A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM - WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (Script)

Narrator: The course of true love never did run smooth and never did it stumble worse than on one summer's day, when all Athens was bright with expectancy for the wedding of Duke Theseus and Hippolyta. But love was not as simple for others in the town. Hermia loved Lysander. Lysander loved Hermia. And what could have been better than that. At the same time, Helena loved Demetrius... But Demetrius did not love Helena. Instead he loved Hermia. What could have been worse than that? Only Hermia's father. Although there was nothing to choose between the two young men. Hermia's father had chosen; And he had chosen Demetrius!

Lysander: So quick bright things come to confusion!

Narrator: And such was the law of Athens that, If Hermia disobeyed her father she would be shut up in a nunnery for the rest of her life. The lovers were in despair. But despair leads to desperation; And desperation to desperate measures... The very next night, first Hermia then Lysander crept from the town. At midnight they were to meet in a wood not far from Athens. And from there to fly away together to some distant place where the cruel law could not touch them. And all might have turned out well had not Hermoa confide in Helena who was her best friend. For Helena, hoping for no more than a grateful smile, told Demetrius. Outraged, Demetrius rushed after the runaways, meaning to win Hermia's heart by plunging his sword in Lysander's. And after him... stumbled Helena, Still hoping for a kindness to be flung over his shoulder, like a bone to a starving dog. And so the four lovers hastened to the wood. But they were not the only ones to leave the town that night. For the secrecy of the wood. Peter Quince, the carpenter, and scholar of the company; Nick Bottom, the weaver, a great man and a tower of strength in any enterprise which not even he would deny. Flute the bellow's mender, Snug the joiner, Snout the tinker and Starveling the tailor.

Peter Quince: Is all our company here?

Narrator: Six good men of Athens. They were met in secret to rehearse a play for the wedding of the Duke. The play they'd chosen was, most fittingly, about love. It was the most lamentable tragedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe. Nick Bottom of course, was to play Pyramus; although he could have taken any, or all the other parts with equal success.

Nick Bottom: Let me play Thibe, too.

Peter Quince: No, no, you must play Pyramus.

Nick Bottom: Let me play the lion too. I will roar, RAWRRRR! That I will make the Duke say, "Let him roar again!" RAWWWWRRRRR!

Narrator: It was a strange wood, huge and mysterious, and haunted by more than spinning spiders, beetles, hedgehogs and softly gliding, spotted snakes. Oberon, dread king of the night-time world, with Puck his wild henchman, and all his goblin train! I'll met by moonlight proud Titania! Titania, his queen!

Titania: What, jealous Oberon? Fairies, skip hence! I have forsworn his bed and company!

Oberon: Tarry, rash wanton! Why should Titania cross her Oberon? I do but beg a little changeling boy to be my henchman.

Titania: Set your heart at rest: The fairy land buys not the child of me. His mother was a votress of my order---

Oberon: Give me that boy!

Titanis: Not for thy kingdom! Fairies, away!

Oberon: Well, go thy way: thou shalt not from this grove til I torment thee for this injury. My gentle Puck, come hither... *whispers*

Narrator: Even the seasons were disturbed, for as among the mortal lovers, there was discord between the spirit king and queen and so dangerous a quarrel made a sickness in nature.

Oberon: Fetch me this herb...

Puck: I'll put a girdle round about the earth! In forty minutes!

Narrator: The herb that Puck had gone to fetch grew far away in the West. It was a certain purple flower, possessed of strange powers. If the juice of it was dropped on sleeping eyes then the moment they awoke, the sleeper will fall wildly, madly in love with the very first living creature their magically anointed eyes beheld. No matter who or what it was.

*Demetrius and Helena sa kagubatan kung nasaan naroroon si Oberon*

Demetrius: I love thee not, therefore pursue me not!

Helena: I am your spaniel; and Demetrius, the more you beat me, I will fawn on you! Spurn me, strike me, Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave, Unworthy as I am to follow you!

Demetrius: I am sick when I do look on thee!

Helena: And I am sick when I look not on you!

Demetrius: Let me go, or, if thou follow me, do not believe. But I shall do thee mischief in the wood!

