En skærsommernats drøm

Formål

• At eleverne arbejder kreativt og aktivt med det engelske sprog for at udvikle og forbedre deres kommunikative færdigheder – mundtligt og skriftligt
• At oplevelsen af skov og natur kombineres med indlæring af engelsk
   

Forberedelse

Eleverne laver i fællesskab et manuskript til et skuespil, baseret på William Shakespeares komedie ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (‘En skærsommernats drøm’). Bagefter tager I ud i skoven og opfører skuespillet – for jer selv, for et lille publikum eller som film. 

Engelsk skal så vidt muligt fungere som kommunikationsmiddel under hele processen.

Shakespeares originalsprog er selvfølgelig alt for svært for dette niveau. Derfor er der her udarbejdet en gengivelse af stykket i et simpelt sprog, som følger nedenfor.

• Lav lidt research om Shakespeare på Internettet – der er masser af hjemmesider for børn og unge (andre søgeord end ‘Shakespeare’ kunne være ‘the bard’, ‘Elizabethan theatre’ og ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ Prøv også at indsnævre søgningen med ‘for children’).
   
• Sæt jer grundigt ind i stykket ved fælles gennemlæsning. Diskuter stykket og snak om alle personerne.
   
• Se filmatiseringen af stykket for at give eleverne et indtryk af stykket, personerne, scener, tiden og kostumerne.
   

Sådan gør du

Overblik
For det første skal I danne jer et overblik over stykket. Læs derfor stykket grundigt igennem, eventuelt individuelt først og derpå i fællesskab i klassen – vær sikker på at alt er forstået.

Se filmatiseringen af stykket for at danne jer et indtryk af scener, personer og kostumer.

Manuskript
Når I er godt hjemme i stykket, skal I til at arbejde med manuskriptet.

Du kan vælge:

• enten at lade eleverne selv omdanne resuméet til et skuespil (hvilket vil være det mest udfordrende – hent inspiration til scenerne i filmen)
• eller du kan lade eleverne arbejde med nedenstående færdige forslag, "Play Script", hvor de blot skal skabe dialogerne.
   

Arbejdsmodel

Denne model fører jer igennem den mest udfordrende opgave, hvor I selv omdanner resuméet til et skuespil. I kan også vælge at springe de sværeste dele af modellen over og bruge persongalleriet, akterne og scenerne (se "Play Script" nedenfor). Her er opgaven så blot, at I udvikler dialogerne til de enkelte scener.

Vigtigt m.h.t. dialogerne 
Lad eleverne lege og te sig tossede med dialogerne, så stykket bliver så skørt og vanvittigt som muligt – det vil være helt i Shakespeares ånd.

1) Personer 
Lav en liste over alle personerne – ’in order of appearance’. Hvis I laver et program, skal I lave en flot liste over rollerne og skuespillerne. I teatret på Shakespeares tid var det mænd og drenge som spillede kvinderollerne i stykkerne. Jeg foreslår, at I driver dette helt ud og lader drenge spille piger og kvinder og piger spille drenge og mænd. Det vil tilføje en ekstra underholdningsdimension i stykket.

2) Kostumer  
Lav også en liste over de kostumer rollerne kræver, hent inspiration fra filmen og fra Internettet. Hvis kostumedelen bliver for svær at fuldføre, kan I vælge enten at lave togaer af lagener og evt. bælter og sandaler eller at modernisere stykket, så kostumerne består af almindelig hverdagstøj (eller hverdagstøj blandet med overraskende påklædninger, som passer til karaktererne i stykket.)

3) Scener 
Gennemgå stykket og del det op i 5 akter med mindre scener. Lav små scenebeskrivelser, så alle kan huske hvad der skal med i hver scene. Hvis I laver et program kan I også lave nogle flotte overskrifter til hvert akt.

4) Manuskript
Når I har lavet persongalleriet og en oversigt over scenerne, skal i skrive selve manuskriptet – på engelsk selvfølgelig. Se et færdigt manus nedenfor, hvis I ikke selv vil skrive.

