Thame Players are delighted to be bringing their production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, “Britain’s favourite Shakespeare play”, to the stage at last. It’s being performed from 10th – 14th May at The Players Theatre in Thame.
Rehearsals first began in March 2020, but days later came the first Covid lockdown and the production has been delayed twice through successive lockdowns. There are parallels between the time when Shakespeare wrote the play and our recent past: Shakespeare was about 30 years old when he wrote A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and it was first performed in 1595. This was only a year or two after the country was recovering from The Plague, the pandemic of Shakespeare’s day. Infections rose, public events were cancelled, people died and the authorities were lambasted for their inability to deal with the situation.
Today we have the vaccine, but in Shakespeare’s day they were not so lucky and the disease raged intermittently for many years. Having the chance to let their hair down and see a play such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream was a brilliant new form of entertainment for those emerging from such gloom.
Thame Players’ production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is guaranteed to raise your spirits – from the very first moment the audience will be transported into a tale of order and disorder, reality and magic, love and marriage, set within a magical forest where troublesome fairies live.
The plot revolves around a complex love triangle, involving three couples who are destined to wed, but their romantic ambitions are interrupted by a dispute and the fairies of the forest use magic to misdirect their love. Mayhem ensues, and a miscast spell causes Titania, the Queen of the Fairies, to fall in love with a donkey-headed monster. The monster is otherwise known as Bottom, one of a group of workmen working in the forest, rehearsing a comical play to entertain the happily married couples. Eventually everything is resolved: all three couples are married, and everyone is treated to the performance of Pyramus and Thisbe by Bottom and his friends.
Martyn Ross, the director of Thame Players’ production, said, “Shakespeare’s play about love denied, love misplaced and eventually love fulfilled is a magical tale with a rich vein of comedy running through it. Our production takes the audience into an immersive forest glade where fairies fight, lovers roam, and a band of dancing workmen have everyone falling about with laughter – it is a show not to be missed”.
Notes for Editors
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream is being performedat the Players Theatre, Thame OX9 2DP from Tuesday 10th until Saturday 14th May inclusive at 7.45 pm. Tickets are £8 - £10.
- Book online atwww.thameplayers.co.uk or from the Information Centre at Thame Town Hall (check https://www.thametowncouncil.gov.uk/visit-thame/information-centre/ for opening times).
- Thame Players run the only dedicated theatre and cinema facility serving Thame, south-east Oxfordshire and west Buckinghamshire and have been a vibrant and successful amateur dramatics group for over 75 years. As an amateur theatre group they aim to provide high-quality, wide-ranging and accessible entertainment for Thame and local area. Shows are put on throughout the year at affordable prices, designed to suit a wide range of tastes and age groups.
- Follow Thame Players on Twitter.com/thametheatre, Facebook.com/thametheatre and Instagram.com/thameplayers
