A Midsummer Nights Dream Quiz

Answer each question in 4-5 sentences. Use your own words and thoughts.
(50 pts total, 5 pts per question, only valid with attendance of play).
Turn in answers through D2L DropBox (no emails/hardcopies). Due by 4/28/14, 11:59pm.
Zaki Yusuf
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1.

How does the play open? Who do we see on stage and doing what?
What does this suggest?

The play begins with Puck on top of the playground doing ballet movements. Then the fairies
ride their bikes down the ramp with Puck following behing doing a cartwheel. We also hear the
word motherfucker in the song playing, which suggests this play is going to get wild. I think
that scene is the directors way of showing the audience that this is not the typical Midsummer
Nights Dream play.

2.

Describe the set and lighting design and how it helped serve the plays
actions. Give a specific example of how they were used effectively.
The black light was used on the fiaries and imaginary characters. The normal light was used
for normal people. Somewhat like a metaphor. When a character casted a spell, the lights
would also get crazy to emphasize the spell. It was a creative way of differentiating the
different types of characters.

3.

What was a comical moment where you laughed? Why?

The most comical moment in the play was when Puck did the rap. It didnt fit within the play
and it was extremely unexpected. I think the rap was used as comic relief in the scene it
occured in. It was successful because it had most of the audience, including me, laughing.

4.

There are three vastly different types of character groups in the play.
Explain each of these groups and how their costumes helped express
character.

There are the imaginary characters- The fairies, Puck, Oberon, Titania
There are the regular people- The lovers
Then there are the actors/rude mechanicals
The fairies costumes were very vibrant and colorful.
The humans were dressed like everyday people.
The rude mechanicals were also dressed casually like everyday people.
This contrast between costumes seperates the character roles and the way the audience perceived
them.

5.

Which character/actor in the show did you understand / enjoy /

resonate with and why?

I enjoyed Puck the most because she was so wild and fun! I think her energy carried the show
and she showed passion in her role. She was very acrobatic and constantly moving. I think I
resonated with her best because I feel like her persona is similar to mine in the fact that she is
vibrant and comical.
6.

What piece of dialogue/movement/action sticks out to you now, as you

reflect on the play? Why?

The rap stuck out the most. It was completely unexpected. Although it got some laughter out of
the crowd, I feel like it didnt fit with the rest of the play. Maybe it was part of the directors plan
to make this version of Midsummer Nights Dream unlike any other.

7.

Describe a moment of surprise that happened on stage and how the

actors responded to it?

When Puck and the Fairy were having sex, I was surprised. The audience was also shocked too. I
noticed that some of the actors were laughing on stage, and i found that funny. I liked the way
the act of sex was portrayed so casually because it caught the audience off guard even more.

8. How does the play end? What character(s) speaks lastly on stage? Why do
you think its
this character who has the last words?
The play ends with Puck giving a speech thanking the audience for coming. I think Puck is
giving the last farewell because she was the reason why the play unfolded the way it did. She
was responsible for all the drama. It was her duty to end it in a good, happy way.

9. Remembering the definition of comedy discussed earlier in the semseter,

why is this play
a comedy?
Because there are moments the characters do things out of the ordinary. This suggests it is
supposed to be comical. For example, when the fairy did a backbend, he shook his weiner. In
general, the play contained humor throughout, including jokes and pranks by the fairies, twists
and turns in the plot, and the failed production of a play within a play. There was both dramatic
and situational irony regarding the situation between the four lovers.

10. What is a major theme that sticks out for you after having seen this play? Support your
argument by describing a scene in the play.
Love. Because after all the drama, the characters that loved each other in the beginning still
loved each other in the end.