Hvem siger og gør hvad i hver enkelt scene? I skal beslutte jer for, om der skal være en fortæller som beretter handlingen, eller om handlingen skal beskrives i dialogerne. Det er nemmest med en fortæller. Han eller hun kan berette alt det ikke er direkte dialog i stykket og binde stykket sammen. Den direkte dialog tilhører så de enkelte roller. Det er en god idé at omskrive sproget til hverdags-engelsk, så sproget flyder frit.

Hvad skuespillerne skal gøre skrives i stiv parentes.

Andre idéer: I kan også vælge at modernisere stykket, så stykket bliver omfortolket og foregår i nutiden.

5) Grupper
Del klassen op i  grupper som tager sig af de enkelte opgaver, mens du selv sørger for at alle enkeltdelene passer sammen. Du skal bruge:

• En gruppe der skriver manuskript
• En gruppe til kostumer, make-up og rekvisitter
• En gruppe af skuespillere
• En eller to instruktører
• En PR-gruppe, som laver program, billetter og plakater

Og, hvis I filmer eller fotograferer:

• Et filmhold (billede, lyd, evt. klipning)

6) Øv jer
Tag ud i skoven og øv skuespillet nogle gange, før I opfører det.
Hvis I filmer, kan I optage de første scener som foregår i Athen, på skolen.

7) Nedenfor
Finder I først selve historien, derpå et manuskript

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‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’

Athens

There was a law in the city of Athens which said that if a daughter refused to marry the man her father had chosen for her, the father could demand that his daughter was executed. Since fathers do not often want the death of their own daughters, even though they sometimes are a little naughty, this law was seldom or never used.

One day, however, there was an old man called Egeus who went to the duke of Athens to complain about his daughter Hermia. He had told Hermia to marry a young, rich man called Demetrius, but Hermia had refused. She loved another young Athenian called Lysander. Egeus said to the duke that he wanted his daughter to be executed.

Hermia tried to defend herself. She said that Demetrius had once proposed to her dear friend Helena, and that Helena was hopelessly in love with Demetrius. But this did not change her father’s mind.

The duke was merciful. Therefore he gave Hermia four days to consider the situation. If she still refused to marry Demetrius after four days, she would be executed.

Hermia went straight to her lover Lysander and told him everything. Lysander got very worried, but he remembered that he had an aunt who lived at some distance from Athens. The laws were different in his aunt’s place, so he suggested that Hermia should run away with him that night and that they should get married at his aunt’s place. 'I will meet you,' said Lysander, 'in the lovely wood a few miles outside the city.'

Hermia agreed to this. She told no one of the plan, except for her friend Helena. However, people do foolish things for love and Helena, thinking that Demetrius would like her better if she told him about Hermia’s escape, went straight to him and told him everything.

The Wood

The wood in which Lysander and Hermia were going to meet was the favourite wood of those little beings known as Fairies. The King and Queen of the fairies were Oberon and Titania. In this wood they held their midnight parties with all their tiny followers.

However, at this time the little king and queen were quarrelling because Titania refused to give Oberon a little changeling boy (forbyttet barn; skiftning), whose mother had been Titania's friend. When the mother had died the fairy queen stole the child from its nurse, and brought him to the woods. In the shady moonlight walks of this pleasant wood, the two of them were now arguing so loudly that all their fairy elves crept into acorn-cups and hid themselves.

‘Give me your little changeling boy to be my page,’ Oberon shouted. 'Take it easy,' answered the queen; 'your whole fairy kingdom cannot buy that boy from me.' Then she left her husband in great anger. 'Well, go your way,' Oberon said. 'Before dawn I will make you suffer for this insult.' Oberon then sent for Puck, his favourite and private counsellor.

Puck was a clever and mischievous sprite who used to play tricks in the neighbouring villages by causing all kinds of problems for human beings.

'Come here, Puck,' Oberon said to this merry little wanderer of the night. 'Fetch me the flower called Love in Idleness. If you put the juice of that little purple flower on the eyelids of those who sleep, it will make them nuts about the first thing they see when they awake. I will drop some of the juice of that flower on the eyelids of my Titania when she is asleep. And she will fall in love with the first thing she looks upon when she opens her eyes, no matter if it’s a monkey or an ape. And before I will take this charm from her sight, which I can do with another charm I know, I will make her give me that boy.' Puck, who was crazy about mischief, ran off to find the flower.

