A Midsummer Night´s Dream

One of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream tells the whirlwind story of expectations and dreams and getting lost in the in-between. This chaotic tale unfolds in the magical midnight world of the Athenian forest where the air is pierced with jealousy, unrequited love, and delicious confusion. As they enter the forest, the Athenians are caught in Titania and Oberon’s quarrel over a child, both fairies desperate to follow their dreams of motherhood. Determined and yet disoriented, the humans are left to grapple with new identities and unexpected declarations of love.

Our interpretation of this magical tale invites a closer look at the tensions between external expectations and the characters’ needs to negotiate their own sense of self. The production design is influenced by the barren mothers’ and their need to fill the harsh forest with song, light, and love. In the midst of this liminal space of the forest, dreams and reality blur and merge. Who do these individuals dream to be, and at what cost?

This production is presented by Cambridge University European Theatre Group (CUETG). Founded in 1957 by a group of students including Derek Jacobi and Trevor Nunn, CUETG have toured Western Europe with a Shakespeare play each December ever since. Since the original tour, we have grown in size and ambition and are now a self-sufficient theatrical company, travelling by coach with professional equipment and an experimental set.

Our commitment to education has been central to the tour since it started 67 years ago. Our mission is to keep the study and performance of Shakespeare accessible, relevant, and exciting for audiences in Cambridge and beyond. Educational material, including workshops delivered by our Education Officer and an Education Pack, complements the performance of the play and explores the ideas raised in more detail.

Both the workshops and the Education Pack are created from a theatrical perspective, bringing together the dynamic ideas of our touring show and offering students the opportunity to explore the text beyond what is written on the page (that is how Shakespeare wanted it to be experienced, after all!). With discussion topics, dramatic exercises, explorations of Shakespeare’s language, and activities for the classroom, the pack is created to ensure that readers from school children to university academics will find something engaging and thoughtful.

If you would like a digital copy of the Education Pack, please get in touch with Gemma Stapleton at manager@cuetg.co.uk

Copyright: CUETG