A Midsummer Night's Dream

The play opens with Theseus (the Duke of Athens) and Hippolyta (his Amazonian queen and bride-to-be) discussing their wedding, until Egeus drags in his daughter (Hermia), his daughter’s boyfriend (Lysander), and his preferred suitor for Hermia (Demetrius). Egeus demands that legal action is taken to force Hermia to either marry Demetrius or die. Theseus doesn’t like this plan (and obviously neither does Hermia) so he offers her a different choice – she can either marry Demetrius or become a nun and never date men again (which frankly isn’t much better). Hermia and Lysander decide to elope, but before they leave, Helena (Hermia’s best friend) interrupts them. She’s sad because – here comes the love triangle – she loves Demetrius but he loves Hermia. Hermia tells Helena of her plan to elope and then leaves. Helena decides to tell Demetrius of Hermia’s plan in the naive hope that it’ll make him so upset that he will turn to Helena.

The play sweeps across town to the Mechanicals, who have decided to stage a production of Pyramus and Thisby in the hope of performing at the royal wedding. The roles are assigned and they agree to meet in the woods to rehearse. Then we are introduced to Oberon and Titania, king and queen of the fairy world, fighting over the fact that Titania is caring for a little Indian boy. To get possession of the boy, Oberon enlists Puck, a sprite, to squeeze the juices of a special flower on Titania’s eyes, making her fall in love with the first person that she sees upon waking up. Oberon witnesses Helena’s desperation in her pursuit of Demetrius and when Puck returns, commands him to squeeze some juice on Demetrius so that he will love Helena. Lysander and Hermia enter the forest, and when they are sleeping, Puck mistakes them for Demetrius and Helena. Helena thinks Lysander’s newfound affection for her is a joke and runs off upset. But Puck’s mischief continues during the Mechanicals’ rehearsal, bestowing Bottom (the lead actor) with a donkey’s head. The Mechanicals freak out, leaving Bottom to stumble across the sleeping Titania – who has been affected by the love flower and thus wakes up and finds herself in love with an ass.

Puck puts the flower’s juices on Demetrius’ eyes and as Helena tries to flee from Lysander’s advances, she wakes Demetrius up. She is outraged by his behaviour and when Hermia rocks up, she is absolutely convinced that they are all playing a massive prank on her. Hermia realises that Lysander is now in love with Helena and chaos ensues. Finally, Puck intervenes, putting the potion on Lysanders’ eyes.

Oberon has gained possession of the Indian boy, so he orders Puck to reverse the effects of the flower. Theseus wakes the lovers up and now, Lysander loves Hermia and Demetrius loves Helena. Theseus decides to ignore Egeus’ demands and orders the two couples to get married on the same day as him. Bottom wakes up, thinking it was all a dream, and tells the Mechanicals that the play should go ahead. The Mechanicals proceed to perform a very amateur rendition of Pyramus and Thisby for the three couples. After the production finishes, the fairies run around the house and Puck delivers his famous closing lines, equating the play with just a dream...