While Oberon was waiting for Puck, he saw Demetrius and Helena enter the wood. He heard Demetrius scolding Helena for following him. Yet Helena was gentle to him, reminding him of how he used to love her. He kept trying to get rid of her and leave her, but she ran after him as fast as she could.

The fairy king, who was always friendly to true lovers, felt great sympathy for Helena. When Puck returned with the little purple flower, Oberon said: 'There has been a sweet Athenian lady here who is in love with a rude youth. Take a part of this flower. If you find him sleeping, drop some of the love-juice in his eyes. But make sure to do it only when she is near him, so that the first thing he sees when he awakes is this unloved lady. You will recognise the man by the Athenian clothes which he wears.' Puck promised to do this.

Then Oberon went to Titania’s place, where she was preparing to go to rest. Her fairy bed was a bed of the most beautiful flowers of the wood. Her bedcover was the skin of a snake, which, though it was small, was wide enough to wrap a fairy in.

Oberon found Titania giving orders to her fairies, telling them what to do while she slept. 'Some of you,' said her majesty, 'must go to war against the bats and take their leathery wings to make coats; and some of you make sure that the owl does not hoot so that I awake. But first, sing me to sleep.' They sang their queen to sleep with a pretty lullaby, and after that they left to carry out the duties she had given them.

Oberon moved softly near his Titania and dropped some of the love-juice on her eyelids, saying:

'What thou seest when thou dost wake,
Do it for thy true-love take.'

But to return to Hermia. She had escaped her father's house that night to avoid the execution. When she entered the wood, she found her dear Lysander waiting for her. They went on their way to his aunt's house. Yet, before too long, Hermia got so tired and needed to rest. The two of them lay down and fell fast asleep.

Here Puck found them. When he saw a handsome young man asleep in fancy clothes from Athens, with a pretty lady sleeping near him, he thought that this was the man Oberon had talked about. So, he poured some of the juice of the little purple flower into Lysander's eyes.

However, Hermia was not the first person Lysander saw when he woke up. Helena had been trying to keep pace with Demetrius, but he managed to run away from her. Miserable and desperate, she arrived at the place where Lysander was sleeping. 'Ah!' she said, 'this is Lysander lying on the ground. Is he dead or asleep?’ Then, gently touching him, she said: 'Good sir, if you are alive, awake.'

Lysander opened his eyes, and the love-charm worked at once. Immediately he declared his love and admiration for her. The love-charm was so powerful that all his love for Hermia completely disappeared. All he had on his mind now was Helena. He told her she was a dove and Hermia a raven, and that he would run through fire for her sweet sake; and many more words of love. Helena, knowing Lysander was her best friend’s lover and that they were going to marry, got very angry when her Lysander spoke to her like that. She thought that Lysander was making fun of her. 'Oh!' she said, 'why was I born to be mocked and scorned by everyone? Is it not enough, is it not enough, young man, that I can never get a sweet look or a kind word from Demetrius; but you, sir, make fun of me by pretending to love me like that? I thought, Lysander, you were a lord of more true gentleness.' Then she ran away, but Lysander followed her, forgetting all about his own Hermia who was still asleep.

When Hermia awoke, she was frightened to find herself alone. She wandered about the wood, not knowing where Lysander was, or which way to go to seek for him. After Puck's mistake it was now Hermia's turn to run after her lover.

In the meantime, elsewhere in the wood, Demetrius got tired of searching for Hermia and his rival Lysander. He fell asleep and soon he was found by Oberon who came by.

Puck had reported to Oberon about the mission of the love-charm, but Oberon had questioned Puck and found out that he had put the love-charm into the wrong man's eyes. Now that Oberon had found the right man, he touched the eyelids of the sleeping Demetrius with the love-juice. When Demetrius awoke, the first thing he saw was Helena. Immediately he began to make speeches of love. Then Lysander appeared, and after him came Hermia. Lysander and Demetrius both declared their love for Helena.

Helena was shocked. She thought that Demetrius, Lysander, and her once dear friend Hermia, were all making a fool of her. Hermia was as much surprised as Helena. She did not know why Lysander and Demetrius, who both used to love her, were now the lovers of Helena. To her, the matter was no game.

