Customer Reviews

The Sixty-Minute Shakespeare-A Midsummer Night's Dream (Classics for All Ages)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I saw the other reviews of this book,and I have to wonder if the reviewers really read this abridged version of the play. This is one of our family's favorite plays, and I bought this book to allow us to do a living room performance of it in one evening. I was disappointed. First, the copy has many errors in it that make performing it confusing. For instance, in Act I, Scene 1, when Egeus brings Hermia and Demetrius and Lysander before Theseus, there is a stage direction that says "Demetrius exit and Helena follow." although Helena has not appeared (in this or any other version of the play) until later in the scene. Second, every person who has to make cuts in this play does it differently, but Cass Foster has cut some parts that I really miss, especially Bottom's playing the "tyrant" in Act I, Scene 2, and the rest of Thisby's death speech in Act V. Those scenes seem wooden and hurried without those lines. If I had known what this book was like, I would have ordered a different book with the full text and cut out lines myself. It would be easier than going through this text and correcting typos and adding lines that I feel need to be there.

March 5, 1999

Dear friends at Five Star Pub.,

We have a small school on the other side of the planet from you in a country called Azerbaijan. It's kind of a home school coop. Two years ago we performed your version of Romeo and Juliet and last year, A Midsummer Night's Dream. We really enjoy your versions because of the suggestions for staging (we're all rookies) and your notes of explanation on difficult phrases. I have to admit that the kids liked the Romeo and Juliet notes the best because there were more of them but we also like the new layout of Midsummer. It's easier to use.

Thanks for your help,

Cindi Wagner Baku, Azerbaijan

Sixty Minute Shakespeare is, technically, cheating a bit. In this series, Professor Cass Foster has abridged Shakespeare's plays to make them a bit less intimidating. But don't misunderstand: these are not rewritten! The rich language of the originals is still here, they have just been condensed very carefully.

For instance, in the original Act III, Scene I, it reads:

Quince: Pat, pat; and here's a marvellous convenient place for our rehearsal. This green plot shall be our stage, this hawthorn-brake our tiring-house; and we will do it in action as we will do it before the duke.

And in Sixty-Minute Shakespeare, the same line reads:

Quince: Pat, pat; and here's a marvail's convenient place for our rehearsal. We will do it in action as we will do it before the Duke.

It has left out only the line "This green plot shall be our stage, this hawthorn-brake our tiring house" which is not integral to the story.

This method makes it a more simple read, which makes it much less intimidating. The book also includes brief footnotes with definitions of Old English words that help tremendously. And, at less than $9 per book, they are very inexpensive and well worth the money.

In addition to being a more gentle introduction for the reader, the book also includes notes for directing the book as a play. This abridged version, with notes for efficient scene changes, rhythms, etc. also makes a gentle introduction to the actual play, not just the text. Pages are included at the end of each scene for director/actor notes.

By next year, my sons will begin tackling the unabridged originals. Until then, I am enjoying this version very much and so are my boys. They are getting a true feel for the story as well as a true feel for the voice of Shakespeare. They are truly enjoying it and I think this gentler introduction will make them much more prone to appreciating the original works when we get to them.

A disappointing condensation of an enjoyable play. The grammatical and typographical errors belie the claims that this adaptation is skillfully edited. The play also is missing stage directions at times, e.g., character instructed to leave stage when never instructed to enter. The play also drops some of the more amusing speeches from the mechanicals' presentation of Pyramus and Thisbee.

So, when we got A Midsummer Night's Dream from Five Star Publications to read and review, I was excited! I told Monkey Man, he could finally read one of Shakespeare's books. He was very anxious to do so... Of course this is the Abridged version and I was wandering how much it would leave out. Cass Foster did a great job! While condensing the story down, he never compromised any of the key points in the story. He is a Professor Emeritus of Theatre and resides in the Garden Isle of Kauai.

I was thinking this was going to be one of those books we had to read together, so I could stop and explain so of it to him, as we went. Boy, was I wrong. This book was broken down so nicely, and put into terms for kids to understand! Plus it had wonderful footnotes on almost every page, helping to understand any other phrases. Honestly, I think it even helped me to understand it a bit more.. I got the original story from the library shortly before this one arrived, so I could compare them. Sometimes, I had a very difficult time following some of the story line in the original.

In the end, I did end up reading with him. Since he wanted to read it in parts. He played some and I did the others. We thoroughly enjoyed this book. I probably would still not teach this or have a student younger than a 4th grader read this. My son is an advanced reader, so this was not a struggle for him.

Read more on my blog... [...]

I read through this pretty quickly and found it enjoyable. It's an easy read for someone who's interested in Shakespeare but doesn't want to read the full play.

This is a nice way to get an introduction to the play if you have never read it. It also offers great tips on how to set up your stage.