Mark R. Bannister
Orchestral & Instrumental
Composer for Film, TV & Theatre
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM "I
know a bank where the wild thyme blows, Where oxlips and the
nodding violet grows, Quite overcanopied with luscious
woodbine, With sweet muskroses and with eglantine. There
sleeps Titania some time of the night, Lulled in these flowers
with dances and delight. And there the snake throws her
enamelled skin, Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in. And
with the juice of this I'll streak her eyes And make her full
of hateful fantasies."
Often played as a light-hearted and
magical comedy, The Dream has a darker more sinister side
that when given equal weight as the humour provides a kind of
entertainment rarely associated with the great playwright, a
contrast between light and shadow that was emphasised by this
gothic-horror rendition of the play by the Richmond Shakespeare
Society in Twickenham and directed by Simon
Bickerstaffe; a dream-like world where Oberon (Francis Abbott),
Titania (Suzanne Schlaefli) and Puck (Lisa Kendall)
wove a kind of dark magic amidst fairies whose
motivations - good or evil - seem all but ambiguous, but whose
parents most certainly had more hobgoblin blood in them than that
of the Disneyfied white and sparkly fairies usually associated
with the production.
Underscoring this world of shapes
and shadows, and puncturing the darkness like shafts of light,
came song and dance that was earthy and mysterious in quality. The
music was crucial in setting this scene, orchestral in quality,
film-like in grace, with rhythms that inspired unusual and
beautiful dance routines, expertly choreographed by
Lisa Rose.
Outside of the dream, the play was
set at the time of World War I, and the stage was draped
with camouflage netting, creating eery shapes and shadows into
which the fairies appeared and disappeared in a fashion
reminiscent of H. R. Giger's Aliens.
This music is best experienced in
the dark, with the volume turned up. But whatever you do, don't
get lost in The Dream ... you may never escape!
Changeling
Boy (MP3 - 2 mins 09 secs - 1.64 Mb) Oberon's
Dream (MP3 - 1 min 12 secs - 1.10 Mb) Tree
Shadow (MP3 - 2 mins 09 secs - 1.58 Mb) Glimmering
Light (MP3 - 3 mins 23 secs - 3.83 Mb)
ABOUT THE
COMPOSER
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