The ladies started yelling at each other, calling each other a lot of jealous names. And while Helena and Hermia were arguing, Demetrius and Lysander left to fight each other for the love of Helena. The ladies realised that the gentlemen had left them, and they went each their way - once more in search of their lovers in the wood.   

The fairy king had been listening to their quarrels with little Puck. As soon as all were gone, he said to Puck: 'This is your carelessness, Puck. Or did you do it on purpose?' 'Believe me, my king,' Puck answered, 'it was a mistake. Didn’t you tell me the man wore Athenian clothes? However, I am not sorry this has happened, for I think their quarrelling is good fun.' 'You heard,' Oberon said, 'that Demetrius and Lysander have gone to find a place to fight in. I command you to create a thick fog tonight and make these humans get lost in the dark so that they’ll not be able to find each other. Imitate their voices and provoke them to follow you. Make them so tired that they all fall asleep. Then drop the juice of this other flower into Lysander's eyes. When he awakes he will forget his new love for Helena, and return to Hermia. After that, the two ladies will be happy with the men they love and they will think that everything was just a bad dream. Do this quickly, Puck. I will go and see what sweet love my Titania has found.'

Titania was still sleeping and a clown lay close to her. The clown had lost his way in the wood and had fallen asleep. 'This fellow,' Oberon said, 'shall be my Titania's true love'. He put an ass's head over the clown's head. It seemed to fit him as well as if it had grown upon his own shoulders. However, Oberon had awakened the clown. The clown rose up and stumbled towards the queen’s bed.

Titania opened her eyes and the juice of the little purple flower began to take effect. 'Ah! What an angel I see?', she said. 'Are you as clever as you are beautiful?'

'Why, mistress,' said the foolish clown, 'if I could only find my way out of this darkness...'

'Don’t go out of the wood,' the queen said. 'I love you. Go with me and I will give you fairies to serve you.'

Then she called four of her fairies. Their names were Pease-blossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustard-seed.

'Serve this sweet gentleman’, she said, “hop and spring for him; feed him with grapes and apricots, and steal the honeybags from the bees for him. Come, sit with me,' she said to the clown, 'and let me play with your lovely hairy cheeks (kinder, men også balder i overført betydning), my beautiful ass! And kiss your beautiful large ears, my gentle joy!'

'Where is Pease-blossom?' the ass-headed clown said. He did not pay much attention to the fairy queen's words of love, but he was very proud of his new servants.

'Here, sir,' said little Pease-blossom.

'Scratch my head,' said the clown. 'Where is Cobweb?'

'Here, sir,' said Cobweb.

'Good Mr Cobweb,' the foolish clown said, 'kill the red humble bee on the top of that thistle over there, and, good Mr Cobweb, bring me the honey-bag.

Where is Mustard-seed?'

'Here, sir,' said Mustard-seed: 'what do you want?' 'Nothing,' said the clown, 'good Mr Mustard-seed, but help Mr Pease-blossom to scratch me. I must go to a barber's, Mr Mustard-seed, for I think I am very hairy in the face. But first I want to sleep.' 'Sleep, then,' said the queen, 'and I will hold you in my arms. Oh, how I love you! How I adore you!'

When the fairy king saw the clown sleeping in the arms of his queen, he went to her and scolded her for dating an ass.

The queen could not deny this, as the clown was sleeping in her arms, with his ass's head on her lap.

When Oberon had teased her for some time, he demanded the changeling boy again. Now that she was so ashamed, she did not dare to refuse her husband.

When Oberon got the little boy, he took pity on Titania and threw some of the juice of the other flower into her eyes. The fairy queen immediately got her own self back and now she could not stand the sight of the strange monster.

Oberon took the ass's head off the clown and left him to finish his nap with his own fool's head upon his shoulders. Then Oberon told his Titania the story of the lovers and their midnight quarrels. She agreed to go with him and see the end of their adventures.

The fairy king and queen found the four humans sleeping on the ground. Puck had managed to bring them all to the same spot and he had taken the charm from the eyes of Lysander with the antidote.

Hermia woke first. She found Lysander asleep next to her. Lysander opened his eyes, and when he saw his dear Hermia he fell back in love with her. They began to talk about the adventures of the night. They doubted if these things had really happened, or if they had both been dreaming the same confusing dream.

