POPEJOY SCHOOLTIME SERIES TEACHING GUIDE GRADES: 7 - 12

D C EE TM H SR A RA C

Dreamcatchers Teaching Guides align with the Common Core Standards.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

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We strongly suggest students read at least some of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to become familiar with the characters, language, and plot before seeing the performance.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s most beloved and witty comedies. It deals with the universal theme of love and its attendant complications: passion, frustration, confusion, and marriage. Shakespeare told his story using a variety of techniques.

Mistaken identities: Puck disguises himself, people fall in love with the wrong person, or even a person transformed into an animal.

Multiple, intertwining plots: There are four different love stories and the intertwining plots are often broken down into the Mechanicals, the Mortals, and the Fairies.

Suspension of natural laws: Shakespeare wrote of magic as though it were a real force in the forest.

Inverting norms: In this play, women pursue men, people live in the forest rather than in civilization, and unschooled men and women attempt to perform a play.

The element of marriage: The play culminates in three marriages which provide occasion for celebration and entertainment.

Language: His characters misuse words or misconstrue meanings. They insult one another with clever turns of phrase. Shakespeare also infuses the script with complex imagery.

Theseus, the duke of Athens, is planning the festivities for his wedding to Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. A band of players have decided the entertainment at the wedding should be a play in which a particularly enthusiastic actor, Nick Bottom, suggests that he play all the main characters. Meanwhile, Hermia and her lover, Lysander, plan to flee Athens due to her father’s decree that she must marry another man, Demetrius. Enraged by this slight, and in love with Hermia as well, Demetrius follows the lovers into the forest. Demetrius is in turn followed by Helena, who is desperately in love with him. In the midst of the forest, Oberon and Titania, king and queen of the fairies, are deep in argument over the fate of a “changeling boy.” They observe the plights of Hermia and Lysander, and Helena and Demetrius respectively. Oberon pities Helena’s unrequited love for Demetrius, and orders Puck, a mischievous sprite, to put drops of potion into Demetrius’ eyes while he sleeps so that when he awakens, he will fall in love with the first living creature he sees. Puck makes a mistake, putting the potion into both Demetrius’ and Lysander’s eyes, causing both to profess their undying love for Helena, who believes they are mocking her. Poor Hermia is taken aback by Lysander’s sudden change of affections and accuses Helena of stealing her man. Still upset over their disagreement, Oberon also orders the same potion to be used on Titania, who awakens to see the actor Bottom, whose head has been transformed into that of an ass for his bragging. After much hilarity, misunderstandings and general confusion, Oberon and Titania set things right, lifting the enchantments on Lysander and Bottom respectively, leaving Demetrius to remain in love with Helena. They put the lovers into a deep sleep who, when they awake, believe that the transpired events were merely strange dreams. Theseus and Hippolyta stumble across the lovers in the forest, and the duke declares Hermia’s arranged marriage to Demetrius to be null and void and calls for the double-wedding of Hermia and Lysander, and Helena and Demetrius to take place alongside his own. Bottom and the players perform their play but, having no time to practice, are laughably bad,. The play ends as it should, with everyone merry, and with an added hint of mischief from Puck.

Here’s a short animated video of the plot. (6:45)

Synopsis‘‘Standards Addressed By Attending the Performance

NMCCSSELA-Literacy.SL.2

NCCAS TH:Re9.1

Romantic love is a mental illness. But it’s a pleasurable one.”

– FRAN LEBOWITZ

A Midsummer Night’s Dream MON | MAR 4 | 2019 TEACHING GUIDE DREAMCATCHERS 3

Tips for Teachers from The Folger Shakespeare Library Shakespeare is for everyone. Students of all ability levels, backgrounds, and grade levels can (and do) successfully engage with Shakespeare’s works. Shakespeare, done right, inspires. The plays are full of explosive family situations and complex relationships that adolescents recognize. Performance helps bring Shakespeare alive, and listening to his words being spoken helps students understand the naked language on the page that may be difficult to understand. “Performance” in this sense, means getting students up on their feet, moving around a classroom as characters, and speaking lines to themselves. Trust Shakespeare’s original language, but don’t labor over every word. Don’t forget to have fun with your students; enthusiasm is more important than expertise. Pick out scenes that speak most clearly to your students. You do not have to start with Act I, Scene I. Use the text to explain the life and times, not vice versa. It’s much better to integrate some facts about Elizabethan life when they come up in the play!

