Hermia loves Lysander and Helena loves Demetrius – but Demetrius is supposed to be marrying Hermia. When the Duke of Athens tries to enforce the marriage, the lovers take refuge in the woods outside the city, and walk into the midst of a dispute between the king and queen of the fairies. And they are not alone. So, too, does a group of amateur actors rehearsing a play. Between the angry fairies, the bumbling players and the dazed lovers, flies Puck armed with a love juice capable of making anyone fall for the first person they set eyes upon – no matter how unsuitable.
Shakespeare put some of his most dazzling dramatic poetry at the service of this teasing, glittering, very funny and amazingly inventive play, whose seriousness is fleetingly glimpsed beneath its dreamlike surface.