Helena and Demetrius were also awake by now. Helena had been calmed by sweet sleep and now she was listening to Demetrius’ love proposals with surprise and pleasure. She began to believe that his love for her was real.

The beautiful, night-wandering ladies were no longer rivals. They agreed that Demetrius should now try to persuade Hermia’s father to cancel the cruel execution. But as Demetrius was preparing to return to Athens, Egeus, Hermia's father, suddenly showed up. He came to the wood to look for his runaway daughter.

When they told Egeus that Demetrius wanted Helena, he agreed that Hermia could marry Lysander. He allowed them to be married on the fourth day from that time - the same day on which Hermia should have been executed. And on that same day Helena joyfully agreed to marry her beloved Demetrius.

The fairy king and queen, who were hiding in the bushes decided to celebrate the two weddings with sports and festivities all over their fairy kingdom.

And now, if anyone is offended with this story of fairies and their mischief, if anyone thinks it is unbelievable and strange, they only have to think that they have been asleep and dreaming, and that all these adventures were things they saw in their sleep. And I hope none of my readers will be so unfair that they will be offended by a pretty harmless Midsummer Night's Dream.

  [The End]

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Play Script of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream’

1)   CHARACTERS, in order of appearance:

• Narrator
• Egeus, father of Hermia
• Duke of Athens
• Hermia
• Lysander
• Helena
• Demetrius
• Oberon (fairy king)
• Titania (fairy queen)
• Little changeling boy
• Fairies
• Puck
• Clown
   

2)   Costumes and props:

Narrator (hvis I overhovedet vil have en fortæller)
Fortælleren kan I klæde på med en toga og et par sandaler. Desuden kan han/hun have en stok i hånden som giver indtrykket af viden og autoritet. Smink ham også, så han ser klog og alvidende ud.
Fortælleren kan også klædes ud som Shakespeare selv (find billeder på nettet), eller I kan vælge at fortælleren er skjult i buskene (og måske indikere at det er skoven som fortæller).
Hvis I ikke har sandaler, kan I skjule jeres sko ved at vikle stof omkring dem.

Egeus
Toga og sandaler, sminket så han (hun) ser gammel og faderlig ud.

Duke of Athens
Toga og sandaler. Eventuelt en slags kongekrone. Sminke.

Hermia
Toga og sandaler. Evt. et lille blondeslag. Sminke så hun (han) ligner en ren drøm.

Lysander
Toga og sandaler. Sminke så han (hun) ligner en smuk, rig, ung athener.

Helena (Hermias veninde)
Toga og sandaler. Evt. et lille blondeslag. Sminket smuk som en drøm.

Demitrius
Toga og sandaler. Sminke så han (hun) ligner en smuk, rig, ung athener.

Oberon (fairy king)
Her må I gøre grundigt brug af fantasien. Evt. grønne strømpebukser og en brun sæk som overdel.
En krone af flettede grene og et stort skæg. Evt. nogle små horn.
En lille fin flaske til elskovsdråberne og en ‘æselhue’ til klovnens hoved.
Husk Oberon er et skovvæsen, så han (hun) må gerne have f.eks. græstotter og andre skovting stikkende ud af håret og tøjet. Skjul skoene ved at vikle stof omkring dem.
Sminke i skovens farver med f.eks. meget røde kinder og læber.

Titania (fairy queen)
Den kvindelige udgave af Oberon. Evt. grønne strømpebukser med et lille tylskørt og en brun sæk som overdel. En krone af flettede grene. Evt. nogle små horn.

Little changeling boy
Toga og sandaler. Sminke så han (hun) ser lille og uskyldig ud.

Fairies
Strømpebukser, kartoffelsække, tyl og sminke som Oberon og Titania. Græs og skovting som stikker ud her og der.

Puck
En flettet grenkrans om hovedet. Strømpebukser, kartoffelsæk, tyl og sminke som de øvrige fairies.
Græs som stikker ud her og der. Evt. grønne handsker.

Clown
Evt. Sminket og udklædt som en moderne klovn eller en spraglet toga med påskriften ‘Clown.’

3)   Settings

Everything takes place in the forest, except for beginning of the play which takes place in Athens. If you film the play, then film the first scenes at school. If you perform all of the play in the wood and there is no wooden shack that may represent Athens, you can bring chairs and a table and white linen to create the scene of the court.

