A Midsummer Night's Dream
Discover Primary & Early Years
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
"...in the night, imagining some fear, How easy is a bush supposed a bear!"
With all the dark undercurrents of the traditional fairytale, Shakespeare weaves farce, slapstick, romance and revelry to create what is perhaps his most joyous play.
Primary Classics, produced by the National Theatre's Discover programme, aims to introduce children aged 7 to 11 to Shakespeare.
This version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, adapted and originally directed by Carl Heap, preserves the core of Shakespeare's plot, retains the original langauge, yet is presented very much with the target age group in mind. Carl Heap's introduction will help readers, teachers and practitioners alike to imagine or produce their own version.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Coville follows up his version of The Tempest (see p. 84) with a retelling of another of Shakespeare's most popular plays. The fundamental story of magic, mischief and the trials and tribulations of love is preserved through well-chosen use of the original language and Coville's heady prose ("The queen... saw the ass-headed monstrosity through magic-drenched eyes"). Major plot lines are clearly and concisely rendered, but it is the portrayal of the various levels of humor-from Bottom's buffoonery to Puck's gleeful magic-making-that really captures the essence of the play. Nolan's (Dinosaur Dream) sumptuous, painterly watercolors highlight the theatrical setting of the spellbound wood. Gnarled, mossy trees provide the backdrop for a cast of unusually youthful lovers, gossamer-winged fairies (which nod at Rackham's famous interpretations) and a truly puckish Puck. A first-rate entree to the Bard. Ages 7-up.
