Peter Brooks’ production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
December 13, 2024 6:29 AM Subscribe
We were told by our English teacher at school that we would remember it for the rest of our lives. Almost 50 years on, I can still recall it vividly. The play was A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The production was Peter Brook’s groundbreaking staging, which premiered at Stratford-upon-Avon in August 1970 and transferred to London’s West End, where I saw a matinee performance as a 16-year-old. It remains one of the defining postwar productions of Shakespeare in Britain. Brook and his designer Sally Jacobs stripped away the historical traditions of presentation and conjured a production that felt contemporary, illuminating and joyous. - John Wyver
In a production that will surely make theatre history, Peter Brook last night tore through all conventional ideas about how the play should be staged. He found new ways of giving form to its poetry and power. - John Barber, The Daily Telegraph, 1970
There is a complete recording but tragically of poor quality and available only to scholars.
In a production that will surely make theatre history, Peter Brook last night tore through all conventional ideas about how the play should be staged. He found new ways of giving form to its poetry and power. - John Barber, The Daily Telegraph, 1970
There is a complete recording but tragically of poor quality and available only to scholars.
Demetrius and Helena were played by Ben Kingsley (Gandhi) and Frances de la Tour (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire).
posted by Lemkin at 7:11 AM on December 13 [3 favorites]
posted by Lemkin at 7:11 AM on December 13 [3 favorites]
I have often wished I could see some of this, so even these few clips are a godsend on a cold friday morning. Thank you!
Back during initial covid lockdown, a lot of these sorts of things popped up -- I got to see the Brecht-directed production of Mother Courage, in German without subtitles. Absolutely worth it.
posted by HeroZero at 8:28 AM on December 13 [4 favorites]
Back during initial covid lockdown, a lot of these sorts of things popped up -- I got to see the Brecht-directed production of Mother Courage, in German without subtitles. Absolutely worth it.
posted by HeroZero at 8:28 AM on December 13 [4 favorites]
Assuming it was an error, I've asked the mods to strip the "&t=189" off the first link, because it drops you into the middle of the video.
posted by intermod at 8:57 AM on December 13
posted by intermod at 8:57 AM on December 13
um… I did that on purpose. The material relevant to the post only starts at that point in the video.
Will you please change it back?
posted by Lemkin at 9:30 AM on December 13 [6 favorites]
Will you please change it back?
posted by Lemkin at 9:30 AM on December 13 [6 favorites]
So, everything is theater?
posted by Czjewel at 9:40 AM on December 13 [1 favorite]
posted by Czjewel at 9:40 AM on December 13 [1 favorite]
Yeah. You gotta problem with that?
posted by Lemkin at 9:52 AM on December 13 [1 favorite]
posted by Lemkin at 9:52 AM on December 13 [1 favorite]
It's so 60s idea...But if everything is theater, than nothing is theater. Also, I can see the wires on the "angels".
posted by Czjewel at 9:58 AM on December 13
posted by Czjewel at 9:58 AM on December 13
The greatness of Macbeth continues to crush me to the ground and leave me gasping, but I just can’t seem to come to grips with any of the other plays.
posted by jamjam at 10:09 AM on December 13 [1 favorite]
posted by jamjam at 10:09 AM on December 13 [1 favorite]
FWIW I had the original link with the timestamp in my browser history. Click here to jump to 189s.
posted by Wobbuffet at 10:10 AM on December 13 [2 favorites]
posted by Wobbuffet at 10:10 AM on December 13 [2 favorites]
Mod note: Oops, edited back to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdtlsWpeLDM&t=189s sorry about that, Lemkin.
posted by loup (staff) at 10:20 AM on December 13 [2 favorites]
posted by loup (staff) at 10:20 AM on December 13 [2 favorites]
I was a theatre major in college, from 78 - 82, and Peter Brook / Midsummer Night's Dream were held up as one of the great experiments -- and it was. It seems so old hat now, but it was a BIG deal then. No one was even considering staging Shakespeare in anything other than Renaissance aesthetic. The other thing that was spoken of with great reverence was Einstein on the Beach (1976), which has since been revived a few times -- the last one was, I think, the final revival that would have the original creators involved. Robert Wilson, Philip Glass, Lucinda Childes.
posted by janey47 at 10:38 AM on December 13 [2 favorites]
posted by janey47 at 10:38 AM on December 13 [2 favorites]
@grumpybear69 -- that was one of the texts for my intro to directing class. As a directing major, it was a tiny bit uncomfortable to know that the only requirements for theatre are an actor and an audience, but it kept us humble. Also (humblebrag) one of my classmates had an internship with Brook post college. That still seems like an unreachable goal.
posted by janey47 at 10:42 AM on December 13 [1 favorite]
posted by janey47 at 10:42 AM on December 13 [1 favorite]
It seems so old hat now, but it was a BIG deal then. … The other thing that was spoken of with great reverence was Einstein on the Beach
They were both revolutionary in that “premiere of Le Sacre du Printemps” way.
posted by Lemkin at 11:10 AM on December 13
They were both revolutionary in that “premiere of Le Sacre du Printemps” way.
posted by Lemkin at 11:10 AM on December 13
Speaking of crushing, try to see Brooks’ film of King Lear, stripped down to a black and white, desolate portrayal of human cruelty. I last saw it in the late 60’s when it came out. I was in high school. It still haunts me.
posted by njohnson23 at 11:12 AM on December 13 [3 favorites]
posted by njohnson23 at 11:12 AM on December 13 [3 favorites]
Brooks’ film of King Lear, stripped down to a black and white, desolate portrayal of human cruelty
Scofield is my benchmark for all other Lears.
posted by Lemkin at 11:23 AM on December 13
Scofield is my benchmark for all other Lears.
posted by Lemkin at 11:23 AM on December 13
I am not a Shakespeare lover nor a lover of experimental theatre design / staging, but there is something about that production t's mesmerizing. It seems that silence and non-vocal sound are used quite a bit and that's always a big draw for me.
Downloading Brooks' "Lear" now.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 12:55 PM on December 13 [2 favorites]
Downloading Brooks' "Lear" now.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 12:55 PM on December 13 [2 favorites]
um… I did that on purpose. The material relevant to the post only starts at that point in the video.
And I'm so sorry that I requested the edit in the first place! After I actually watched the entire video, I realized what you were doing, and knew there'd be a bit of grief in here about my edit request. Sorry again and thanks mods for the extra work :)
posted by intermod at 2:46 PM on December 13 [2 favorites]
And I'm so sorry that I requested the edit in the first place! After I actually watched the entire video, I realized what you were doing, and knew there'd be a bit of grief in here about my edit request. Sorry again and thanks mods for the extra work :)
posted by intermod at 2:46 PM on December 13 [2 favorites]
And I'm so sorry that I requested the edit in the first place!
Go stand in a corner of the Internet and think about what you did.
posted by Lemkin at 3:45 PM on December 13
Go stand in a corner of the Internet and think about what you did.
posted by Lemkin at 3:45 PM on December 13
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posted by grumpybear69 at 6:43 AM on December 13 [5 favorites]