A Midsummer Night s Dream Opera - 883 Words

Andrew Muckle Professor Boots 15 April 2016 A Midsummer Night’s Dream Opera On Saturday April 16th, I attended A Midsummer Night’s Dream, an opera by Benjamin Britten at Boston University. I have never been to an opera before, so I went in wondering if I would enjoy it as much as I enjoy the orchestra. I read a review by Gillian Daniels who said â€Å"It’s an opera faithful to the spirit of its material† having me go in with somewhat high expectations (Daniels). I walked into a fairly large theater with three friends waiting for the play to begin. We took our seats that were four rows from the front of the balcony I felt that our seats were pretty good since we were more or less close to the stage. The lights finally dimmed and the opera began.†¦show more content†¦Because of this, all vowels sung â€Å"in full voice all sound the same.† (Highfield). The mood created by the back stage and production staff made a tremendous impact on the performance. I found that the lighting was very well done; creating the feel of a gloomy dark forest that would exist in a dream. Some of the sets were basic but very well prepared. I was impressed how their simplicity more than accomplished their purpose, and when the scenes changed their austerity allowed the movement to be very seamless and unobtrusive. I believe Daniels was right in saying that â€Å"This vision is every bit the dream of the title.†(Daniels) The opera A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Benjamin Britten did seem very distinctive in the way it was presented compared to the movie by Michael Hoffman. The characters were dressed, in my opinion, fairly differently from the movie. The scene between Oberon and Titania was largely the same in storyline, but the look, as well as the dialogue didn t seem similar to the movie. Perhaps having to read the dialogue from the teleprompters made a difference versus listening to the dialogue in the film. In the movie, the fairies all seem to be very roman in the way they were dressed. They also had normal human bodies. In the opera however the esthetic seemed somewhat different.