After an historical survey of A Midsummer Night's 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 new chapters on Adrian Noble's RSC production and film, Michael Hoffman's film, and the Dream in China. Written in clear, jargon-free language, this is the only book so far in print that offers an extended study of major 20th-century productions of the Dream in their historical context.
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.
