1. Adrian Noble’s Production 1996 Noble directed both a stage version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and based upon this he later did a film version too.

2. Cast  Lindsay Duncan...Hippolyta / Titania  Daniel Evans...Lysander  Alex Jennings...Theseus / Oberon  Desmond Barrit...Nick Bottom  Finbar Lynch...Philostrate / Puck (as Barry Lynch)  Osheen Jones..The Boy  Monica Dolan...Hermia  Emily Raymond...Helena  Ann Hasson...First Fairy  Gemma Aston...Fairy / Courtier  John Baxter..Fairy / Courtier  Alfred Burke...Egeus  Emily Button...Principal Fairy / Courtier  Howard Crossley...Tom Snout / Fairy  Kevin Doyle...Demetrius

3. Cast continued... Robert Gillespie...Robin Starveling / Cobweb Tim Griggs...Principal Fairy / Courtier Guy Hargreaves...Fairy / Courtier Michelle Jordan...Fairy / Courtier John Kane..Peter Quince / Mustardseed Sarah Kruger...Fairy / Courtier Mark Letheren...Francis Flute / Peaseblossom Nicola McRoy...Fairy / Courtier Joseph Morton...Fairy / Courtier Matt Patresi...Fairy / Courtier Oscar Pearce...Fairy / Courtier Dominique Poulter...Fairy / Courtier Darren Roberts..Principal Fairy / Courtier KennSabberton...Snug

4. “It now feels rather hokey and dated.” http://oughttobeclowns.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/dvd- review-midsummer-nights-dream-rsc.html Stage version “Perfect for a cold winter's night.” Reviewed by Giala Murray Film Version

5. During the twentieth century, stage designs for the play became increasingly abstract, none more so than Peter Brook’s performance- See more at: http://findingshakespeare.co.uk/picture-of-the-month- 12#sthash.Bi1KAk92.dpuf http://findingshakespeare.co.uk/picture-of-the-month- 12#sthash.Bi1KAk92.dpuf

6. Set design Designed by Sally Jacobs, the set was a three-sided white box, lit continually by a white light, and emphasising the artificiality of the theatrical medium. This was far removed from the traditional wooded glade of Victorian stagings. Influenced in part by Peter Brooks’ earlier staging, in 1994 Adrian Noble chose a box set for his particular vision of the play; a world of dreaming and sleep See more at: http://findingshakespeare.co.uk/picture- of-the-month-12#sthash.Bi1KAk92.dpufhttp://findingshakespeare.co.uk/picture- of-the-month-12#sthash.Bi1KAk92.dpuf

7. Helena’s desperation? http://www.pinterest.com/pin/457 326537131583433/ http://www.pinterest.com/pin/457 326537131583433/ A clip of the argument between the lovers whilst under the spell.

9. The Pyramus and Thisbe play-within-a-play is traditionally one of the highlights of the piece, but seems to lack some focus in this treatment. As films go, this is standard fare, technically speaking. NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/136 567/A-Midsummer-Night-s-Dream/overview http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/136 567/A-Midsummer-Night-s-Dream/overview Criticisms aside, I did enjoy the marked doubling between the court and fairyland, not just as expected with Hippolyta / Titania and Theseus / Oberon but also with the Rude Mechanicals also appearing as the fairies that attend to Bottom. – http://oughttobeclowns.blogspot.co.uk/20 12/01/dvd-review-midsummer-nights- dream-rsc.html#sthash.U4on77zy.dpuf

10. http://www.stthomasu.ca/~hunt/reviews /dream.htm “It was by a long margin the most dreamlike Dream we've ever seen” “The 1996 film of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," directed by Adrian Noble and starring the Royal Shakespeare Company, appears to be a more-or-less direct translation from stage to film. The sets are sparse, costumes outlandish and garishly colourful.” http://www.epinions.com/review/mvie_ mu-1087459/mvie-review-1738- 15276796-38857070-prod2?sb=1