'A Midsummer Night's Dream' Resource Guide

One of the extraordinary things about staging Shakespeare’s works at the Folger is the breadth of related research, materials, and programming available to us as we create these magical performances. As we look ahead to summer 2022, we wanted to share with you a guide to the variety of ways you can explore the play online before seeing it at the National Building Museum.

Enjoy the Play at Home

• Audio Recordings
  The Folger and our publishing partner Simon & Schuster Audio have released our audio recording of this beloved comedy to stream for free until July 1, 2020. Directed by Robert Richmond and featuring Cody Nickell and Louis Butelli, all of whom will rejoin us this summer, it is a wonderful way to enjoy Shakespeare’s magic in your own own.
• The Folger Shakespeare
  Would you rather read the play? You can guide your own exploration through the mischievous hijinks with our free digital texts, available through The Folger Shakespeare. Links throughout the play connect you with collection items and further background, and you can also search the plays or read supplemental essays.

Blog Posts

• Six things to look for when you watch A Midsummer Night’s Dream
  If you’re getting ready to see a stage production, pay attention to these six things.

Podcasts

• An Interview with Peter Brook
  Director Peter Brook’s 1970 A Midsummer Night’s Dream is among that play’s most lauded and best known productions.
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Los Angeles
  Director Casey Wilder Mott’s 2017 film adaptation sets Shakespeare’s story in modern Los Angeles.
• Still Dreaming: Shakespeare with Seniors
  Ben Steinfeld and Noah Brody, co-directors of New York’s Fiasco Theater, worked with residents of the Lillian Booth Actors Home—filled with retired singers, actors, dancers and musicians—on a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Past Folger Productions

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Folger Theatre, 2016)
  • Dramaturg’s Notes: Folger Theatre
    In her notes on Folger Theatre’s 2016 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, dramaturg Michele Osherow writes about the play’s characters “confronting, exploring, and indulging imagination, testing conditions under which the imagined turns real.”
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream: In Concert (2014)
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Folger Theatre, 2006)

Fun and Games

• Quiz: Which copy of “Midsummer” are you?
  Are you David Garrick’s prompt book? W. Heath Robinson’s 1914 illustrated copy? Or something else entirely? Find out which copy of A Midsummer Night’s Dream you are with this fun quiz.
• Midsummer Illustrated Quotes

Stay tuned for more magic Midsummer moments and make a plan to join us at the National Building Museum this summer!