A Midsummer Night's Dream
From Left to Right:
Caroline Devlin – Hermia / Philostrate / Titania / Starveling / Snug
Guy Burgess – Theseus / Puck / Peaseblossom / Moth / Snout
Jan Shepherd – Hippolyta / Helena / 1st Fairy / Mustardseed / Quince / Snug
Chris Staines – Lysander / Oberon / Cobweb / Flute
Nick Tigg – Demetrius / Egeus / Bottom
Synopsis
Duke Theseus of Athens, returning from a victory over the Amazons, announces he will marry Hippolyta, the Amazons’ queen in four days’ time. Egeus complains to Theseus that his daughter Hermia refuses to marry Demetrius, the man Egeus has chosen as her husband, because she is in love with Lysander, whom Egeus rejects as a suitor for her. Athenian law means that Hermia must either marry Demetrius or choose between death and becoming a nun. Lysander and Hermia agree to flee Athens through the forest to marry at his aunt’s house. They tell Helena, Hermia’s friend, of their plans. Helena loves Demetrius but he is not remotely interested in her. To try to win Demetrius’ interest, she decides to tell him about the others’ elopement.
Quince, Bottom, Flute, Starveling, Snug, and Snout, a group of Athenian workers, set about organizing their production of a play to be performed at Theseus’ wedding.
In the forest, Oberon, the King of the Fairies, is arguing with Titania, the Fairy Queen, because he demands she should hand over a human orphan boy to him to be his page. To punish Titania for refusing his demand, Oberon orders Robin Goodfellow, the Puck, to bring him a flower whose juice will cause her to fall in love with the first being she sees. Helena is chasing Demetrius through the woods. Oberon, pitying her plight, orders Puck to anoint Demetrius with it so he’ll fall in love with Helena. Oberon then anoints the sleeping Titania with the flower. In the forest, Lysander and Hermia lie down to rest. Puck, mistaking Lysander is Demetrius, anoints him with the flower’s juice. Helena appears and awakes Lysander, who immediately falls in love with her and pursues her. Hermia, waking to find her self alone, sets off to find Lysander.
In the forest, the workers arrive to rehearse and to solve their play’s production problems. Puck appears and transforms Bottom, giving him an ass’s head. The other actors flee in terror. Titania awakes and falls in love with Bottom, ordering her fairy servants to attend on him.
Oberon and Puck realize Puck put the love-juice on the wrong human. Oberon tries to remedy this by anointing Demetrius with the flower so that he’ll fall in love with Helena.
He does but now both men love Helena, she believes they are teasing her, and Hermia is confused by Lysander’s change of affection. Oberon orders Puck to make a thick fog to separate the four lovers and force them into a deep sleep, so that the confusions can be resolved. Lysander is given the antidote.
When Bottom and Titania fall asleep, Oberon gives Titania the antidote and Puck takes off Bottom’s ass’s head. Oberon and Titania are reconciled.
At dawn, Theseus, Hippolyta, and Egeus arrive in the woods, hunting. They find the lovers who, waking, explain that Demetrius now loves Helena. Theseus overrules Egeus’ demands for the law and approves the matches. Bottom awakes, dimly remembers the night's events and heads home.
In Athens, after the triple wedding, the aristocrats watch the workers’ play, ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’. At midnight, all leave for bed. The fairies end the play, blessing the marriages.
Actor Biographies
Guy Burgess trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He has appeared in numerous theatre, television, and film productions. His theatre credits include Pompey/Alexas in Antony and Cleopatra, Othello in Othello (at The Bridewell), Dauphin in Henry V (at Orange Tree), Laertes in Hamlet, Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, Biondello in The Taming of the Shrew, Sir Gawain in A Connecticut Yankee (at Regents Park), Ward in Women Beware Women (at Duke of Cambridge), Hiawatha in Hiawatha (at The Crucible), Tybalt/Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (at Hull Truck), Castrone in Volpone , Morocco in Merchant of Venice (at The English Shakespeare Co.), Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (at Derby Playhouse), Peter Pan in Peter Pan , Prince Uter in The Birth of Merlin , Ambitioso in The Revenger’s Tragedy and Jesus in Godspell (at Theatre Clwyd). His film credits include Dean in Looking for Langston directed by Isaac Julien, and Pushkin in Pushkin and the Bronze Horseman directed by Colin Thomas. Most recently he has played Valmont in Quartet with the Aspect Theatre Company, the Composer in Ariadne Auf Naxos at The Festival Theatre in Edinburgh, Poison in Poison at the Tricycle Theatre, Cléonte in A Fool and His Money for the Nottingham Playhouse, and Dr. Welby in EastEnders on the BBC. This is his third tour with AFTLS, having previously toured in the fall 2000 production of As You Like It and the spring 2003 production of The Tempest .
