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