"""A Midsummer Night's Dream"" is Shakespeare's most enchanting comedy, and in the 20th century it has become perhaps his most popular play. It contains some of Shakespeare's loveliest poetry and is one of his most complex and effective dramatic structures. After an historical survey of the ""Dream"" from Shakespeare's time through to the 19th century, Jay Halio focuses primarily on 20th-century productions and adaptations, for film and television as well as for the stage. Chapters are devoted to productions by Max Reinhardt, Peter Hall, Robert Lepage, and especially to Peter Brook's landmark production in 1970 and the reactions to it. Using a wealth of personal experience, as well as original promptbooks and critical reviews, Halio shows how differently but still very effectively the play may be staged, as the wide variety of plays he records. This second, enlarged edition contains three additional chapters on Adrian Noble's RSC production and film, Michael Hoffman's film, and the ""Dream"" in China. Written in clear, jargon-free language, it offers an extended study of major 20th-century productions of the ""Dream"" in their historical context."
By:
Jay Halio Series edited by:
Jim Bulman, Carol Chillington Rutter Imprint: Manchester University Press Country of Publication: United Kingdom Edition: 2nd edition Dimensions:
Height: 216mm,
Width: 138mm,
Spine: 13mm
Weight: 290g ISBN:9780719062216 ISBN 10: 0719062217 Series:Shakespeare in Performance Pages: 224 Publication Date:19 June 2003 Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
,
A / AS level
,
Further / Higher Education
Format:Paperback Publisher's Status: Active
"Prologue - ""Dreams"" and visions; the first three centuries from Beerbohm Tree to Peter Hall; Peter Brook's ""Dream""; reactions to Brook - the ""Dreams"" of Barton, Daniels and Alexander; two ""Dreams"" on film - Reinhardt-Dieterle's and Peter Hall's; two ""Dreams"" on television - the BBC's and Joseph Papp's; a new watershed? Lepage's ""Midsummer' Night's Dream""; Adrian Noble and the Royal Shakespeare Company; Michael Hoffman's ""Dream""; dreaming in Chinese; epilogue - dreaming on."
Carol Chillington Rutter is Professor of English at the University of Warwick
