A Midsummer Night's Dream- Peter Brook 1970

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"Peter Brook's 1970 A Midsummer Night's Dream has an iconic place in the stage history of that play and of Shakespeare's plays as a whole. Sally Jacobs's set, a white box with simple doors and a balcony on three sides, exemplified Brook's celebrated concept of the stage as an "empty space."1 The actors, when not on stage, peered over the balcony or sat with their legs dangling over the sides of the set, watching the action along with the audience but from above, much as the fairies might do. The design and blocking of the production were likewise elemental and abstract. Gone were leafy bowers, gauzy fairy wings, and Mendelsohn's romantic music. The lovers wore modern simple frocks or flowered shirts with white pants, while the fairies wore voluminous satin and taffeta gowns or baggy jumpsuits in brilliant colors — purple for Oberon, emerald for Titania, yellow for Puck. Finally, and perhaps most memorably, the blocking and stage business featured acrobatic circus elements. Oberon and Puck appeared on trapezes; Titania's bower (decorated with crimson ostrich feathers) was hoisted aloft when she slept or enticed Bottom to her bed. Once charmed to sleep by Puck, the lovers awaited the arrival of Theseus and Hippolyta draped on canvas swings, swaying gently fifteen feet above the stage. In addition to trapeze work, the actors balanced spinning plates on wands and walked on stilts. Many critics and directors, including Gregory Doran, current artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, have referred to Brook's production as a "game-changer" in the history of Shakespeare performance, infusing modern performances with simplicity and greater physicality via the influence of the Chinese circus and Noh drama, among others."

-Linda McJanet

https://borrowers-ojs-azsu.tdl.org/borrowers/article/view/265/527

I find this particular production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' captivating because although the set and costume design are very abstract, the use of unconventional props and circus equipment create an otherworldly atmosphere. This production is very unusual because intricate costumes and forest sets are usually needed to communicate the magical, fantastical themes present in the play, but I think the blank white space in combination with the use of stilts and trapezes distorts the audiences perception and completely separates the stage from the real world. The abstract set and simple costumes also bring the narrative into a more modern realm, and makes it hard to place within space and time. Brook's production marks a liberation from literal representations, which is an idea I'd like to explore myself, considering how fashion doesn't have to literally represent ideas, and often relies on the interpretation of the viewer.

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