Memories of A Midsummer Night's Dream

Under the light of the ivory moon,

the wedding celebration

of the Duke Theseus of Athens

and the Amazon Queen, Hippolyta.

A countdown of four days,

just short of 100 hours,

time ticking each little acorn

until the veil between the woodland

and the Fairyland descends.

____

A father envokes an ancient

Athenian law

that requires

a daughter to marry

the suitor her father selects for her,

or she faces death.

Egeus pushes Demetrius

to marry his lovely daughter,

the fair Hermia.

But Hermia isn't in love

with him. She loves

Lysander.

Duke Theseus offers

Hermia another

choice:

chastity as a nun

worshipping the goddess Diana.

She'd live in the woods

tending to creatures

and guarding a shrine.

She doesn't heed

either male figure's plan.

She denies her father's

arranged marriage and arrow-quick

runs

into the fairy woods

to hide

at Lysander's Aunt's house.

There she can

get away from Athenian laws

and Theseus' wrath.

____

Hermia's bosom-friend

Helena pines for Demetrius;

she hopes to reclaim

his love in the forest.

Hermia's cup overflows

with love. She dreams

of wedding bells

and wedding cakes.

____

A host of characters

plan to put on a play

for the wedding

of Theseus and Hippolyta.

Peter Quince, Nick Bottom,

Francis Flute, Robin Starveling,

Tom Snout, and Snug

rehearse in the woods

the epic tale of:

"The Most Lamentable Comedy

and Most Cruel Death

of Pyramus and Thisbe"

____

Nick Bottom reluctantly

plays the role

of the title character Pyramus.

Bottom would like

to play three parts

including Pyramus,

the Lion

and Thisbe. The play director

denies him this chance.

Bottom

begrudgingly recites

his lines.

Snug wants to be the Lion

because he doesn't want

too many lines.

He wants something

roaring.

The rehearsal ends

with hooting and hollering;

they all agree:

"at the Duke's oak we meet."

____

Oberon, king of the fairies,

and Titania, the queen of the fairies,

arrive at a forest outside Athens

for the wedding of Theseus

and Hippolyta. Oberon and Titania

have nearly exhausted themselves

with arguing and fighting.

They're in a heavy dispute

over a changeling.

Titania refuses

to give the changeling

over to Oberon.

His mother was devoted

to Titania, so she feels

obliged to the child.

____

Oberon summons

Robin "Puck" Goodfellow

to help track down a

rare and powerful flower

the: "love-in-idleness".

It turns white to violet

with the touch

of a single arrow

from Cupid's bow.

Oberon wants

to make a potion

from this magical flora.

When drops

from the potion

are placed

on the eyelids

of a dreamer,

the sleeping person

will fall madly in love

with the first living creature

they see. Puck

must quickly find

the rare flower

so Titania

will fall in love

with a forest creature.

Oberon wants to shame

her into giving up

the changeling.

Puck is also ordered

to put the potion

on the eyes of Demetrius.

But, of course,

things don't go as planned.

Puck puts the potion,

as eye drops, on Lysander.

He had never met Demetrius,

so how was he supposed to know?

Lysander first sees Helena;

he chases after her.

A terrifying dream

of a snake slithering

and plotting to eat

a person whole.

Hermia wakes

to find Lysander

missing. She goes

deeper into the woods

searching for her love

searching for

what went missing.

____

The play actors

head into the woods

to perform their play

about Pyramus

and Thisbe. Rehearsal

takes place near

where Titania sleeps.

Puck casts a spell

and Nick Bottom's

head transforms into

that of a donkey.

The others scream

in horror.

They declare the woods

haunted; they run away

leaving Nick Bottom behind.

Mr. Bottom

is very unaware of his

magical transformation.

He sings a ditty to himself,

partly to pretend up some

company.

Titania wakes and spots him

in the woods,

she falls in love

with his donkey ears

and tenor voice.

Nick Bottom is even

more confused

as the Queen

and the fairies lavish

attention on him, (cue

Great Fairy scenes

from Zelda.)

Oberon uses

the opportunity

to abduct

the changeling.

____

Oberon becomes aware

of Puck's mistake

and is furious. He watches

as Demetrius follows Hermia

instead of Helena.

Oberon puts Demetrius

to sleep with a

forest lullaby

and attempts to charm his eyes.

Both Demetrius

and Lysander

now love Helena.

Hermia has no suitor.

Hermia asks Lysander

why he left her, and he

responds

that he never loved her.

Hermia thinks this is a joke

since neither man

originally fell for Helena.

Hermia and Helena

get into a fight, both men

protect

Helena.

Then Lysander and Demetrius

fight with swords, dueling

for Helena's love.

Oberon tries to clean things up.

He is profoundly bemused

by the love square.

As Helena departs for Athens

and Hermia travels deeper

into the woods for Lysander,

Puck must remove the charm

from Lysander, while Demetrius

isn't to be changed so as

to give Helena a lover.

Everything else is to be taken

as a dream.

All four of the love confused

humans

eventually fall asleep

in the glade.

____

The lovers

don't remember

the previous night's

happenings. A double

wedding

is called:

Hermia with Lysander

and

Helena with Demetrius.

Nick Bottom is also

under the impression

that the fairies

and his donkey face

were just a weird dream.

Quince laments

that Nick Bottom

was the only actor

who could properly

play Pyramus.

The mood is dour

until Bottom appears

with his normal human face.

___

Trumpets blare, lutes plucked,

and the sky overcome

with sunshine.

The play characters join

the wedding feast.

And the play within a play

is so terrible

that the wedding guests

think it is a comedy.

Oberon, Titania, and Puck,

with other fairies,

enchant the castle,

blessing it

with good fortune.

Puck wonders

if everything was

a dream

and if the audience

was merely dreaming.