Casting Of A Shakespeare Play Essay, Research Paper

Since the 17th century William Shakespeare, the greatest writer of all time, has had more plays reproduced than any other playwright has. Shakespeare s ability to write has stood the test of time. His plays continue to make us laugh and cry all the while teaching us lessons of life. The beauty of Shakespeare s writing is the versatility of his plays; each play has been reproduced many different ways. The producer and director make the final decision on how they would like the story to play out in their production. One play in particular has been done countless times, A Midsummer s Night s Dream has been reproduced in many different ways. The relationships throughout this play can be depicted differently depending on how the lines are read (attitude and tone), what if any lines are cut, and even who reads the lines. The reassignment of lines is not against any rules when reproducing a Shakespeare play; this reassignment can make a huge difference in how a character is perceived.

In the latest production of A Midsummer s Night s Dream, by me personally, I have chosen to exclude any conflicts of love between our opening scene couple Theseus and Hipolyta. This couple sets the stage for love and to open the play with a fight between the only two people, at this time engaged to be wed would be detrimental to my fairy tale of love. From the first reading of this play it seems difficult to portray this couple as being truly madly and deeply in love since Theseus boasts of winning hipolyta in a war.

In my production I would like to keep the few lines in that first scene in which Theseus says: I wooed thee with thy sword , and won thy love by doing thee injuries; But I will wed thee in another tkey, with pomp, with triumph, and with revelling. (I, i, 15-18) The difference will be his tone of voice, Theseus will sound calm and loving towards Hipolyta. The key, in my production, to keeping these lines and making the audience believe Theseus and Hipolyta are in love will be the addition of a opening scene.

The opening scene in this newest production of A Midsummer s Night s Dream will consist of a war in which the Atheaneans are fighting the Amazonian people. From there we go directly to Hipolyta s throne, where she sits alone, Theseus flings open the double doors to meet the beautiful queen. Theseus and hipolyta pause as they stare at one another, then Hipolyta smiles as if to say, I have been defeated and I am in awe of your power. The beauty of this scene is that there are no words ever spoken but the point has been made. This is very important since no lines can been introduced whenever reproducing Shakespeare. And without words I can express to the audience that Hipolyta is not angry for being defeated. After this important opening scene, the next scene