RSC production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1970)
Encyclopedia
The 1970 Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) production of A Midsummer Night's Dream was directed by Peter Brook
, and is often known simply as "Peter Brook's Dream." It opened in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
at Stratford-upon-Avon
and then moved to the Aldwych Theatre
in London
's West End
in 1971. It was taken on a world tour in 1972-3. Brook's production of A Midsummer Nights' Dream for the RSC
is often described as one of the 20th century's most influential productions of Shakespeare
, as it rejected many traditional ideas about the staging of classic drama
.
and a fairy-inhabited forest nearby. Brook's aim was to reject the 19th-century traditions of realism and illusionism in the theatre, and focus instead on locating the play in "the heightened realm of metaphor
. He also wanted to liberate the play from encrusted "bad tradition" so that the actors could feel that they were encountering the text for the first time.
As such, he avoided any realist scenery or props. Instead, the set, designed by Sally Jacobs, was a simple white box, with no ceiling and two doors. In Stratford, black drapes were hung above the box to hide the stage machinery; on tour, Brook decided to remove them, leaving stagehands and lighting technicians visible. The purpose of this was to return the stage to the simplicity of the Elizabethan theatre
, in which there was little scenery and the sense of location was generated by the poet's words. However, this approach was blended with modern elements: the trees of the forest were represented by giant slinky
toys, and Titania's bower was a huge red feather.
The fairy magic was represented by circus
tricks. For example, the fairies entered on trapeze
bars, and the love potion that Puck fetches was a spinning plate on a rod, which Puck handed to Theseus from a trapeze fifteen feet above the stage. When Bottom turned into an ass
, he acquired not the traditional ass's head, but a clown's red nose.
The costumes were non-Athenian and non-English Renaissance. Instead, they were a colourful mixture of elements from different times and places. Oberon wore a purple satin gown. Puck wore a yellow jumpsuit from the Chinese circus. The mechanicals were dressed as 20th-century factory workers. The young lovers looked like 1960s "flower children" in tie-dye
shirts and ankle-length dresses.
There were also unusual casting choices. It had been traditional for the fairies to be played by young children or women, but Brook cast adult men instead, an effect described as "disconcertingly strange and threatening", and which made the forest a more frightening, adult place than in earlier productions. Brook also decided to double the roles of Theseus
/Oberon
, Hippolyta
/Titania, Philostrate/Puck
and Egeus/Quince. This was partly to create a smaller, more intimate company, but also to suggest that the fairies were not so much different characters, as different aspects of the human characters' personalities, an idea signified when Theseus and Hippolyta 'became' Oberon and Titania simply by putting on robes. Brook believed that Theseus and Hippolyta have failed to achieve "the true union as a couple" and work through their quarrels as Oberon and Titania.
The production emphasized, to a level never before seen, the supposed sexual undercurrents of the story of Titania's infatuation with Bottom after he turns into an ass
. Brook was influenced by Jan Kott
's study of the play in Shakespeare Our Contemporary, in which Kott notes the phallic properties of the donkey
, and argues that Oberon deliberately degrades Titania by exposing her to this monstrous sexuality. In Brook's staging, Bottom entered Titania's bower carried by the fairies, one of whom thrust his upraised arm between Bottom's legs to represent a phallus. In a jab at more traditional stagings, the sequence was accompanied by Mendelssohn
's Wedding March
, a piece of music originally written to be played as an intermezzo between Acts IV and V, but often used in more genteel productions for the final marriage scene of the play. Despite the disturbing undercurrents of this view of sexuality, many audience members found the play witty and affectionate in its treatment of sex, in tune with the spirit of 60s permissiveness.
The end of the production stressed the idea of community between audience and actors. As Oberon spoke his final lines about sunrise, the house lights slowly rose, so that the audience was visible to each other while Puck spoke the play's closing speech. Upon the line "Give me your hands, if we be friends", the entire cast rushed into the auditorium to shake hands with the audience, turning the theatre into a "lovefest".
There were naysayers, and the commonest criticism was that the production distracted the viewer from the play by prioritizing Brook's cleverness over Shakespeare's; one reviewer called it a "self-indulgent display of directorial gimmickry". Theatre historian John Russell Brown felt that the play was constrained by Brook's eccentric personal interpretations. However, even those critics who disliked the staging choices praised the verse-speaking for its clarity and freshness. One Shakespearean scholar supposedly watched it with his eyes shut, loving the acting, but hating the visuals.
