A Midsummer Night's Dream

Shakespeare's play: a girl in Athens who refuses to marry, four young people fleeing into the wood, the quarrel of the fairy king and queen, and a company of tradesmen rehearsing a play. A love potion makes everyone fall for the wrong person. The film is not interested in adapting the text. It is a record of a staging: this is Julie Taymor's production for Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn, filmed. The camera uses angles no spectator could have, but the space is entirely theatre. The form is Taymor's own: fabric, rope, enormous bedsheets and bodies suspended in air. The wood is built not from trees but from moving textile. Puck is played by an older woman, and that choice noticeably changes the tone of the play. Julie Taymor directed. She was known for the stage version of The Lion King, and the visual language here comes from the same workshop. Tina Benko plays Titania and Zach Appelman plays Lysander; the cast is largely made up of stage actors. Who it is for: viewers who like filmed theatre and Taymor's visual world. Who it is not for: anyone expecting cinema. This is a record of a stage production and runs two and a half hours at the play's own pace.