Helena: We should be woo'd, and were not made to woo! *crying*

*Biglang lumabas si Oberon mula sa pagkakainvisible*

Oberon: Fare thee well, nymph. Ere he do leave this grove, Thou shalt fly him, and he shall seek thy love! *chant* I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, where oxlips and the nodding violet grows, Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine, with sweet musk-roses and with eglantine. *dumating si Puck after the chant* There sleeps Titania some time of the night. Will the juice of this I'll streak her eyes. And make her full of hatefull fantasies. Take thou some of it, and seek through this grove. A sweet Athenian lady is in love with a disdainful youth; anoint his eyes: But do it when the next thing he espies may be the lady. Thou shalt know the man by the Athenian garments her hath on.

Puck: Fear not, my lord, your servant shall do so.

*sa lugar ni Titania*

Titania: Come now, a roundel and a fairy song...

Fairy singing: You spotted snakes with double tongue, Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen; Newts and blind-worms do no wrong, Come not near our fairy queen... Weaving spiders come not here; Hence you long-legged spinners, hence! Beetles black approach not near, worm no snail, do no offence.

*tulog na mga fairies at pumasok sa scene si Oberon*

 Oberon: What thou seest when thou dost wake, Do it for thy true love take. Wake when something vile is near!

*Lysander and Hermia pumasok na ulit sa scene*

Lysander: We'll rest us, Hermia, if you think it good.

Hermia: Be it so Lysander; find you out a bed, for I upon this bank will rest my head.

Lysander: One turf shall serve as pillows for us both.

Hermia: Nay, good Lysander; for my sake, my dear, lie further off yet. Lie further off, in human modesty; such separation as may well be said becomes a virtuous bachelor and a maid... So far be distant; and goodnight, sweet friend.

*Pumasok na si Puck sa dalawang natutulog*

Puck: This is he my master said, despised the Athenian maid; and here the maiden, sleeping sound, on the dank and dirty ground. Pretty soul, she durst not lie near this lack-love, this kill-courtesy! *chanting sa mata ni Lysander* Churl, upon thine eyes I throw all the power this charm doth owe.

*Pumasok sa scene si Demetrius and Helena, malapit sa natutulog*

Demetrius: Hence, hence, I charge thee, hence, and do not haunt me thus! *iniwang mag isa si Helena*

Helena: 'wilt thou darkling leave me? But who is here Lysander, on the ground? Dead, or asleep? I see no blood, no wound. Lysander, if you live, good sir, awake! *nagising si Lysander*

Lysander; Not Hermia, but Helena I love: Who will not change a raven for a dove!

Helena: Good troth, you do me wrong, Good soothe, you do! Fare you well!

Lysander: Hermia, sleep thou there and never mayes thou come Lysander near! All my powers, address your love and might, to honour Helen and to be her knight!

*nagising na si Hermia afterwards*

Hermia: Lysander! Lysander, lord! Alack, where are you?

*Yung scene ng mga craftsmen*

Narrator: From love in earnest to love in play: the six good men of Athens.

Nick Bottom: Are we all met?

Peter Quince: Here's a marvellous convenient place for our rehearsal.

Narrator: So their parts were allotted: Pyramus, the lover, to Bottom; Thisbe, the lady, to Flute...

Flute: Let me not play a woman. I have a beard coming.

Narrator: Thsibe the lady, to Flute, Snug to play the lion, *Rawr* Starveling to represent the moon. And Snout to be the wall that cruelly separated the lovers, one from another. And Peter Quince, the scholar, to direct the play.

*Craftsmen were rehearsing*

Narrator: But though they had chosen the time and place for rehearsing with care, so as to be quite secret, they had an audience, though they know it not.

Puck: What hempen homespuns have we swaggering here, so near the craddle of the fairy queen?

Thisbe/Flute: Most radiant Pyramus, most lily-white of hue! I'll meet the, Pyramus, at Ninny's tomb.

Peter Quince: At "Ninus" tomb, man! Why, you must not speak that yet; that you must answer to Pyramus. You speak all your part at once, cues and all! Pyramus, enter! Your cue is past.

