Amazon.co.uk Review
This CD-ROM is part of an award-winning series of Shakespearean plays; other successes include
Romeo And Juliet,
Macbeth and
Hamlet--which has been described by "CD-ROM Now" as "quite simply multimedia at its best". This is quite some praise, but it is deserved, since the series has everything that most top range CD-ROM packages offer in terms of graphics, video footage, sound quality and interactive elements--as well as possessing the most wide-ranging and erudite commentary that this reviewer have seen in the genre.
On top of containing a complete run-through of Shakespeare's classic comedy, there is such a broad range of issues that a review alone can do scant justice to its diversity. Here you can find out about the principal themes of the play--love and marriage, illusion and acting--and the way in which these themes interweave with the text and the events of the play. There is also an interesting section on the play's provenance, and, very usefully, a range of reviews, ranging from Hazlitt to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and including Shakespeare's contemporaries as well as more modern critics.
A carping critic would complain that the analysis of the characterisation is not as deep here as in some of the other packages (Romeo and Juliet in particular)--but this would not do justice to what is unquestionably a great package, one of enormous use and enjoyment to anyone who has an interest in A Midsummer Night's Dream. --Toby Green
Manufacturer's Description
Turn your computer into a theatre with this award-winning CD-ROM. It contains: A complete performance on audio of the whole play Full text of the respected Alexander edition Notes--extensive, interesting notes at a click of the mouse Video--clips from the classic BBC production Background information to bring the play to life Other titles in this series include Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth.