A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare in 1595/96.
It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta, the former queen of the Amazons.
These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors (the mechanicals) who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set.
The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is widely performed across the world.
Ay me, for aught that I could ever read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth. . .
From the 2017 production of Much Ado About Nothing
Photographs by Jack Sain
Fetch me that flower; the herb I shew'd thee once.
The juice of it on sleeping eye-lids laid
Will make or man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it sees.