Theatre historian Gary Jay Williams says the production was so influential that it became "the reference point for Shakespearean performance practice in general over the next decade". It encouraged the exploration of the play's darker, adult themes, which had been overshadowed by the tradition treating it as a play for children. So innovative and distinctive was the production that it almost became a problem for directors, because "the burden of reinventing the play now fell on every director." However, it opened the door to much greater experimentation, so that "twenty-five years after Brook's staging, the diversity of approaches is staggering to review".
The original 1970 Stratford cast was as follows:
The following changes were made for the 1971 London run.
The following changes were made for the 1973 tour:
Musicians 1970
Robin Weatherall, percussion
Tony Mcvey, percussion
Martin Best, Guitar
Musicians 1971
Robin Weatherall, percussion
Tony Mcvey, percussion
Edward Flower, guitar
Musicians 1973
Robin Weatherall, percussion and trumpet
Tony Mcvey, percussion and trombone
John Zaradin, guitar
Peter Brook
Peter Stephen Paul Brook CH, CBE is an English theatre and film director and innovator, who has been based in France since the early 1970s.-Life:...
, and is often known simply as "Peter Brook's Dream." It opened in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Royal Shakespeare Theatre
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre is a 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the British playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is located in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon - Shakespeare's birthplace - in the English Midlands, beside the River Avon...
at Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
and then moved to the Aldwych Theatre
Aldwych Theatre
The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Aldwych in the City of Westminster. The theatre was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200.-Origins:...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
in 1971. It was taken on a world tour in 1972-3. Brook's production of A Midsummer Nights' Dream for the RSC
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
is often described as one of the 20th century's most influential productions of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, as it rejected many traditional ideas about the staging of classic drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
.
Concept
Shakespeare's play is set in AthensAthens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
and a fairy-inhabited forest nearby. Brook's aim was to reject the 19th-century traditions of realism and illusionism in the theatre, and focus instead on locating the play in "the heightened realm of metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
. He also wanted to liberate the play from encrusted "bad tradition" so that the actors could feel that they were encountering the text for the first time.
As such, he avoided any realist scenery or props. Instead, the set, designed by Sally Jacobs, was a simple white box, with no ceiling and two doors. In Stratford, black drapes were hung above the box to hide the stage machinery; on tour, Brook decided to remove them, leaving stagehands and lighting technicians visible. The purpose of this was to return the stage to the simplicity of the Elizabethan theatre
English Renaissance theatre
English Renaissance theatre, also known as early modern English theatre, refers to the theatre of England, largely based in London, which occurred between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642...
, in which there was little scenery and the sense of location was generated by the poet's words. However, this approach was blended with modern elements: the trees of the forest were represented by giant slinky
Slinky
Slinky or "Lazy Spring" is a toy consisting of a helical spring that stretches and can bounce up and down. It can perform a number of tricks, including traveling down a flight of steps end-over-end as it stretches and re-forms itself with the aid of gravity and its own momentum.-History:The toy was...
toys, and Titania's bower was a huge red feather.
The fairy magic was represented by circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
tricks. For example, the fairies entered on trapeze
Trapeze
A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances...
bars, and the love potion that Puck fetches was a spinning plate on a rod, which Puck handed to Theseus from a trapeze fifteen feet above the stage. When Bottom turned into an ass
Ass
Ass may refer to:* The mammal Equus africanus asinus better known as the Donkey** Asinus subgenus* North American English informal term for buttocks* áss, one of the Æsir in Norse mythology* Ass , by Badfinger...
, he acquired not the traditional ass's head, but a clown's red nose.
The costumes were non-Athenian and non-English Renaissance. Instead, they were a colourful mixture of elements from different times and places. Oberon wore a purple satin gown. Puck wore a yellow jumpsuit from the Chinese circus. The mechanicals were dressed as 20th-century factory workers. The young lovers looked like 1960s "flower children" in tie-dye
Tie-dye
Tie-dye is a process of resist dyeing textiles or clothing which is made from knit or woven fabric, usually cotton; typically using bright colors. It is a modern version of traditional dyeing methods used in many cultures throughout the world. "Tie-dye" can also describe the resulting pattern or an...
shirts and ankle-length dresses.
There were also unusual casting choices. It had been traditional for the fairies to be played by young children or women, but Brook cast adult men instead, an effect described as "disconcertingly strange and threatening", and which made the forest a more frightening, adult place than in earlier productions. Brook also decided to double the roles of Theseus
Theseus
For other uses, see Theseus Theseus was the mythical founder-king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, both of whom Aethra had slept with in one night. Theseus was a founder-hero, like Perseus, Cadmus, or Heracles, all of whom battled and overcame foes that were...
/Oberon
Oberon
Oberon is a legendary king of the fairies.Oberon may also refer to:-People:* Merle Oberon , British actress* Oberon Zell-Ravenheart , Neopagan activist-Media and entertainment:* Oberon...