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a delightful play to teach because it has characters and plot lines that appeal to all ages: mismatched and quarrelsome lovers, foolish stooges, powerful spirits, and magical transformations. When you help students unlock the language so that they can hear, see, and understand this romantic comedy, you allow them to participate in a timeless play.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR:

The theme of a daughter who wants to marry against her father’s desires was a common one dating from Greek and Roman times.

The “mysterious people” of the forest in folk lore were described as doing household chores, being mischievous, playing pranks and causing illusions, being sinister, stealing babies, and personifying nature.

This play breaks the theatrical “fourth wall” in that players will talk to the audience about the play itself.

Watch for instances where emotions, no matter how irrational, color the character’s perceptions of reality. This play has many instances where fantasy and imagination influence how the characters see the world.

Note the use of “magic potions” to control people’s behaviors.

Shakespeare uses mistaken identities in many of his plays to create comedic situations. How does he use it here to advance the story?

Shakespeare uses language to build three dramatic spaces within the play: the classical Athens of Theseus and Hippolyta; the world of the workingmen; and finally, Fairyland ruled by Oberon and Titania. Ask your students to be attentive to how language shifts in each of these worlds.

Vocabularyabjure: solemnly renounce (a belief, cause, or claim)

beguile: charm or enchant (someone), sometimes in a deceptive way

beteem: grant or give

blood: passion or feelings

collied: coal black

disenchant: free (someone) from illusion

dissemble: conceal one’s true motives, feelings, or beliefs

dulcet: (especially of sound) sweet and soothing (often used ironically)

enmity: the state or feeling of being actively opposed or hostile to someone or something

feign: pretend to be affected by (a feeling, state, or injury)

flout: openly disregard (a rule, law or convention)

mewed: caged

paragon: a person or thing regarded as a perfect example of a particular quality

reveling: enjoying oneself in a lively and noisy way, especially with drinking and dancing

wanton: (of a cruel or violent action) deliberate and unprovoked

A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Engraving from a painting by Henry Fuseli (1796)

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Interesting Facts for Everyone The Globe was a twenty-sided theater that held about 3,000 people.

People paid a penny (half the price of a pint of ale) to enter the Globe Theatre. Those who wanted to sit paid another penny. A seat with a cushion cost a third penny.

If a play started late, the audience showed disapproval by hurling nuts and apples at the stage. Audiences expected a different play every day of the week and demanded new ones all the time.

In return for letting a company of actors use a building, the landlord expected half their “takings.” The other half was divided among the “sharers” or those who had provided money to start the company, and were therefore entitled to a share of the profits.

The leading players in a company were also sometimes sharers. They made the decisions about whom to hire, what plays to perform, and how to manage the company’s money.

Boys played all female roles because acting was considered an unsuitable occupation for women. The rigid shape of 16th century women’s fashions made it easy to give a boy a woman’s figure.

Gentlewomen of well-to-do families who wished to see a play had to be accompanied by a man (even if it was a servant) in order to remain “respectable.” They could not be spoken to by anyone who did not know them.

“Hired men” were the actors (in minor roles), musicians, and people working backstage. They included:

the bookkeeper, who was responsible for the “book” or text of each play, worked in the position of today’s stage manager.

the tireman (for attire), who looked after the costumes. This took the largest part of the company’s budget.

the stagekeepers did all manner of jobs, such as carrying props on stage, wheeling in scenery, and keeping things clean.

The text of “good” plays, were kept under lock and key to keep rival companies from stealing them.

An actor might have begun about the age of ten, by being apprenticed to a leading player. When not acting he was sent on errands. By his late teens he had to persuade the company to keep him on for male parts.

