantly intertwined, triple-layered dream-world, where lovers, fairies and rude mechanicals confuse and pursue one another in a wood near Athens. Sung and spoken in English

Cast/Performers

Ross Armstrong (Lysander), Hedydd Dylan (Helena), David Collings (Egeus / Philostrate), Chris Lew Kum Hoi (Francis Flute / Mustardseed), Joan Iyiola (Hermia), Oliver Johnstone (Puck), Jake Mann (Robin Starvelling / Fairy 1), Simon Manyonda (Demetrius), Chris Nayak (Tom Snout / Pease Blossom), David Rintoul (Oberon / Theseus), Tim Speyer (Peter Quince / Moth), Forbes Masson (Bottom), Marty Cruikshank (Hippolyta / Titania), Sophie Khan Levy (Snug / Cobweb)

Creatives/Company

Author: Shakespeare
Company(s): Royal Shakespeare Company, Garsington Opera
Music: Mendelssohn
Director(s): Gregory Doran (creative guidance), Owen Horsley (under the creative guidance of Gregory Doran)
Conductor: Douglas Boyd