Sonho de Uma Noite de Verão (Midsummer Night’s Dream) (2002)

Sonho de Uma Noite de Verão (Midsummer Night’s Dream)

Sonho de Uma Noite de Verão, a Brazilian version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream adapted for children’s theater, premiered in 2002.

Projeto Shakespeare para Crianças (Project Shakespeare for Children) is conceived by the Cia. do Abração theater company to give both young and old a first contact with good literature. The text was adapted from the work of William Shakespeare for a children’s audience.

Four old people, storytellers, who are now in the service of Mr. Milkshakespeare, use objects to tell the story of the meetings and disagreements of two couples. In this way, playing pretend with simple everyday objects, capturing the world of the child that naturally uses them to create their own imaginary stories, the storytellers intend to revive in adults the way to see the world with the eyes of the child.

The characters of the original story are represented by everyday objects. A pair of tall shoes becomes the heroine of the English playwright and talcum powder for the feet, his beloved.

In this version, the kings of the forest, responsible for nature’s balance and harmony, fight not over a page (as in the original story) but for the possession of the Book of Dreams which should belong to everyone. The underlying idea is when nature becomes unbalanced, everyone living in this world fights and is in disagreement. The play serves as a reflection on the cycle of life, childhood and old age. At the end, the friendly old people end up becoming children, or the child within is set free.

Additional details about the production can be found on the company’s website.