*Puck managed to change Bottoms head into that of an ass.*

Peter Quince: Pyramus, Enter!!

Nick Bottom/Pyramus: If I were fair, fair Thisbe-

*Lahat ng kasama ay na shock, literal na shock sa pagbabago ng mukha ni Bottom!*

Peter Quince: O monstrous! O strange! We are haunted! Pray masters! Fly, masters! Help!

All: Help!!! *they run for their lives*

Nick Bottom: Why do they run away?

Peter Quince: Bless thee, Bottom, bless thee! Thou are translated!

Nick Bottom: Iiiiiii see their knavery: this is to make an ass of me, to fright me, if they could... I will sing, that they shall hear I am not afraid. *singing* The ousel cock, so black of hue, with orange-tawny bill, the throstle, with his note so true, the wren with little quill... The throstle, with him note so true-u-ue... The wren with the little qu-i-ill. *tinutulak siya ni Puck while singing, nakarating siya kng saan natutulog si Titania*

Titania: *nagising sa pagtulog* What angel wakes me from my flowery bed? I, gentle mortal, sing again: Mine ear is much enamoured of thy note. So is mine ey enthralled to thy shape, On the first view to say, to swear, I love thee.

Nick Bottom: Methinks, mistresss, you should have little reason for that.

Titania: I am spirit of no common rate; And I do love thee: therefore go with me. I'll give thee fairies to attend on thee....

*Puck and Oberon are talking*

Puck: *bumulong kay Oberon at natatawa siya*

Oberon: This falls out better than i could devise. But has thou yet latched the Athenian's eyes with the love juice?

Puck: I took him sleeping.

Oberon: *may nakitang parating* Stand close: this is the same Athenian.

Puck: This is the woman, but not this the man!

*Across Oberon and Puck*

Hermia: Out, dog! Out, cur! Hast thou slain him then?

Demetrius: I am not guilty of Lysander's blood!

Hermia: See me no more, whether he be dead or no!

Lysander: *sad tone* There is no following her in this fierce vein...

*camera to Oberon and Puck*

Oberon: What has thou done? Thou hast mistaken quite, and laid the love-juice on some true love's sight. About the wood go swifter than the wind, and Helena of Athens look thou find.

Puck: I go, I go, look how I go! Swifter than arrow from the Tartar's bow! *lumipad palayo si Puck*

*Si Demetrius, natulog nalang sa may punong kahoy, nagsawa na sa kakasunod kay Hermia*

Oberon: *chanting* Flower in this purple dye. Hit with Cupid's archery, sink in apple of his eye. When his love he doth espy.

*biglang dumating si Puck*

Puck: Captain of our fairy band, Helena is here at hand. Shall we thier fon pageant see?

*pagdaan ni Helena, nagising si Demterius*

Demetrius: O Helen, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine!

Helena: O spite! O hell! I see you are all bent to set against me for your merriment. *parating na si Lysander* Youboth are rivals, and love Hermia--

Demetrius: Lysander, keep thy Hermia. If I ere I love her, all that love is gone, and now to Helen is ii home returned!

Lysander: Helena, it is not so--

Demetrius: Look where thy love comes; yonder is thy dear! 

*sa di kalayuan nakita ni Hermia ang tatlo na nagtatalo*

Hermia: You juggler! You canker-blossom! You thief of love!

Helena: Have you no modesty, no maiden shame?

Hermia: *na shock!* You puppet, you! Puppet? Thou painted maypole!

Helena: *Paatras kasi susugod na si Hermia, natatakot*

*sa di kalayuan, nandoon din si Puck and Oberon, nanunuod*

Puck: Lord, what fools these mortals be.

Helena: She was a vixen when she went to school!

Hermia: Let me come to her!

Lysander: *pinipigilan si Hermia* Get you gone, you dwarf!

Oberon to Puck: This is thy negligence: still thou mistak'st. Or else commite thy knaveries wilfully.

Puck: Believe me, king of shadows I mistook.

