A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare???

Question

We have to make a poster to advertise for the school's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's got to have a general overview of the play but be appealing and attracts interest, sort of grabs the readers attention. I'm a bit stuck with this overview part. I don't quite know what to write. I mean, I could just write the usual load of waffle:

"A midsummer night's dream is a romantic comedy written by william shakespeare. It ....." You get my idea, it's just plain boring, but how are we supposed to explain the play fully, including all the usual stuff but in a way that advertises and attracts interest? I was thinking we could write the beginning and go "...but will the couples be united? Come watch and find out!" Something like that, so the people are keen but the teacher said "brief overview" so we obviously can't do that. Can you give me some ideas please???

Thanks in advance!!!!

Answer 1

To pursue a forbidden love, a couple flees into the woods.  They are pursued and everyone blunders into a magical lovers quarrel between the King and Queen of the fairies.  A troupe of bungling actors makes it worse.

Lord, what fools these mortals be!  Love at first sight has never been so wrong or so funny!  

Come sleep through the Rolling Shakespeare Company's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Answer 2

ive heard about it in twilight saga umm put somthn really exciting in it lik a climax and try to start it off really good

Answer 3

You don't have to make it in sentence form. I like your summary, but it's too long

Have it like this:

Two lovers...

Forced apart by cruel law...

Flee to the woods...

Where fairies play...

Handsome knights duel...

And anything can happen...

Midsummer Night's Dream-A Shakespearean love triangle.

Or, if you have to include everything

In ancient Greece, fair Hermia is forced to marry her father's choice of husband or die. She flees to the woods, hoping to meet up with her lover Lysander there, but a supernatural mistake stops their paths from crossing. With the story made more complicated by the addition of Helena, Lysander's admirer, and blank (what was his name?), Hermia's admirer and her father's choice for her husband, who can say if the two will ever meet again!

Answer 4

It's a poster, not a full-length essay.  Did your teacher really tell you that you had to write out a complete plot summary on the poster?  I think it would be smarter to read a bunch of movie and play ads and see how they attract attention by combining just a few words with a compelling visual image.  There's certainly no shortage of compelling visuals in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" -- the fairy queen getting all gaga over some dork with a donkey's head, two guys madly wooing Helena while Hermia steams off to the side, a bunch of amateur actors with one guy dressed a s a woman, one dressed as a lion, one dressed as a stone wall, etc.

As for the few words you'll want to use with your visual images, the play contains a couple of lines that kind of sum up the whole story: "The course of true love never did run smooth," "What fools these mortals be."  You might not want to use those exact quotations, but they can help to give you some ideas about how you can communicate the essence of the play without going into lots of detail.  You're obviously familiar with the plot and mood of the play.  Now you have to figure out a way to express what you know in just a handful of words.  Love is a matter of life and death in the city; out in the woods, in the moonlight, it gets even crazier.  You need to find a concise way to say that.

Answer 5

This is going on a poster, so brief means really brief I should think.  Have a look at some movie posters for some ideas.

Is this an actual poster that is going to be used or is it an in-class assignment to see if you know what the play is about.

If it is actually going to be used, I would think that one sentence is all you will actually have room for.  If this is an English assignment, go back to the paragraph that you have started, and begin eliminating the non-essential items and anything that is repetitive.  You might also want to bring in the workmen and their play.  I personally think that is the best part of A Midsummer Night's Dream.  Bottom and company are hilarious.

Answer 6

ive read it but it can get boring at time