According to Jan Kott, “Midsummer Night’s Dream” is the most erotic of all Shakespeare’s plays. Mischievous Puck, who brings out the most primeval instincts in people, and spiteful elves join forces to tamper with protagonists’ feelings and desires. Eros and Thanatos manoeuvre them right into the arms of an orgy during which lovers are exchanged. Debutants in the art of love lose control and become driven by their animal instinct. Is there a method in this madness?

Almost four centuries ago William Shakespeare discovered that comedy and tragedy are simply two sides of the same coin flipped by our undiscovered fate. His best plays are all founded on this common truth. “Midsummer Night’s Dream”, the most famous of his comedies, filled with humour, funny turns of events, makes us laugh sincerely. However, hidden underneath its vibrant surface, is a touch of existential sadness, reflections on the passing of time, loss and lack of fulfilment…

According to the concept of its director, Artur Tyszkiewicz, the silent sadness of this jolly play can be escaped neither by hot sex and youthful vitality of the young characters, nor by the magic conducted by the elves. The performance played, literally, with songs on the actors’ lips, follows the rhythm of three cellos and one French horn. In the background, however, we can hear the bitter truth, which the world greatest playwright sells us for the price of a theatre ticket with the characteristic mastery and irony.

(Małgorzata Gnot)