4)   ACTS / SCENES

Act One: Athens

Scene 1: Narrator explains the old law in Athens.

Scene 2: Egeus at the court in Athens, asking the duke to execute Hermia, if she does not obey his orders.
Hermia defends herself (Helena is there with her).
The duke gives her 4 days to change her mind.

Scene 3: Hermia goes to Lysander and they make their secret plan (she brings Helena).

Scene 4: Helena goes to Demetrius and tells him of Hermia and Lysander’s plan. Demetrius decides to find Hermia and Lysander in the wood. Helena insists that she will go with him.

Act Two: The Fairies in the Wood

Scene 1: The fairies have a party, but the King and Queen start arguing about the changeling boy. Titania leaves in anger. Oberon sends for Puck.

Scene 2: Oberon explains Puck about the magic love juice and his plan of enchanting Titania. He then asks Puck to fetch the flower. Make sure that Puck appears as a very naughty and fun-loving sprite. Puck runs off.

Scene 3: While Oberon waits for Puck’s return, Demetrius and Helena pass by. He watches them arguing. He expresses his sympathy for Helena. Helena and Demetrius walk out of the scene.

Scene 4: Puck returns with the love-juice and Oberon gives him the instructions of enchanting Demetrius. Oberon says that now he will go to Titania to enchant her. They both walk off in each their direction.

Scene 5: Oberon goes to Titania. He watches her giving the orders to the fairies. The fairies sing her to sleep and go away.
Oberon sneaks up to Titania and drops the love-juice on her eyelids.

Scene 6: Puck enters and tells Oberon that he has enchanted the Athenian man. Oberon asks him what the man looked like just to make sure and he finds out that Puck has enchanted the wrong person. He jumps up and down and yells at Puck for having made this mistake. Then he chases Puck out of the scene.

Act Three:

Scene 1: Hermia meets with Lysander. They start going to the aunt’s house. Soon Hermia gets tired and both of them lie down to sleep.

Scene 2: Puck finds the sleeping Hermia and Lysander. He comments on their looks and concludes that they must be the couple Oberon was talking about. He drops some love-juice on Lysander’s eyelids.

Scene 3: Helena comes by. She is crying and explains that Demetrius was walking too fast and that she has lost him. She discovers Lysander on the ground, walks over to him and gently touches him.
Lysander opens his eyes and the first thing he sees is Helena.
Lysander declares his love to Helena in a crazy way and tells her he does not love Hermia anymore. Helena thinks he is making fun of her. She runs away, Lysander runs after her.
Hermia awakes to find out that she is all alone. She is worried and scared and runs off looking for Lysander.

Scene 4: Elsewhere in the wood, Demetrius gets tired of searching for Lysander and Hermia. He lies down to sleep.
As he sleeps, Oberon passes by. He curses Puck for having enchanted the wrong man and says that this is the right man. He pours some love-juice onto Demetrius’ eyelids. Then he walks away.

Scene 5: Helena comes running into the place where Demetrius is sleeping. Lysander comes running after her. Demetrius wakes up and sees Helena. Then he starts to declare his love to her in the same crazy way that Lysander did. Helena is confused. She thinks they are all making fun of her.
Then Hermia comes running. She argues with Helena and Lysander because she thinks they have an affair.
The ladies begin to argue.
Then Lysander and Demetrius begin to argue over Helena. They leave to go and fight.
When the ladies discover that the men have gone, they wander off in each their direction.
(Oberon and Puck have been watching the whole scene from the bushes. When the lovers leave, they come forward).

Scene 6: Oberon scolds Puck for having caused all this trouble. He tells Puck to sort everything out again - to create the fog that makes all the lovers tired from running in the wood, make them fall asleep in the same place and drop an anti-juice into the eyes of Lysander so that his love for Helena will disappear again.
Puck leaves one way. Oberon says he will see to the sleeping Titania and walks off in the other direction.

Scene 7: Puck makes all the lovers tired. You see them all (Puck, Lysander, Demetrius, Hermia and Helena) running in and out of the scene in one big confusion – without seeing each other. At the end the four humans fall asleep and Puck pours the anti-juice onto Lysander’s eyelids.

