The main point of my project is about how A Midsummer's Night Dream by William Shakespeare is about the chaotic nature of relationships. Writing the director's pitch was easy and fun for me because I was able to collaborate with my group, and I had a clear idea of what I was doing. The essay was difficult for me to write because I was unsure of what I should be arguing at first, but then once I got more clarity, it became easier. I also had three different classmates read and edit my paper, which was very helpful because we were able to compare the work we had both done and help each other with what we needed to work on. These three students helped me make sure that I was conveying my theme and supporting my argument clearly. I had Simone Dixon, who is in AP Lit, edit my paper as well. She helped me with wording, grammar, and a fresh perspective on my paper. Since she is not doing the project, she focused more on my project as a whole rather than comparing to other people's work. This was very helpful because she helped me realize the parts of my essay that were weak and did not make sense. I got most of my ideas for the cast list, character descriptions, dispositions, and motivations from different shows I have seen and from my partners. At first, I thought I was going to struggle more with the creative part of the project, but once I started working on it, I kept on getting more ideas for it, and it became easy. I think that by choosing to have multiple people edit my paper, talking to my parents about the project, and selecting the main idea that is interesting to me helped me have a more interesting project. I wonder if the readers liked my interpretation and adaptation of the play and if they agree with my essay. I would also like to know how other students interpreted the play and how it inspired their own adaptation.
The Chaotic Nature of Relationships in A Midsummer Night’s Dream:
Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of his most memorable plays and has over 40 sundry adaptations, including movies, musicals, plays, television shows, and ballet taking inspiration from the play because of its deep insight on the chaotic nature of relationships. The relationships in the play vary significantly from each other and make different comments on society during mid-century England. Shakespeare has a good blend of humor, drama, and romance throughout this crazy story. Most plays that were popular in mid-century England plays were tragedies, which makes this play very unique. The complex relationships and his distinct writing style adds to the strong sense of chaos from the story leading to a more captivated audience. A Midsummer Night’s Dream showcases the chaos and disorder produced by relationships that are prevailing in everyone’s life and is still shown in modern-day dramas.
Gender roles, social class, passion, and desire all play a significant part in the turmoil that occurs between the distinct relationships in Shakespeare’s play. Each relationship represents a different theme: the relationship between the four lovers shows how love and gender roles affect the emotions and behaviors of humans, Titania and Oberon’s relationship displays the obstacles caused by desire and gender roles, and the Rude Mechanicals and the rest of the characters represent the disorder of being in a separate societal class. The other themes in the play helped solidify the sensation of chaos between the characters. Love and how the characters convey love is a critical theme because it is something that is present throughout history. The aspect of comedy helps retain the audience’s focus on the play by providing comedic relief from the drama between the characters as well as to remind the audience that this play is not designed to be sensible but rather to concentrate on the significance of the play rather than the exact plot. There are adaptations of this play still being constructed because people are able to relate to the chaos from relationships during any time period even though the plot and the magic are not realistic.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream still inspires artists today to create adaptations of it because of its relevancy and bard-like features. When people read this play, it sparks discussions about what their interpretation of the text is, and causes them to ask questions. It is also easy for people to comprehend because the plot has unrealistic and comedic scenes that resonate with an audience across geographical, cultural, and chronological barriers. People from several time periods are still reading and analyzing this play today because of the strong theme of the chaotic nature of relationships. There are many different interpretations of this play and different ways that they can be expressed into a modern work of art. The play was first performed in the 16th century, yet it still allows the audience to create their own interpretations, relate it to themselves in the 21st century, and create adaptations inspired by the play into their own modern work of art.
Directors Pitch:
For our adaptation of A Midsummer's Night Dream by William Shakespeare, we are having aspects of cinematography, music, acting, and settings similar to characteristics in 21st-century soap operas. The location of the set will be on the property of a large mansion in the Spanish countryside. This property has a large and extravagant garden where the forest scenes from the play will take place in our film. The garden contains giant and colorful flower beds, strangely cut hedges, and plenty of trees. The actors I have chosen are famous and accomplished. I chose actors that would be able to overact and be extra dramatic. Each character will convey powerful emotions and have characteristics that are unique from the rest of the characters. These extreme personalities and overdramatic emotions will add to the sense of chaos and disorder caused by the different relationships that our adaptation is conveying from the original play. The characters will all wear very fancy and bright outfits. All of the overacting, bright outfits, extremely obscure setting, and the character's personalities will convey the theme of chaos in general. The body language, actions, and emotions from the characters will convey the theme of chaos caused by relationships. The theme will be more apparent and extreme in our movie so that it resonates with the audience and relates to our time. We chose this theme for our adaptation because complex relationships are a part of everyone's life, no matter what period it is. The concept of chaotic relationships can relate to people today, whether it is a relationship between people of different societal classes, gender roles, or about love. This adaptation focuses on a relatable theme and presents it in a way that is modern in our society. Soap Operas almost always has the theme of the chaotic nature of relationships by having complex plot lines, intricate relationships, and extreme emotions.
Cast List and Character Descriptions, Dispositions, and Motivations: