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    A Midsummer Night's Dream
    A Midsummer Night's Dream
    A Midsummer Night's Dream
    Audiobook2 hours

    A Midsummer Night's Dream

    Written by William Shakespeare

    Narrated by LibriVox Community

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    About this audiobook

    Magic, fairies, young lovers chasing each other through a forest, a man with a donkey's head, and impish Puck wreaking havoc right and left. What's going on here? It's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare at his most fanciful. The play opens with Theseus, Duke of Athens, preparing for his wedding. Egeus complains to Theseus that his daughter Hermia refuses to marry Demetrius. When Hermia is given the choice between marriage to Demetrius or life as a nun, she and her true love Lysander flee into the forest. Demetrius follows them; and Helena, who loves Demetrius, follows him. Also in the forest are Oberon and Titania, king and queen of the fairies, at odds with one another. At Oberon's behest, Puck causes Demetrius to fall in love with Helena -- oops, he missed, that was Lysander instead. Mayhem ensues. In the meantime, a group of bumbling craftsmen rehearses a play. Puck gives one of them, Bottom, the head of an ass and makes Titania fall in love with him. Further hilarity results as Bottom sees nothing at all odd about this. Eventually everything is straightened out, Bottom and the rest "perform" their play, there is a triple wedding, and Puck assures us the whole thing has been a dream. Number of quotes you know: 5 (what fools these mortals be). Useful insults: 19. (Summary by Laurie Anne Walden)

    Cast:

    Theseus, Duke of Athens – Mark F. Smith
    Egeus, father to Hermia; and Snout, a tinker – John Lieder
    Lysander, in love with Hermia – mb
    Demetrius, in love with Hermia – David O'Connell
    Philostrate, master of the revels – Philippa
    Quince, a carpenter – Brian Edwards
    Snug, a joiner – Elizabeth Klett
    Bottom, a weaver – Simon Taylor
    Flute, a bellows-mender – David Nicol
    Starveling, a tailor – Jessica Miller
    Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons – Cori Samuel
    Hermia, daughter to Egeus, in love with Lysander – Laurie Anne Walden
    Helena, in love with Demetrius – Rosalind Wills
    Oberon, king of the fairies – Fr. Richard Zeile of Detroit
    Titania, queen of the fairies – Deborah Irving
    Puck, or Robin Goodfellow – Karen Savage
    Peaseblossom – Larysa Jaworski
    Cobweb – Charlene V. Smith
    Moth – Alana Jordan
    Mustardseed – Jamie Ash Young
    Stage directions – Paul Williams

    Fairy song composed and performed by Rosalind Wills; performed by Rosalind Wills

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLibriVox
    Release dateAug 25, 2014
    Author

    William Shakespeare

    William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest dramatist in the English language. Shakespeare is often called England’s national poet and the “Bard of Avon.”  

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