This document outlines the theatrical components for a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare, including the director, lights, sets, and costumes. The director provides descriptions of entrances and exits for different scenes. The lights designer describes how different scenes will be lit. The set designer explains the stage setup and props to suggest locations like the woods or palace. Finally, the costumes designer outlines the simple Greek-style costumes and how colors will indicate characters' states of mind.

1. THEATRICAL COMPONENTS FOR
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
BY SHAKESPEARE
Dharwin Jomuad
Director
Dung Nguyen
Lights
Meehui Paik
Sets
Nam Phan
Costumes

2. DIRECTOR

3. ENTRANCE OF THE KING
• Hippolyta sits alone in Center of the palace
on a throne
• Theseus approaches her from Stage Left. He
comes close to Hippolyta and speaks to her
in a low voice
• Philostrate leaves palace Stage Right upon
Theseus’ command.
DIRECTOR

4. ENTRANCE OF THE LOVERS
• Egeus, Hermia, Lysander, and
Demetrius enter from Stage Right
after Philostrate leaves
• When Egeus begins talking to
Theseus Hermia, Lysander, and
Demetrius stand Upstage Right and
wait
• As the three lovers begin their lines,
they walk towards Center
DIRECTOR

5. QUINCE’S HOUSE
• Scene starts with lights off and actors (Snug, Bottom, Flute, Snout, and
Starveling) in a circle in the Center of the stage. Lights turn on to reveal the
actors.
• Quince stands on a podium at the center of the circle with a scroll of the
actors’ names.
• Actors rise up energetically upon being called
• Actors exit one by one Stage Right upon Quince’s dismissal
DIRECTOR

6. THE WOODS
• Fairy enters from Stage Left
• Puck enters from Stage Right
• The two meet at Center Stage
and begin saying their lines
• Puck and Fairy step aside and give room in for Titania
and Oberon
• Titania enters from Stage Right and Oberon enters from
Stage Left
DIRECTOR

7. THE SINGING FAIRIES
• Fairies begin singing and
dancing in a circle around
Titania
• Lights slowly fade, fairies sing
more softly and dance more
slowly
• Oberon walks in sneakily from Upstage and approaches Titania with the flower.
• Lysander and Hermia enter the scene from Stage Right. Oberon quietly retreats
to Upstage
DIRECTOR

8. THE LOVERS IN THE WOODS
• Hermia and Demetrius enter the
woods, arguing loudly.
• EXIT Hermia. Demetrius lays down
center stage and sleeps
• ENTER Oberon and Puck arguing. EXIT
Upstage
• ENTER Helena and Lysander, arguing.
• Helena and Lysander find Demetrius waking and Helena becomes woeful over her
situation.
DIRECTOR

9. THE CONFUSED LOVERS
• Chaos ensues and the lovers attempt
to chase their respective interest.
• During the chase, there will be
random entrances and exits.
• As the lovers tire out, they rest in Center stage.
Oberon finds them and sprinkles the potion on
them.
DIRECTOR

10. RETURN TO QUINCE’S HOUSE
• Quince starts setting up and
rehearsing for the play within the
play.
• Quince goes over lines and
blocking
• The actors begin panicking because they cannot find Bottom. They are
yelling and running around in stress.
DIRECTOR

11. CLOSING SCENE
• The lovers wake up in the forest, stripped of clothing
• They part to different corners of the stage and search for their clothes
• Upon entering the palace, the lovers come in with their rightful partners.
• Oberon and Puck speak to each other on the side, praising their good work.
DIRECTOR

12. LIGHTS

13. SETTING THE SCENE
• Athens, (ancient) Greece
• Begins at Theseus’s palace
• Only light at night comes from “stars”
and “fire”
LIGHTS

14. THE PALACE
• Scene opens at night
• Spotlight in one corner to simulate
moonlight through a window
• Fake fires and soft white lighting
across stage to resemble fires lighting
up palace
LIGHTS

15. QUINCE’S HOUSE
• Well-lit
• Soft white for more natural, homey
feeling
LIGHTS

16. THE WOODS
• Trees backlit, dark shadows, simulates
the woods at night
• Spotlight on Titania, Oberon, other
characters
LIGHTS

17. TITANIA’S LAIR
• Brightly lit and colorful
• Use of different-colored gels for stage
lights
LIGHTS

18. THE FOG
• The fog that puts the lovers to
sleep
• Highlighted with blue light, the
color of sleep
• Stage lights use blue gel to paint
the stage blue
LIGHTS

19. THE WEDDING/PLAY
• Lights focused on the actors
• Illuminates the “stage” of the play
within the play
LIGHTS

20. PUCK’S SOLILOQUY
• Spotlight focused on Puck
• Stage dark as he is delivering the
soliloquy at night
LIGHTS

21. SETS

22. STAGE OF CHOICE – PROSCENIUM STAGE
Why?
• Ample Room
• Create layers to enhance scenery– density, complexity, depth of field, silhouettes
SETS

23. DEFAULT BACKDROP
OUTDOOR SETTING
• Default backdrop will be placed in
the farthest back of the stage
(example shown above)
• Indicates an outdoor setting
• The actual default
backdrop can be a
vague, forest-green
gradient such as
shown above.
• Other, more detailed
stage scenery
equipment goes in
front
These will be in front of the backdrop as
the silhouette of the trees.
SETS