, Hippolyta
Hippolyta
In Greek mythology, Hippolyta or Hippolyte is the Amazonian queen who possessed a magical girdle she was given by her father Ares, the god of war. The girdle was a waist belt that signified her authority as queen of the Amazons....
/Titania, Philostrate/Puck
Puck (Shakespeare)
Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, is a character in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream that was based on the ancient figure in English mythology, also called Puck. Puck is a clever and mischievous elf and personifies the trickster or the wise knave...
and Egeus/Quince. This was partly to create a smaller, more intimate company, but also to suggest that the fairies were not so much different characters, as different aspects of the human characters' personalities, an idea signified when Theseus and Hippolyta 'became' Oberon and Titania simply by putting on robes. Brook believed that Theseus and Hippolyta have failed to achieve "the true union as a couple" and work through their quarrels as Oberon and Titania.
The production emphasized, to a level never before seen, the supposed sexual undercurrents of the story of Titania's infatuation with Bottom after he turns into an ass
Ass
Ass may refer to:* The mammal Equus africanus asinus better known as the Donkey** Asinus subgenus* North American English informal term for buttocks* áss, one of the Æsir in Norse mythology* Ass , by Badfinger...
. Brook was influenced by Jan Kott
Jan Kott
Jan Kott was a well-known Polish critic and theoretician of the theatre.Born in Warsaw in 1914, Kott moved to the United States in 1966 and lectured at Yale and Berkeley. A poet, translator, and critic, he was also one of the finest essayists of the Polish school...
's study of the play in Shakespeare Our Contemporary, in which Kott notes the phallic properties of the donkey
Donkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
, and argues that Oberon deliberately degrades Titania by exposing her to this monstrous sexuality. In Brook's staging, Bottom entered Titania's bower carried by the fairies, one of whom thrust his upraised arm between Bottom's legs to represent a phallus. In a jab at more traditional stagings, the sequence was accompanied by Mendelssohn
Mendelssohn
Mendelson is a Polish/German Jewish family name, meaning "son of Mendel", Mendel being a Yiddish diminutive of the Hebrew given name Menahem, meaning "consoling" or "one who consoles".Mendelssohn is the surname of a number of people:...
's Wedding March
Wedding March (Mendelssohn)
Felix Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" in C major, written in 1842, is one of the best known of the pieces from his suite of incidental music to Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream...
, a piece of music originally written to be played as an intermezzo between Acts IV and V, but often used in more genteel productions for the final marriage scene of the play. Despite the disturbing undercurrents of this view of sexuality, many audience members found the play witty and affectionate in its treatment of sex, in tune with the spirit of 60s permissiveness.
The end of the production stressed the idea of community between audience and actors. As Oberon spoke his final lines about sunrise, the house lights slowly rose, so that the audience was visible to each other while Puck spoke the play's closing speech. Upon the line "Give me your hands, if we be friends", the entire cast rushed into the auditorium to shake hands with the audience, turning the theatre into a "lovefest".
Responses
The production was extremely popular, both in terms of box office and reviews. On the opening night, the audience gave a standing ovation at the interval. The majority of critics were in raptures over the production. It was a box office success, and was instantly recognized as a theatrical landmark, and the product of a great artist: the Sunday Times reviewer called it "the sort of thing one only sees once in a lifetime, and then only from a man of genius".There were naysayers, and the commonest criticism was that the production distracted the viewer from the play by prioritizing Brook's cleverness over Shakespeare's; one reviewer called it a "self-indulgent display of directorial gimmickry". Theatre historian John Russell Brown felt that the play was constrained by Brook's eccentric personal interpretations. However, even those critics who disliked the staging choices praised the verse-speaking for its clarity and freshness. One Shakespearean scholar supposedly watched it with his eyes shut, loving the acting, but hating the visuals.
Theatre historian Gary Jay Williams says the production was so influential that it became "the reference point for Shakespearean performance practice in general over the next decade". It encouraged the exploration of the play's darker, adult themes, which had been overshadowed by the tradition treating it as a play for children. So innovative and distinctive was the production that it almost became a problem for directors, because "the burden of reinventing the play now fell on every director." However, it opened the door to much greater experimentation, so that "twenty-five years after Brook's staging, the diversity of approaches is staggering to review".
Cast
The casting changed somewhat during the production's Stratford and London runs and its world tour.The original 1970 Stratford cast was as follows:
- Alan HowardAlan HowardAlan MacKenzie Howard, CBE, is an English actor known for his roles on stage, television and film.He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1966 to 1983, and played leading roles at the Royal National Theatre between 1992 and 2000.-Personal life:Howard is the only son of the actor...
as TheseusTheseusFor other uses, see Theseus Theseus was the mythical founder-king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, both of whom Aethra had slept with in one night. Theseus was a founder-hero, like Perseus, Cadmus, or Heracles, all of whom battled and overcame foes that were...