Oberon: Thou seest these lovers seek a place to fight. Hie therefore, Robin, overcast the night... *Pumunta sa gitna ng kagubatan si Lysander at Demetrius at doon balak mag laban, sumunod si Puck* And lead these testy rivals so astray, that one comes not within anothers way... *Nagkaroon ng makapal na usok sa pagitan ni Lysander at Demterius* Then crush this herb into Lyander's eye...

Puck: *chanting* When thou wak'st, thou tak'st true delight in the sight of the former lady's eye; And the country proverb known, that every man should take his own... *Lumipad na palayo si Puck and Oberon*

Narrator: But the madness of love still lingered in another part of the wood.

Titania: Sweet love, what desir'st thou to eat?

Nick Bottom: Truly, a peck of provender; I could munch your good dry oats. *Hikab* But I pray you, let none of your people stir me: I have an exposition of sleep come upon me.

*fairies, laughing*

Nick Bottom: Sleep thou, and I will wind thee in my arms.

Titania: O how I love thee! How I dote on thee! *nahiga ang dalawa* *naghihilik si Bottom*

Titania: O how I love thee! How I dote on thee! *hinawakan ang mga tenga ni Nick Bottom*

Narrator: *biglang dumating sila Oberon and Puck* Oberon saw his chance to take revenge and with it, pity followed. *kinuha ni Puck ang bata*

Oberon: Now I have the boy, I will undo this hateful imperfection of her eyes. *chanting* Be as thou wast wont be; See as thou wast wont to see. *pinatakan sa mata si Titania*

Titania: *nagising: My Oberon! What visions have I seen! Methought I was enamoured of an ass!

Oberon: There lies your love!

Titania: *SHOCK of Nick Bottom*

Oberon: Come my queen take hands with me. *lumipad na sila palayo*

*kinaumagahan, naghahanap na ang mga taga Athens sa apat na nawawala, at para ikasal na rin*

Narrator: DukeTheseus with his bride, up early to celebrate their wedding day with a hunt...

Thesues: *Nakita ang apat na natutulog* But soft, what nymphs are these? Go bid the hunstman wake them with their horns! *horning*

Narrator: Amongst the party was Egeus, father of Hermia, his disobediet child.

Egeus: I beg the law, the law upon his head! *Pointing to Hermia*

*Dinamayan ni Demetrius ang nag aalalang si Hermia*

Thesues: Fair lovers, you are fortunately met. Egeus I will overbear your will; for in the temple, by and by, with us, these couples shall eternally be knit. Away with us, to Athens. Three and three, we'll hold a feast in great solemnity. *Umalis na sila Theseus at aiwan na lang ang apat na lovers*

Demetrius: Are you sure that we are awake? It seems to me that yet we sleep, we dream.

Narrator: *Kay Nick Bottom* And so another dreamer, Bottom, was transformed again from ass to actor, and left the wood to join his anxious company in Athens to celebrate with their play Duke Theseus's wedding day.

*Play, Pyramus and Thisbe*

Peter Quince: This man is Pyramus if you would know; This beauteous lady Thisbe is, certain; This man, with lime and rough-cast, doth present Wall - that vile wall which did thses lovers sunder; This man, with lanthorn, dog and bush of thorn, prensenteth Moonshine. This greastly beast, which lion hight by name... *rawrrrrrr* (Natakot si Thisbe/Peter Quince, kaya tumakbo)

Egeus: Well run, thisbe.

Narrator: But bully Bottom, the weaver, was best of all. He lived Pyramus, he died Pyramus.

Pyramus: Thus die I, thus, thus, thus, (Stabbing himself) *laughing audience, nonstop laugh*

(Natapos na ang gabi)

Narrator: now the mortals have succumbed to sleep, into the palace creep the happy spirits.

Oberon: *Chanting* through the house give glimmering light.... Sing and dance it trippingly

Titania: *Chanting* Hand and han with fairy grace, will we sing and bless this place.

Oberon; *chanting* Now, until the break of day,  through this house each fairy stray. To the best bride will we, which by us shall blessed be. Trip away; make no stay; Meet me all by break of day.

Narrator: And so at last, after the madness of the Midsummer's night, the course of true love came home in smiles and laughter, to peace, contentmen, and a well-earned rest.