Dream On

Act One: Scene One

The Chorus sing the song 'The Olympic Games' then it's over to the Court of Theseus, Duke of Athens who is preparing for his wedding to Hippolyta, a Venezuelan firebrand, whom he beat in the bidding for the Olympic games. They recall how they fell in love, singing the Venezuelan Tango, before two Greek Athletes, Lysander and Demetrius enter, followed by old man Egeus and his daughter Hermia. It soon becomes clear that although Egeus has betrothed Hermia to Demetrius, who is rich, that she is in fact in love with Lysander, a peasant. Theseus advises Hermia to reflect on the situation, as her refusal to marry Demetrius would result in her being sent away to a convent. She is told to make her decision on the Duke's wedding day. Meanwhile, we discover that Demetrius chatted up Helena, who is now besotted with him. All leave except Lysander and Hermia who plot to elope. After they sing the duet 'Dream On', Helena appears and learns of the lovers' plans to meet that night at the haunted Palace Wood and make their escape. As the lovers exit, Helena vows to use the information for her own ends.

Scene Two

Enter 'The Rude Mechanicals', 6 workers who have been constructing the Olympic stadium. The sextet perform the comical number 'Rude Mechanicals'. They are amateur actors who have been asked to perform at the Duke's wedding. Bottom is the worker with the biggest ego and Peter (Or Peta if female) Quince is the director who hands out the parts to study.

Scene Three

In Palace Wood, gangsters Robin Goodfella and the Corleone brothers enter and rap the 'Goodfella Rap' before Robin orders the brothers away while he hides and awaits Oberon who has called for him. Enter the girl fairies of Titania and boy fairies of Oberon singing their song 'Pretty Little Fairies' before the entrance of Titania and Oberon who were once lovers. It becomes clear that Oberon not only wants Titania's accountant as his has been fiddling the books, but he also has hopes of the pair rekindling their relationship. Titania has no intention of helping Oberon and, as we learn during 'You Fancy Me', of ever resuming their love affair. As Titania and the remaining fairies exit, Robin emerges and Oberon asks him to change his name to Puck (as a more fairy-friendly name) and to find a special herb that has the power to make a person fall in love with the next living thing they see. He intends to use the herb to make Titania fall for something vile before applying an antidote. Puck leaves to find the herb and Oberon who is invisible to mortals, eavesdrops on a conversation between Demetrius and Helena. 'The Roundabout of Love' crushes Helena's dreams of Demetrius feeling the same towards her as she does him. Oberon takes pity on Helena and orders Puck to sprinkle some herb into Demetrius' eyes, telling him he will easily recognise him by his athlete's attire.

Scene Four

Titania and her fairies enter and as Titania is so tired, the others sing her to sleep before leaving her alone. Oberon enters and sprinkles the herb in the sleeping Queen's eyes then swiftly exits. Lysander and Hermia wearily enter and settle down to sleep. Puck spots Lysander dressed as an athlete and, assuming he is Demetrius, sprinkles the herb over his eyes. Demetrius and Helena enter but Demetrius runs off. Helena sees Lysander on the ground and thinks he is hurt so wakes him. Under the spell of the herb, Lysander falls in love with a very baffled Helena who takes offence at his advances and leaves, followed by a smitten Lysander. Hermia awakes after dreaming that Lysander has fallen out of love with her and, after finding him gone, she leaves.

Scene Five

The Rude Mechanicals enter to rehearse their play. They imagine all the benefits it might bring them as they sing ' Fame and Fortune'. Puck enters and decides to cause some mischief. As Bottom exits as part of the rehearsal, he follows him and puts an ass's head on him. When Bottom returns, the others run off scared. Titania wakes, sees Bottom and, thanks to the power of the herb, falls instantly in love with him. She summons her fairies and tells them to supply anything Bottom wants. The scene and Act One ends with the song 'Rock Bottom'.

Act Two (optional): Scene One

Act Two opens with the song 'Hero or Villain'. Oberon and Puck enter and Puck tells of Titania's love for an ass. Hermia and Demetrius enter and it's clear that Demetrius is besotted. Oberon realises that Puck has bewitched the wrong athlete! Hermia exits and Demetrius settles down to sleep before Oberon sprinkles the herb over his eyelids, telling him that Helena will be the object of his desires when he awakes. As Oberon and Puck exit, Helena and a besotted Lysander enter. Demetrius awakes, succumbs to the herb and also falls in love with Helena. The entrance of Hermia creates more chaos and the four quarrel, making it clear that they are now 'Deadly Enemies'. Oberon is determined to undo all the mischief, so he casts a fog over the woods and exits. The four lovers, unable to see each other through the dense fog, wearily lay down to sleep as Puck sprinkles the troublesome herb over Lysander and orders him to love Hermia.

Scene Two

Bottom is so tired, he falls asleep in the arms of Titania while the fairies sing 'Blues on a foggy night' to him. The fairies depart and Titania is soon also asleep. Oberon and Puck enter, Oberon lifts the fog and sprinkles the remedy over Titania, then wakes her. She is horrified at the sight of Bottom and agrees to a proposal of marriage from Oberon. Puck removes the ass's head from Bottom before Titania, Oberon and Puck exit. Enter Theseus, Hippolyta and Egeus who see the four lovers and Bottom asleep. As the lovers awake, it becomes clear that happiness has been restored and they are all finally in love with the correct partners. Realising the true love the couples have, Theseus arranges for them to marry at his own wedding to Hippolyta before they all joyfully dance back to the Court of Theseus during the song 'Conga Everywhere'. Bottom stirs from his slumber assuming he has dreamt the previous strange events. The Rude Mechanicals enter depressed about doing the play without Bottom but their sadness is short lived when they bump into the man himself and they set off for a final rehearsal.

Scene Three

Back in Athens, the three couples, plus Titania and Oberon enter to the 'Wedding March'. The Mechanicals present their execrable - and ludicrously funny! - play, and the show finishes with Finale: 'Dream On', followed by a post-curtain 'Fame & Fortune'.

Suggested Cast List For 50 Actors

N.B. In the following list, the number shows how many spoken lines each role has. An asterisk (*) before the character's name indicates that this character ALSO has solo or featured sung lines.

Non-speaking roles: Chorus of 6 Boy Fairies (Oberon's) and 6 Girl Fairies (Titania's) in scene 3.

Additional Chorus - 15 sitting offstage throughout.

Suggested Cast List For 26 Actors

N.B. In the following list, the number shows how many spoken lines each role has. An asterisk (*) before the character's name indicates that this character ALSO has solo or featured sung lines.

Non-speaking roles: Chorus of 3 Boy Fairies (Oberon's) and 3 Girl Fairies (Titania's) in scene 3. (This includes the 2 actors also playing Egeus and Philostrate.)

No additional chorus - cast sit near stage and sing chorus parts when not on stage.