Caroline Devlin graduated from The Drama Centre London in 1995 and has enjoyed working at such theatres as The Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh where she was a regular member of the company for various seasons, playing many parts including Masha in Chekhov’s Three Sisters , Hero in Much Ado About Nothing , Lady Macduff in Macbeth , Arte O’Neill in Boucicault’s The Shaughraun , and Wendy in Barrie’s Peter Pan . She has also played Marina in Pericles (at Greenbelt Theatre Company), Michaela in Carmen , and Gwen in Merlin (at Citizen’s Theatre Company-Glasgow). Caroline’s television and radio credits include Casualty , The History Man , Ruth Rendell’s Lake of Darkness, and most recently My Uncle Silas (alongside Albert Finney) . She has also been at the forefront of establishing her own theatre company and has made her directing debut in October 2002. Caroline has developed a project entitled The Spirit of Scotland in Story and Song . Drawing together Celtic myth, folklore, poetry and song, this one-person show explores the stories that survived down the centuries in the forms of traditional verse to Gaelic laments. It will draw from themes touching upon nature, sea, love, death, heroism, stoicism, pride, friendship and perhaps even the true "spirit" of Scotland - Whisky! This is Caroline’s second tour with Actors From The London Stage, having previously toured with the spring 2003 production of The Tempest.
Jan Shepherd trained at Mountview Theatre School where she was awarded a Laurence Olivier bursary. Her theatre roles include Cordelia in King Lear, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream , and Lady MacDuff and 2 nd Witch in Macbeth , all of which were produced by The One Tree Company, which started out at The National Theatre Studios before touring nationally and internationally. She has also appeared on London stages as Hostess Quickly in King Henry V, Lady Ann in Richard III, Isabella in Measure for Measure, and Hero in Much Ado About Nothing. Most recently, Jan has toured the UK with The Vagina Monologues, and has also appeared in Noel Coward’s This HappyBreed as well as in the premiere of Bonnie Greer’s play Jitterbug. Her television credits include The Glass, Bugs, Chandler and Co , and Waiting for God . Jan can currently be seen in The Real Tuesday Weld’s video The Ugly and the Beautiful. This is her first tour with Actors From The London Stage.
Christopher
Staines studied at Oxford University and then trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. His theatre roles at the National Theatre include Hamlet, which also toured the US, David Hare’s Amy’s View, and She Stoops to Conquer. At Bristol Old Vic Theatre, Christopher could be seen as Adam in Paradise Lost and Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors. He has also appeared in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Richard III at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, in Three Sisters at Chichester Festival Theatre, in Gross Indecency – The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde in the West End, and in Sam Mendes’ production of Cabaret at the Donmar Warehouse. Television and film credits include: Mrs. Dalloway, Highlander, Foyle’s War, The Student Prince, This Life, The Queen’s Nose, The Ruby Ring, and Pride and Prejudice. Radio credits include The Rose and the Ring, The Decameron, Antigone, and Dossier Ronald Akkerman. This is Christopher’s first tour with Actors From The London Stage.
Nick
Tigg studied English at University College London. After graduating he was a founding member of the London Small Theatre Company, with whom he toured Europe and America for four years, performing Aristophanes’ The Frogs and The Clouds, as well as the original piece Beyond Belief. Since then, he has performed in many theatres throughout the world including: the Royal Shakespeare Company (as Eros in Antony and Cleopatra and Androgyno in Volpone), the National Theatre (in various plays, such as Oh! What a Lovely War and The Frogs), and the National Theatre Studio (where he worked with Harrison Birtwhistle on Io Passion and Fiona Laird on War Cabaret). Nick has been a member of the experimental theatre company The People Show for 12 years and throughout this time has worked on a number of their shows including: Number 99 The Ballroom Show, Number 102 and Number 104 (both site specific shows), The Boat Show (a site specific show which he directed, which took place on the HMS Intrepid on London’s river Thames), Slide Show (which he co-wrote and devised), and the Fringe First Award winning Film Club (which was performed at the Edinburgh festival 2003). He has toured with his own company, The National Theatre of Bergamo, and performs regularly with his band, The Ukulele Evangelists. This is his second show with Actors From The London Stage, having previously toured with The Winter’s Tale (as Autolycus and Florizel). He has written and performed much original music for the theatre and has contributed the music to the AFTLS Winter’s Tale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Measure for Measure.