A Midsummer Night’s Dream
1981: Elijah Moshinsky
This is a true standout in the BBC Shakespeare collection, and, to my own (admittedly conservative) taste, the best version of this play overall. It features the best production values of any of the BBC productions (though they were all very low-budget productions from a Hollywood perspective), and its use of music and art direction are occasionally inspired. Momentary vignettes emerge from the film evoking Italian Renaissance paintings.
The fairies — Oberon and Titania in particular — are breathtaking. Peter McEnery’s Oberon is powerful and arresting: he has an august yet wild presence that makes him a bit scary and nearly perfect for the role. Helen Mirren, never particularly pretty but impossible to look away from, brings her electric screen presence and immaculate diction to the part of Titania — menacing too, but lyrical, and not without a certain warmth.
The other characters are equally well-cast: Nigel Davenport’s syrup-voiced Theseus has more gravity and presence than any of the others listed here; Brian Glover as Bottom is possibly not as inspired as Kevin Kline (1999, Michael Hoffman) or Desmond Barrit (1996, Adrian Noble). The interaction of the four fickle lovers is treated as pure slapstick, but really doesn’t suffer from the handling.
Regrettably, currently available DVDs were made from aging masters that had not been well cared-for, and so there are occasional slight dropouts throughout the series, and the color balance in almost all of them is rather faded.
Bottom: Brian Glover
Cobweb: Massimo Mezzofanti
Demetrius: Nicky Henson
Egeus: Geoffrey Lumsden
Fairy: Alexandra Segal
Fairy: Lee Macdonald
Fairy: Louise Mason
Fairy: Tania Bennett
Flute: John Fowler
Helena: Cherith Mellor
Hermia: Pippa Guard
Hippolyta: Estelle Kohler
Lysander: Robert Lindsay
Moth: Dominic Martelli
Mustardseed: Timothy Cross
Oberon: Peter McEnery
Peaseblossom: Bruce Savage
Philostrate: Hugh Quarshie
Puck: Phil Daniels
Quince: Geoffrey Palmer
Snout: Nat Jackley
Snug: Ray Mort
Starveling: Don Estelle
Theseus: Nigel Davenport
Titania: Helen Mirren
Buy the complete BBC Shakespeare Plays at Amazon. Note that this will require a Region 2 player or a region-free player: it will not play on most normal American DVD players. Nevertheless, the price is so reasonable that even with a region-free player thrown into the deal, you’ll come out ahead.
Buy the BBC Shakespeare Plays Comedy Giftbox at Amazon. Unlike the complete series, this is in a North American video format, and it includes five plays: As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Merchant of Venice.
Watch A Midsummer Night’s Dream on streaming video from Amazon
Buy the complete set of the BBC Shakespeare Plays or individual plays (including this one) in Region 1 format direct from Ambrose Video.