Performances / Szigligeti Company / 2025-2026
William Shakespeare
A Midsummer Nights Dream
A comedy in two acts
Translated by:: János Arany
‘The play’s multi-layered structure suggests the complexity of its theme. Several intertwining plotlines unfold, each gleaming with a different tone. The union of Theseus, Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta provides the framework for the story; their love is serious, mature, calm, and destined to reach its safe harbor. The love of the four young Athenians, Lysander and Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, wanders along winding paths, passing through crossroads fraught with traps. In the fairy world, love also blossoms—mirroring human emotions—between Oberon and Titania. Meanwhile, the artisans prepare a play for the Duke’s wedding: their performance, a tragic tale of Pyramus and Thisbe, becomes grotesquely distorted in their hands. The craftsmen themselves are not lovers, yet one of them—Bottom—accidentally becomes the strange object of Titania’s enchanted affections.
As in many of the poet’s other comedies, the conflict’s exposition is far from lighthearted; in fact, it unfolds in a rather somber tone. Lysander and Hermia’s love faces the harsh obstacle of paternal tyranny. Demetrius, Lysander’s rival, abandons his former fiancée, Helena, as his heart shifts toward Hermia. Hermia flees with Lysander, Demetrius pursues Hermia, and Helena follows Demetrius, leading all four into the forest, where they spend the night wandering and occasionally resting.
On this enchanted night, the parallel threads of love become tangled. The forest, home to the fairies, is populated with magical beings who intervene in mortal affairs. Oberon, the fairy king, possesses a potent charm: when applied to the eyes of a sleeping person, it causes them to fall in love with the first creature they see upon waking. Oberon intends to use this potion to blackmail Titania. Meanwhile, the artisans rehearse their play in the same forest. Puck, Oberon’s mischievous servant, transforms Bottom’s head into that of a donkey, and Titania—enchanted by Oberon’s spell—falls in love with him.
At the same time, Oberon wishes to redirect Demetrius’s love toward Helena, but Puck mistakenly applies the potion to Lysander’s eyes instead. Upon waking and seeing Helena, Lysander abruptly forsakes Hermia, leaving her distraught. Love, after all, has its misdirections.
The midsummer night’s dream ends with the break of dawn. But before morning arrives, the magical interventions are corrected, restoring order. Titania reunites with Oberon, Lysander returns to Hermia, and Demetrius now truly loves Helena. A triple wedding follows: the four young lovers may marry alongside Theseus and Hippolyta.”
— Endre Róth
Cast of characters:
Egeus, Hermia atyja:
Belényi Ferenc
Philostrat, ünnepélyrendezõ Theseusnál:
Revoczky Róbert
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