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A Midsummer Night's Dream or The Night They Missed the Forest for the Trees

A Midsummer Night's Dream or The Night They Missed the Forest for the Trees

By Nancy Linehan Charles. Adapted from Shakespeare.

Product Code: MD1000

Full-length Play

Comedy | Farce | Satire

Cast size: 4m., 6w., 9 either gender, extras as desired.


Livestream and Record & Stream Rights Available


Rights and availability

This title can be licensed and sold throughout the World.

* Please note the royalty rate listed is the minimum royalty rate per performance. The actual royalty rate will be determined upon completion of a royalty application.

$10.95
In Stock

Min. Royalty Rate: $90.00/perf

Synopsis

We're in study hall where just about everyone is doing everything except studying for tomorrow's test on A Midsummer Night's Dream. That is, until Jessie gets an idea. In this rollicking adaptation of Shakespeare's play (wherein is examined the adolescent urges of just about everybody), teenagers, fairies, workers and royalty collide in a forest on a summer night and are bedazzled by a prankster. The fairy queen falls in love with an ass, the teens fall in and out (and in) love with each other, six well-meaning goofs stumble into their 15 minutes of fame, fairies weave magic to bring it all to a happy end as only Shakespeare can conjure the tapestry, and three streetwise storytellers pull the audience at breakneck speed toward the moon-drenched conclusion.

Notes

Livestream and Record & Stream Rights Available

Details

  • Status In stock
  • Type of Show Full-length Play
  • Product Code MD1000
  • Minimum Cast Size 19
  • Pages of Dialogue 70
  • Min. Royalty Rate $90.00/perf
  • Approx. Run Time 60 min
  • Staging Bare stage w/ props.

Categories

  • Target Audience Young Audiences | Middle School | High School | Family (all ages)
  • Performing Group Middle School | High School | Community Theatre | TYA
  • Genre Comedy | Farce | Satire
  • ISBN(13) 9781583420928

* Please note the royalty rate listed is the minimum royalty rate per performance. The actual royalty rate will be determined upon completion of a royalty application.

Customer Reviews

This play was a lot of fun to stage with 7th grade students. They really appreciated the modern narration and the audience loved it! We had a lot of fun with the chase scene between the Athenian teenagers and of course the mechanicals play within the play! Fun script!

Caitlyn Baldwin, Rollings Middle School of the Arts, Summerville, S.C.

I really enjoyed this adaptation. My middle schoolers thought it was very funny! It lent itself to creative use of music, costuming, and staging. The audience gave it rave reviews.

Dana Irish, Brillion Middle School, Brillion, WI

It was nice to do Shakespeare without overwhelming my actors!

Melissa Nelson, International Community School, Kirkland, WA

An absolutely wonderful experience for our 13 year old actors and our audiences.

Carolyn Wilson, The Pines Senior Public School, New Castle, Ontario, Canada

An adaptable and charming middle school take on the Bard's most endearing comedy. Perfectly suited to the innate silliness that 13-14 year olds embody, the Rude Mechanicals were never so charming as when they are over-done by students on the cusp of adulthood. A perfect theatrical romp for middle school.

Susan Guthrie Dunn, River Oaks Baptist School, Houston, Texas

This being our first attempt at Shakespeare, it was a great choice. Because of the compact version, the students weren't overwhelmed by the dialogue (or dialect). Also, the storyteller thread helped both them and the audience connect more easily with the plot.

Katherine Geible, Wabash High School, Wabash, Ind.

This show was fabulous. My students enjoyed it, the audiences were happy, and I had fun as the director, too. The interpretation of Shakespeare's script was easy to follow and full of action.

Jasmine Lemon, Dr. Knox Middle School, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada

Hints, Tips, and Tricks

You need to plan on adding fairies as invariably you end up with more females. Half of my Mechanicals were females. I added some funny choreographed dances to our fairy cadre (as I had 10 girls who could move well).

Susan Guthrie Dunn, River Oaks Baptist School, Houston, Texas

Hitting the thrift stores early in the production gave me a lot of time to locate costume pieces. I took the staging idea from the playwright and used rope and green fabric for the woods, but also added dollar-store vines and tossed on some glitter.

Katherine Geible, Wabash High School, Wabash, Ind.

Play with sound effectsÑwe used many more than required and it really added. Our set consisted of real, very large plants mounted on furniture dolliesÑsimple and easy to move.

Jasmine Lemon, Dr. Knox Middle School, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada

Production Map

Location City State Opens Closes
The Virginia Somerset KY 03/28/2025 03/30/2025