A Midsummer Night’s Dream

This is one of my faves, partly because of pleasant associations from seeing it performed outdoors on more than one occasion. If I had to hazard a guess as to which of Shakespeare’s plays is most often performed outside, I’d say this is it. There’s nothing like sitting back on a warm summer’s night and watching comely, scantily clad thespians caper about amidst the mosquitos. But it is a good play – one my favourite things about it is the sense of many things happening simultaneously a short distance away in another part of the forest. I don’t know why I love this impression of simultaneity so much, but I do – it’s exciting to know that all of these disparate hijinks and adventures are going to come together at the end. The same way I went for the obvious cue of a skull for Hamlet, here I also went with tradition, showing the head of an ass – or is it a donkey? I know there are differences of equine parentage between donkeys, asses and mules – I just don’t happen to recall, at this moment, what they are. Anyway, if you don’t know why the head of an ass (or donkey, or mule) is associated with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, then I envy you – clearly there are still breezy midsummer nights’ delights ahead.