Act Four:

Scene 1: Oberon arrives at Titania’s place. She is still asleep. Next to her he finds a sleeping clown. Oberon puts the ass’s head on the clown. He wakes up the clown and the clown stumbles to Titania’s bed.
Titania awakes. She sees the clown and immediately declares her love for him. The clown listens like a fool.
The queen calls her fairy-servants and starts spoiling the clown. The clown begins to act like an important master. (Oberon hides in the bushes and rolls on the ground with laughter).
After a while the clown falls asleep in the queen’s arms.
Then Oberon comes out from his hiding place and starts scolding Titania for being unfaithful. The queen gets very embarrassed. She acts like a little child (because she is still enchanted). Oberon demands the changeling boy and the queen is too ashamed to refuse. She calls the changeling boy and gives him to Oberon. Then Oberon throws some anti-juice into the queen’s eyes and she gets back to her own self.
Oberon takes of the ass’s head from the clown’s head and leaves the clown to finish his sleep.
Oberon tells the queen to come with him, because he wants to show her some lovers. They walk out.

Act Five:

Scene 1: Oberon and Titania walk on to the scene where the four humans are sleeping.
Hermia awakes. She finds Lysander next to her. Lysander opens his eyes and falls in love with her again. They start talking about all that happened and they both think they had the same dream.
Helena and Demetrius also wake up and Helena begins to believe that Demetrius’ love proposals are real.
The two couples get together. They agree that Demetrius must change Egeus mind about Hermia’s death sentence.
Just then, Egeus enters the scene. He is happy that he has finally found Hermia. He has been looking for her all night. He is surprised to see Demetrius with Helena and changes his mind about Hermia. Now he allows her to marry Lysander and declares a double wedding in four days (when Hermia should have been executed). All are happy. They walk out.

Scene 2: Oberon and Titania come forward. They are very happy for the lovers and jump around, hugging each other as if they were getting married themselves. They call all the fairies and Puck (and the clown) and they all start dancing and fooling around.

Scene 3: The narrator steps in, in front of the fairies (or stays behind the bushes), and speaks the last words of the play. 

[The End]
 

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o
 

Baggrund

Omskrivningen af en historie til et skuespil er en enestående opgave, der giver eleverne mulighed for at opdage de enkelte elementer som udgør helheden i en tekst. De lærer at genkende tekstens inddeling i indledning, hovedafsnit og afslutning, samt nødvendigheden af en logisk sammenhæng mellem disse tre. Elevernes fantasi og kreativitet bliver udfordret, når de skal overføre teksten og dialogerne fra papiret til faktiske samtaler og handlinger. 

Forarbejdet og selve opførelsen af skuespillet er en god øvelse i projektsamarbejde. De enkelte gruppers succes afhænger af samspillet mellem gruppens medlemmer - og hele projektet afhænger af de enkelte gruppers samarbejde. Eleverne oplever dermed et stort medansvar for deres egen undervisning.

Projektarbejdet lægger også op til en brug af det engelske sprog i meningsfuld dialog, hvor projektets endelige resultat afhænger af den mundtlige kommunikation eleverne imellem (det er derfor vigtigt at du insisterer på at eleverne taler engelsk, når de arbejder med projektet).

Shakespeare er valgt som udgangspunkt af flere grunde. Shakespeare er en væsentlig del af den engelske kulturarv, og der er ingen forhindringer for at introducere ham i grundskolen, når blot sværhedsgraden er tilpasset. Samtidig indeholder ‘En skærsommernats drøm’ en fantastisk oplevelse af skov hvor skoven indgår både som et mystisk univers af fortryllelse og vildfarelse og, i samme henseende, fungerer som en håndgribelig metafor for elskovsrus og kærlighed.

Endeligt lægges der i dette forløb op til en måde at arbejde med Shakespeare på, hvor sproget bliver brugt  i en umiddelbar og underholdene sammenhæng og eleverne frit kan udfolde sig og afprøve sproget indenfor temaet forelskelse som i forvejen er fuld af spræl, temperament og galskab.

Forslag til videre læsning
Resuméet af ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ er udarbejdet ud fra Charles og Mary Lambs gamle børneversioner af Shakespeares stykker. Du kan finde ‘The Lambs’ Tales’ på denne hjemmeside.