Later, as with Blackfriars Theatre, indoor theaters were candlelit because they did not let in enough natural light. There had to be breaks in the play to allow the candles to be trimmed and this led to the

custom of having intermissions.

There was no stage scenery of the sort we are used to today. The setting of a scene was indicated by bringing an appropriate object on stage, such as a throne, a general’s tent, or a box hedge to hide

behind!

There is evidence to suggest Shakespeare invented the names “Imogen,” “Miranda,” “Jessica,” and “Olivia.”

Of the 27 moons of Uranus, 24 are named after characters in Shakespearean plays.

Hermia and Lysander by John Simmons (1870)

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William Shakespeare Shakespeare is considered one of the greatest writers of all-time and the greatest of all English dramatists. Scholars and readers alike have marveled that one man could have such a comprehensive understanding of the human psyche. He understood lovers, tyrants, kings, queens, servants, clowns, the lucky, the jealous, and the powerful. He wrote 38 plays, including tragedies, comedies, romances, and histories, in addition to 151 sonnets and other poetry. He created a pantheon of unforgettable, timeless and complex characters. Shakespeare set his plays all over the world. Yet, it appears that he never traveled out of his native England nor had a terribly eventful life. He culled and conjured his characters, plots and settings in part from books and his target fund of general information, but most of all from his inspired imagination.

Often genius goes hand in hand with a colorful, and sometimes tortured life. However, it appears from the few remaining relevant documents that this giant among dramatists lived a rather prosaic, undramatic life. Shakespeare did not possess a vivid personality: his friends

found him genteel, even self-effacing. He was also extremely practical, a sober man of business.

Perhaps his genius had not had time to waste in the real world, so William Shakespeare put all his passion and drama into his work, both as an actor and a playwright. The Romantic poet and critic, Samuel Coleridge called him “myriad-minded.” He had a gift of insight unsurpassed and the ability to get inside the hearts and minds of all manner of men and women.

Bonus ExplorationsThe Folger Shakespeare Library – Shakespeare in American Life

Shakespeare Becomes American: Shakespeare in Performance

The documentary explores how American Shakespeare has been shaped by the American experience.

Shakespeare in Education and Civic Life - The Father Of The Man in America

The documentary follows Shakespeare’s path in the years that followed, including his surprisingly late arrival in the classroom

and his role in major movements like the push west, the establishment of cities, the Civil War, and the immigrant experience.

Shakespeare in American Politics - Shakespeare Is A Black Woman

This program explores how Shakespeare’s work has intertwined itself with American electoral politics, geopolitics, and racial, class, and academic politics. It also explores how Shakespeare has been used for political purposes throughout American history.

SPEAKING OF LOVE. Ask students to imagine that they are one of the characters in the play. Have them write and deliver a speech about the nature of love and its importance in marriage. Instruct them to use quotes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and refer to incidents in the play.

CONTEMPORARY IMAGES OF LOVE Invite students to discuss how romantic love is portrayed in contemporary culture. Encourage them to consider how love is depicted in movies, television shows, commercials, music, and other media. Is love depicted as irrational, or does it have a basis in sound judgment? Is love measured by the excitement it creates or the commitment it elicits? Discuss how popular images of love might influence young people.

The title page from the first quarto, printed in 1600.

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Objectives

• various containers (approximately the size of a shoebox)

• various items such as: rings, cigars, pens, ribbons, buttons, fabrics, etc.

• paper, magazines, glue, scissors, art supplies, found or created objects

Procedure 1. Review the characters with the students.

2. Discuss the idea that everyday objects people carry or use say a lot about who they are and what they do.

3. As an example, present a completed box with objects relating to a character in the play. Another

option is to present a personal example, such as your purse or the contents of your glove compartment,

pockets, or desk top.

4. Explain how these items do or do not represent your personality, profession, gender, age, etc.

5. Ask students to choose a character from the play. They may work in pairs or individually (the same

character may be chosen more than once).

