Why did they keep trying to convince us that they were in Italy when the dialogue kept saying they were in Athens?
And why the nude scenes where the original play gives absolutely no indication that anything of the sort was intended?
Maybe I should stick to the Royal Shakespeare Company in the future.
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Blessed are the legend-makers with their rhyme
of things not found within recorded time.
It did have a kind of Italian vibe to it, but I think they stated several times this was supposed to be Athens.
I think it's just an imagined Athens. That is a Mediterranean city that never was. Athens itself isn't very country like, nor very green.
Here is something to keep in mind. Shakespeare was English and was writing for an English audience. Although many of his plays are set in other countries -- Italy, Greece, Egypt, France, "Illyria," and so on -- his characters are written as Elizabethan English men and women. Here are a couple examples of that:
1. When Bottom and his friends come to a clearing in the forest, Peter Quince picks out a place to be their stage and then says that certain trees will be their "Tiring House." In Elizabethan theatres, the Tiring House was located behind the stage. It was the place from which the actors made their entrances and the place where they dressed in costume and awaited their cues. A Tiring House would have been unknown in ancient Greece.
2. During the argument in the forest, Helena discusses what Hermia was like when they were at school. Daughters of middle- or upper-class Elizabethan families could have attended school for girls in their towns or run by the Anglican Church. Ancient Greece did not have such schooling for girls.
The point I'm trying to make is that Shakespeare's plays are very English in characters, in dialogue, in jokes, in religious references (many people in Shakespeare's day, perhaps the playwright himself, were closet Catholics and understood his religious references.) Just because "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was set in Athens, Greece, in ancient times does not mean the story fit the time and place.
A second point is that Elizabethan theatre had no concept of historical costuming. The play may have been set in ancient Athens, but Shakespeare's actors, The Lord Chamberlain's Men, would not have worn Greek chitons and himations. They would have worn the doublet and hose of Elizabethan men. This flexability allows Shakespeare's plays to be set in almost any place at almost any time period. Last year I saw a Pittsburgh, PA, theatre company perform "As You Like It," which takes place in France, in English Edwardian clothing. I also saw the Scottish play, "Macbeth," performed at Shakespeare's Globe in London, England, and the cast wore tuxedoes and evening gowns.
You got me on the nudity. I am assuming it was a directorial choice. The fairies set everything right before they left, including fixing the bicycles and washing and mending the clothing. They cleaned up the lovers and left them in their birthday suits, their clothes cleaned and pressed beside them. In the story, the lovers are embarrassed and concerned about being confronted by the Duke and Egeus. Perhaps the nakedness was meant to convey this embarrassment and fear to the modern audience. The nakedness, however, would not have happened in Shakespeare's time. There were laws against public lewdity, and the Master of Revels, a government employee, made sure that theatres did not stray from the law. Also, the roles of young women were played by boys between 12 and 14. To appear naked would destroyed the illusion, and the play.
I am sorry to have rambled on so, but I am a theatre teacher, and I could not help but give a mini-lecture. Forgive me.
Spin