A Midsummer Night's Dream
by Shakespeare at Winedale

Apr. 27 - Apr. 28, 2018
Friday-Saturday

The course of true love never did run smooth. – I.i 

A favorite play at Winedale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream follows multiple storylines through varied pursuits of love. While young Athenian couples chase each other through the woods, the Fairy King and Queen engage in a quarrel that leads to absurd outcomes, thanks to the mistakes, and mischief, of the merry spirit, Puck. Meanwhile, an enthusiastic band of amateur players begins rehearsing its play in the forest. Their efforts yield comedy when they cross paths with the fairies, but also generate some of Shakespeare’s most insightful commentary on his own art.  


Students in this spring’s “Shakespeare Through Performance” course have focused their studies on Shakespeare’s metatheatricality—those aspects of his works that call attention to their status as plays and invite reflection on the way theatre creates meaning. While reading and considering works like Hamlet, Henry V, and The Tempest, the students have devoted the bulk of the semester to a thorough investigation of metatheatrical elements in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, arguably the play of Shakespeare’s that most fully engages with its own making. As Peter Quince says when the “rude mechanicals” begin to rehearse Pyramus and Thisbe in the forest, “This green plot shall be our stage, this hawthorn brake our tiring house.” 

Shakespeare at Winedale is a program within the University of Texas English Department that invites students from all disciplines to learn about Shakespeare through the experience of performing his works. Since 1970, hundreds of students have performed Shakespeare’s immortal words in the Winedale Theatre Barn, using textual interpretation, creativity, and passion to bring the plays to life. The students of the Spring Class come together to explore several plays throughout the UT spring semester. The course includes three weekends at the Winedale Historical Center, where students immerse themselves in the study of Shakespeare surrounded by the beauty of the Texas countryside. Their coursework culminates in a final presentation of their studies: two performances in the Winedale Theatre Barn.

---

A Midsummer Night's Dream
by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare at Winedale

The Shakespeare at Winedale Spring Class performs Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Winedale Theatre Barn on April 27 & 28 at 7PM. Enjoy star-crossed lovers, fairy hijinks and a pleasurably painful play-within-the-play on a mid-spring evening at the Winedale Theatre Barn. Tickets are $10; $5 for UT ID-holders and students. Tickets are available at www.shakespeare-winedale.org or by calling (512) 471-4726.