| A Midsummer Night's Dream directed by Gregory Doran A feast of magic, music, humour and spectacle, A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies. The boundaries between reality and imagination merge as the characters find themselves caught in a web of magic in the Athenian woods. This production revives Gregory Doran's hugely popular and critically acclaimed show from the 2005 Comedies Season. 'Magical delight...a bewitching blend of the dark and the lovely'
Times 'Gregory Doran's sparkling night of midsummer madness...sweet dreams indeed'
Evening Standard
Joe Dixon, who played Oberon in the 2005 production, returns to the Company to take the role of Bottom. His other RSC credits include Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors, also part of the 2005 Comedies Season, as well as Paris in The Roman Actor (2003) and Mendoza in The Malcontent (2002). The role of Oberon will be played by Peter de Jersey, who last performed with the Company as Antiochus in Believe What You Will, Evander in A New Way To Please You and Macro in Sejanus: His Fall, all as part of the 2005 Gunpowder Season.
Also returning to the Company is Mark Hadfield, who takes the role of Puck following his most recent RSC performance as Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales (2005). Mark's other theatre credits include 39 Steps for Yorkshire Playhouse and Don Juan for the Peter Hall Company, as well as his recent performance as Grivet in the National Theatre's production of Therese Raquin. Making her RSC debut as Hermia is Kathryn Drysdale. Perhaps best known for her role as Louise in BBC 2’s comedy Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, she has also recently appeared in the film St Trinian's, as well as performing in Catch at the Royal Court Theatre.
A Midsummer Night's Dream runs in repertoire at The Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon from 9 May - 13 November 2008.
Running time
The running time for A Midsummer Night's Dream is 3 hours including an interval of 20 minutes.
Access performances
Assisted performances on 12 July, 15 July, 16 July. Touch tours available.
Additional information
Tickets from £10.
Michael Boyd wins Evening Standard Award for The Histories The Evening Standard newspaper has presented RSC Artistic Director Michael Boyd with a special Editor's Award in recognition of the acclaimed Histories Ensemble, which saw all eight of Shakespeare's History plays performed by one company of actors. Reporting the event in yesterday's Evening Standard, the paper said The Histories Cycle proved 'an indisputable event of 2008'. David Tennant presented the award, saying 'I'm here because Michael Boyd has done such amazing things with the RSC. It's a company I feel very strongly about and I have great links to so I am delighted to be able to present this.' Following the success of The Histories, Michael Boyd will now direct the new 2009-2011 Ensemble in As You Like It as part of the Summer 09 Season.
The RSC Ensemble 2009-11
Booking is now open for the RSC Ensemble 2009-2011, which will see a new acting company work together for over two years, this time to present a repertoire of Shakespeare and new writing. New productions of The Winter's Tale, As You Like It and Julius Caesar will be performed in repertoire with two new plays, The Drunks and The Grain Store, which signal the beginning of a strand of work entitled Other Russia: a major exploration of the culture of Russia and the former Soviet Union countries. Casting for the 2009-2011 Ensemble is now underway. There is direct continuity from The Histories with Katy Stephens, Clive Wood and Forbes Masson all returning to the Company. Other names now confirmed include Greg Hicks (Macbeth, Hamlet 2004, Coriolanus 2003), Kelly Hunter (King John 2001), Noma Dumezweni (Breakfast with Mugabe 2005), Mariah Gale (Ophelia in the current production of Hamlet) and newly appointed RSC Artistic Associate Kathryn Hunter -
About The Histories Ensemble
From July 2006-May 2008 one company of 34 actors presented Shakespeare's cycle or eight History Plays to public and critical acclaim. 'A breathtakingly successful experiment in the revival of ensemble theatre' Guardian 'The RSC is a company that is uniquely placed to give a cohesive vision to an entire body of work and to build and nurture a tremendous acting ensemble to give it an overwhelmingly intense physical and psychological voice' Sunday Express 'Some of the greatest acting, in some of the most imaginative and rigorous productions, that I have experienced in more than 30 years of professional theatre-going' Daily Telegraph -
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