6. Ask students to discuss what they chose for their box and why they included it. Discuss if there were

any key items they would have included but could not find or create. How do they think it would have

added to the project?

7. Discuss how boxes for the same character were the same or different.

8. Discuss how each of us sees, hears, and interprets the same characters through our own filters.

Students will:

• analyze a character from the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream;

• determine what objects, colors, textures, etc. represent his or her characteristics;

• consider the period, circumstances, and gender of the character;

• create a physical representation of their character for display.

A Boxful of Character Lesson 1 Adapted from a lesson developed by Linda G. Wolford

Grades 7 - 12NMCCSS:

ELA-Literacy.RL.7

ELA-Literacy.SL.2; ELA-Literacy.SL.4

NCAS:Va:Cn10.1

Extensions/Modifications

Assessment

• Do not label the boxes. Put numbers on each. Have students discuss or write who they think the box

represents and why.

• Shakespeare changes expected gender in many of his plays. Have the boys choose a female character,

and the girls a male in this play. Discuss how gender roles affect the perceptions of other characters and

the audience.

• Ask if the gender really matters to the character’s purpose or moving the story forward? Why did

Shakespeare choose to do this?

• Quality of participation

Materials

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Objectives

• Blank paper

• Pencils, erasers, black ink pens, colored pens, fine point and regular markers, etc.

• White poster board cut into 4”x 4” squares

• View examples of A Midsummer Night’s Dream storyboarding

Procedure 1. After reading the play and seeing the show students will gather into small groups of 3 – 5.

2. Each group will choose or be assigned a scene from the play. The scenes must come together to tell

the story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

3. In a play, each moment must be able to tell a story, like a snapshot. Each group will decide what

moments in their scene they will represent. Include what would be especially difficult to portray onstage,

such as the size of fairies and Bottom’s fantastic transformation.

4. Their group or the entire class, should agree on a similar style (comic, realistic, anime, a different time

period, etc. They will each draw a single panel in their scene storyboard. Refer to Objective above.

5. Using blank white paper, the students will plan each panel so that they know what is happening where,

which characters will be included, etc. Keep it simple.

6. The written script should be as bare-bones as possible. Consider using a relevant quote from the play

that will help create meaning in the text bubble. Can’t remember? Look it up or as a class decide to use

today’s vernacular.

7. Sketch the scene in pencil.

8. After they know where the characters and speech bubbles will go, sketch in a background and/or other

objects.

9. Make the final sketch on the square panel. Go over the lines with a dark pencil or thin ink marker. Erase

the pencil marks.

10. Print the text neatly in the bubble.

11. Option: Add color to the frame.

12. On the back, label the scene and sequence of the panel in the small group.

13. Lay out the panels in sequence. Each group will present their scene, reading from the beginning to the

end of the play and exhibiting their illustrations.

14. The whole class reviews the story panels, discusses why those scenes (and if different, style) were

chosen, if the process presented highlights the play accurately, and what they learned from this lesson

about their scene and the play as a whole.

Students will:

• create a storyboard of highlighted scenes that summarize the play.

Storyboarding the Play Lesson 2

Grades 7 - 12NMCCSS:

ELA-Literacy.RL.7

ELA-Literacy.W.4

NCAS:Va:Cn10.

Extensions/Modifications

Assessment

• Choose a different time period than the play or performance to represent in this project. Does it affect

the plot? What opportunities does this choice provide? What challenges does it create? Explain.

• Include a short description of what is happening on each panel.

• Quality of participation

Materials

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ResourcesBOOKS

F. Murray Abraham. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Actors on Shakespeare series. London: Faber and Faber, 2005.

Jay L. Halio. A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Guide to the Play. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003.

Irene G. Nash. Women’s Worlds in Shakespeare’s Plays. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1997.

Stuart M. Tave. Lovers, Clowns, and Fairies: An Essay on Comedies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.

Mark Taylor. Shakespeare’s Imitations. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2002.

Gary Jay Williams. Our Moonlight Revels: A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Theatre. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1997.

