melodrama?

Opera Japonica, A Midsummer Night's Dream

mel·o·dra·ma /ˈmɛləˌdrɑmə, -ˌdræmə/
–noun
1.
a dramatic form that does not observe the laws of cause and effect and that exaggerates emotion and emphasizes plot or action at the expense of characterization.
2.
melodramatic behavior or events.
3.
(in the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries) a romantic dramatic composition with music interspersed.
[Origin: 1800–10; < style="FONT-VARIANT: small-caps" href="http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=drama" minmax_bound="true">drama

from: www.dictionary.com

Visual Theses

Arthur Rackham, Midsummer Night's Dream Fairies (1908)

Here are links to a variety of posters for performances of MSND. Think about what aspect of the film seems to be emphasized through the design of the poster, and what kind of interpretation (or interpretive staging) might take place.

A Mangasummer Night's Dream
A ballet production, pink and flowers
A bit rustic and Bottom on the bottom
A wide variety of play posters--MSND at the bottom
Bottom over the Rainbow!
Community theatre goes to Decadent Paris!
Mangasummer Optional
Newspaper, geometric montage approach
Pencil drawing and lettering for poster
Scroll down for a description of a production that is "urban and gritty."
Scroll down to May 3-19 for a MSND description and poster
The forests have eyes....
Very crafty stampwork!

Links collected and organized by Dr. Brook Haley. Many thanks to him. Many: it's a great collection of MSND images.

Ideas-ing for Essay #4

You might consider this humorous version of Shakespearean restaging:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/unconventional_director_sets

and here is a site that contains reviews of difference performances of Shakespeare's plays by someone who is trying to see them all. Scroll down to see A Midsummer Night's Dream--there are several stagings reviewed:

http://www.osmond-riba.org/lis/shakes.htm

Staging A Keyword

Compile an outline of the play through key phrases. For example:

I.i. "fit your fancies"
I.ii. "most lamentable comedy"
II.i. "forgeries of jealousy"
II.ii. "nature shows art"
III.i. "the person of Moonshine"
III.ii. "for fear lest the day should look their shames upon"
IV.i. "half-sleep, half-waking"
IV.ii. "to discourse the wonders"
V.i. "bodies forth the form of things unknown"

Fancy Question

Nick Bottom, Royal Shakespeare Company Production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (2005)

Please post your questions in the comments. Remember we talked about three types of questions:

• content questions, i.e. what is going on in the text (questions of doing)
• theme-oriented questions, i.e. related to the more general questions posed by the play (questions of thinking)
• interpretive questions, i.e. about specific passages, phrases or concepts used in the play (questions of making)