/OberonOberonOberon is a legendary king of the fairies.Oberon may also refer to:-People:* Merle Oberon , British actress* Oberon Zell-Ravenheart , Neopagan activist-Media and entertainment:* Oberon... - Sarah Kestelman as HippolytaHippolytaIn Greek mythology, Hippolyta or Hippolyte is the Amazonian queen who possessed a magical girdle she was given by her father Ares, the god of war. The girdle was a waist belt that signified her authority as queen of the Amazons....
/Titania - John KaneJohn Kane (writer)John Kane is an actor and writer.-Career:An associate actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company, he played Puck in Peter Brook's acclaimed production of A Midsummer Night's Dream alongside Ben Kingsley, Alan Howard and Frances de la Tour, before turning to comedy script writing...
as Philostrate/PuckPuck (mythology)In English folklore, Puck is a mythological fairy or mischievous nature sprite. Puck is also a generalised personification of land spirits. In more recent times, the figure of Robin Goodfellow is identified as a puck.-Etymology:... - Philip LockePhilip LockePhilip Locke was an English actor.He is possibly best known for his role as villainous SPECTRE underling Vargas in the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball...
as Egeus/Quince - Christopher GableChristopher GableChristopher Gable, CBE was an English ballet dancer, choreographer, and actor.Born in London, Gable studied at the Royal Ballet School, joining the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet in 1957...
as Lysander - Ben KingsleyBen KingsleySir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
as Demetrius - Mary Rutherford as Hermia
- Frances de la TourFrances de la TourFrances de la Tour is an English actress perhaps best known for her role as Miss Ruth Jones in the British sitcom Rising Damp, and as Madame Olympe Maxime in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.-Early life and family:De la...
as Helena - David WallerDavid WallerDavid Waller was an English actor best known for his role as Inspector Jowett in the British television series Cribb...
as Nick BottomNick BottomNick Bottom is a character in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream who provides comic relief throughout the play, and is famously known for getting his head transformed into that of an ass by the elusive Puck within the play.- Overview :... - Glynne Edwards as Francis Flute
- Norman RodwayNorman Rodway-Early life:Rodway was born in Dublin to English parents, Frank and Lillian Rodway. He studied classics, graduating at Trinity College. He worked as an accountant, teacher, and university lecturer before acting.-Career:...
as Snout the tinker - Terrence Hardiman as Starveling the tailor
- Barry Stanton as Snug the joiner
The following changes were made for the 1971 London run.
- Terence Taplin as Lysander
- Patrick StewartPatrick StewartSir Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career in theatre and television for around half a century...
as Snout - Philip Manikum as Starveling
The following changes were made for the 1973 tour:
- Gemma JonesGemma JonesGemma Jones is an English character actress on both stage and screen.-Early life:Jones was born in London, England, the daughter of Irene and Griffith Jones, an actor. Her brother, Nicholas Jones, is also an actor...
as Hippolyta/Titania - Robert Lloyd as Philostrate/Puck
- Denis Carey as Egeus/Quince
- Barry Stanton as Bottom
- George SweeneyGeorge Sweeney (actor)George Sweeney is a British film and television actor who commenced his acting career in the 1970s.Sweeney has numerous television credits, including Z-Cars , Rumpole of the Bailey , Dixon of Dock Green , Softly, Softly , The New Avengers , The Sweeney , Return...
as Flute - Malcolm Rennie as Snout
- Hugh Keays Byrne as Snug
- Zhivila Roche as Hermia
- Philip SayerPhilip SayerPhilip Sayer was a British actor. He worked for stage, film and television; and was probably best known for his role as Sam Phillips in the science-fiction horror film, Xtro .- Biography :...
as Lysander - Jennie Stoller as Helena
- David MeyerDavid MeyerDavid Meyer is an English actor. He is the twin of Anthony Meyer who has often appeared alongside him in film.Meyer is best known for appearing as a henchman in the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy as a circus performer with a talent for knife throwing alongside his twin. In the film the twins were...
as Demetrius
Musicians 1970
Robin Weatherall, percussion
Tony Mcvey, percussion
Martin Best, Guitar
Musicians 1971
Robin Weatherall, percussion
Tony Mcvey, percussion
Edward Flower, guitar
Musicians 1973
Robin Weatherall, percussion and trumpet
Tony Mcvey, percussion and trombone
John Zaradin, guitar
External links
- Images from the production, from the AHDS performance archive