MEDIA

A Midsummer Night’s Dream illustrated voice-over summary (6:44)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream animated summary (7:14)

How Shakespeare’s English Sounded - and How We Know (6:30)

WEBSITES

The entire text of A Midsummer Night’s Dream online

The Folger Shakespeare Library The Folger is the world’s largest Shakespeare collection, the ultimate resource for exploring Shakespeare and his world.

No Fear Shakespeare This site puts Shakespeare’s language side-by-side with a facing-page translation into modern English vernacular.

Who was William Shakespeare? Learn about his early life and his work.

Videos: Puck, The Many Plots of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Love Potion, etc.

About the CompanyAquila Theatre’s mission is to bring the greatest works to the greatest number. They believe passionately that everyone should be given the opportunity to engage with classical drama of the highest quality at an affordable price right in their own community, experience arts from other places, and exchange ideas. Aquila re-examines what constitutes a classical work and, in so doing, seeks to expand the canon. They endeavor to create bold reinterpretations of classical plays for contemporary audiences across the nation.

Questions to Engage & ConnectIs there a moral lesson for this play? What is it?

Think of someone who talks in a very distinct way. What does their language make you think about them?

Would you go against your family to follow your heart?

We cannot touch love, or taste love, or even see love; how does the illusion of love create our reality?

Name the different types of love humans experience.

What emotions did you feel when watching the performance? What evoked them?

How is the audience asked to use their imagination to create the world of this play?

Do you believe in fate? Or can people make their own destiny? Explain.

Are the gender roles in the play perceived differently by society today than in Shakespeare’s time? How and Why?

About the Schooltime SeriesThe Popejoy Schooltime Series brings national and international touring companies and performers to Albuquerque. Each company is selected with youth and family audiences in mind, and our repertoire reflects the cultural diversity of our global community. The Schooltime Series includes new plays, familiar stories, literary works, biographies, mythologies, folktales, science shows, music, dance, and puppetry. These professional performing artists create entertaining educational experiences designed to encourage literacy, creativity, communication, and imagination.

The Dreamcatchers Teaching GuidesBy their nature, the arts engage students in learning through observing, listening, and moving, offering learners various ways to acquire information and act on it to build understanding. They also offer a natural way to differentiate instruction as the arts offer multiple modes of representation, expression, and engagement. Additionally, the arts provide an authentic context in which students solve problems. By engaging in learning in one subject, learning in another subject is reinforced and extended, and vice versa. These guides introduce students to what they will see, a basic vocabulary associated with the show, fun facts, vetted resources, and activities providing a connection between the arts and classroom curriculum.

Popejoy HallPopejoy Hall is New Mexico’s premiere nonprofit venue for the performing arts and entertainment. Our mission is to provide access to the performing arts for all New Mexicans.

House Policies & EtiquetteThe inside of a theatre where the audience sits is called a “house” and to get along, have fun, and enjoy the shows, there are rules to follow. Schooltime is a wonderful opportunity to learn how good behavior in a live theater is different from watching television. For guidelines to practice with your class and chaperones, including safety, special needs, food and drink, backpacks, cell phones, photography, recordings, and more, go to schooltimeseries.com/house-policies.

Dreamcatcher Credits:Dreamcatchers are Teaching Guides produced by the Education Department of Popejoy Hall. Selected materials provided by Aquila Theatre, The Folger Shakespeare Library, Classzone, Storyboardthat.com, Kidz Search, Biography on Line, Morley, Jacqueline. A Shakespearean Theatre. Illus. John James Brighton, UK. Book House. 2007. Print. History.com, Interesting Literature.com, pixton.com, How to Draw a Comic Strip, and other resources noted in this guide.

The Schooltime Series is a proud member of

The Popejoy Schooltime

Series is supported in part by awards from:

P O P E J OY H A L L : U N I V E R S I T Y F O U N D E D ~ C O M M U N I T Y F U N D E D

The Eugene & Marion Castiglia Popejoy

Children’s Schooltime Endowment

The Popejoy Schooltime Education Endowment