24. SECONDARY BACKDROP
INDOOR SETTING
• Large backdrop printed on a canvas
• Drops over the forest backdrop when needed
• Drawn back up when not needed
• Suggests indoor setting – more specifically,
Theseus’ palace where the Act I Scene I & Theseus’
wedding take place
• The design and walls made of white rubble suggest
the era that A Midsummer Night’s Dream took
place– Ancient Athens.
• The quality of the palace lets the audience know
that Theseus was of wealth
SETS

25. BI-LEVEL SET
The second level will be on wheels for convenient mobility, and smooth transitions
between scenes. The rest will be the default backdrop and burlap foliage.
• First Level
Contains the characters in focus
(sleeping characters, humans aloof of
fairies)
• Second Level
Contains characters in the background
who are also important to the scene
(fairies who are unseen by humans, like
Puck’s anonymous encounter with
Bottom). Offers more complexity to the
play.
Second Level
First
Level
SETS

26. LARGE SYMBOLS TO SUGGEST
OUTDOOR SETTING
The play will contain realistic and abstract elements, so there will be silhouettes and
shapes to suggest the settings as well as some detailed backgrounds to suggest location.
• Furthest away on stage for
depth
• When present with a bit of
dark lighting: suggests night
time
• When absent in combination
of good lighting: suggests day
time
• Abstract - Simple shape
(circle) creates silhouette/line
• Center stage
• Focus in between 2 trees
• Suggests outdoor setting for
the scenes that take place in
the woods
• Will be on WHEELS to roll in
and out for easy transitional
movement
• Creates texture & color
Green Burlap will be
spread on the floor to
signify grass/ground-foliage
Trees to further indicate an
outdoorsy setting
SETS

27. LARGE SYMBOLS TO SUGGEST
INDOOR SETTING
Floor will be white to signify Theseus’
Palace– white symbolizes cleanliness
and royal upkeep
Basic columns and prop urns will
be placed on either side of the stage
to signify the time and place
(Ancient Athenian Palace) SETS

28. SAMPLE OUTDOORS SET
Center Stage
SETS

29. SAMPLE QUINCE’S HOUSE
• Natural wooden floor is okay
• Turn all lights off of backdrop so
the audience focuses solely on
Quince, Flute, Snout, Starveling,
and Bottom
SETS

30. DISTINGUISHING DIFFERENT PARTS OF
THE WOODS
• Much of the play takes place in the woods.
However, they do not occur in the exact same part
of it.
• To help the audience distinguish that the scene is
occurring in a different part of the woods, there
will be sound effects and subtle stage details (for
example, a stream of water to signify that they
are closer to the bank, or more colorful flowers
and leaves on the ground).
• There will be more colorful plants and beds of
leaves for Titania’s sleeping scene.
SETS

31. COSTUMES

32. STYLE
• Simplistic Style as per Ancient Athens’ era (16th century)
• Very functional mobility
• Leverage simplistic design of era’s clothing to emphasis
character’s state through colors
• Clothed Vs. Non Clothed
• Clothed for the civilian cast
• Sparsely clothed for the ‘enchanted’ cast
COSTUMES

33. THE COLORS
• Use colors to show character’s
state
• The costumes color will change
• To change colors either will put on
before next scene, or tear off
• Since the Athens style is simple
layered Tearing off is easy
Affected by the
Love Juice
• Lysander
• Titania
Enraged
• Hermia
• Helena
Neutral
COSTUMES

34. MALE AND FEMALE ATHENIANS
• Males wear Chitons
• Females wear Stola
• Although historically
females also wore Chiton
we’ll have the actors wear
stolas for clarity
• The difference is in the
pleats
COSTUMES

35. THE MALE VARIATION
• All the Athenian males will
wear Chitons save for
Theseus
• He will wear a himation, a
much more easier and
leisurely garment to wear
• This is to distinguish
Theseus to a different class
COSTUMES

36. HIPPOLATYA
• Hippolatya dress will be
much fancier than the
other female Athenians
• She will also carry a
parasol because she is
wealthy
COSTUMES

37. SWORDS
• Only Lysander, Demetrius, and
Theseus will wear swords tucked into
their the belt of their Chitons or in the
folds of the Himation
• These will be drawn when Lysander
and Demetrius chase each other
• Theseseus will never be drawn as he
has laid his down for Hippolyta
COSTUMES

38. NATURE’S ACCOMMODATIONS
• Some of the enchanted beings’ costume
are a tad risqué. Actors should have
the option of wearing a skin colored
leotard to accommodate.
COSTUMES

39. OBERON
• Oberon’s Costume should
be fairly sparce yet regal
• He will wear a leafy loin
cloth and a cape of silk
COSTUMES

40. PUCK
• Puck’s costume should be similarly
sparce but in addition he ought to wear
a clumsily worn wreathe to represent
his status as a joker
• He should also wear a flowered fool’s
crown
COSTUMES

41. TITANIA
• Titania’s costume will be simply be only a
leotard with a stola made of viel-silk, the same
kind for weddings.
• The color of the silk will be green when she is
netural, and purple when she is under the
influence of love juice
COSTUMES

42. THE FAIRIES
• The Fairies will wear long ribbons similar to
this child’s dress, but sliced up and flowing.
• LED lights will be embed so that the ribbons
glow representing the faeries ephemeral
nature
• LED lights are not hot
COSTUMES