Throwback Thursday: Shakespeare’s Faery Sex Comedy: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Time to usher in the summer with some faery shenanigans in the woods!

Hey Fleshbot fans! We’re throwing it way back this Throwback Thursday, further than we ever have before, examining a few versions of William Shakespeare’s classic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which was written in 1596. I know, most of us probably read this for school, but trust me, there was stuff in there you didn’t get the first time. It’s hella weird and a bit dirty, and some would argue, more than a bit queer!

The play, set in Athens, Greece has several intersecting plot lines (you know, like Love Actually, but this came first!). One revolves around four young college-aged folks-- Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius, and their problems with arranged marriage and freedom to be with the person they want. Also, Theseus, duke of Athens, and his betrothed, Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, are busy getting ready for their upcoming nuptials. The young lovers bring their issues to Theseus, and that really doesn’t help them; in fact, he makes it worse, so they set off into the forest as their backup plan. But it’s Midsummer (around the summer solstice, which occurs this year tomorrow, June 20) and according to lore, this is a time when there are faeries out and about, causing mischief with mortals for fun. The chief faery characters are the mischievous Puck, Queen Titania, and King Oberon. Also, there’s a bunch of working-class dudes who have formed basically a community theater troupe called the Rude Mechanicals, and they’re also in the woods, rehearsing the performance, which is set to occur at the wedding celebration. Remember that back in those days, all parts in plays were played by men.

As all of this converges in the woods, there is confusion, chaos, and the breaking of gender roles and relationship norms all around. Away from “civilized” society, there is room for genderfluidity, polyamorous ideas, and shifts in power dynamics. Desires long hidden and repressed come to light under the full moon in the Pagan wilds of the wood. Some are played for laughs, like Titania falling for the weaver Nick Bottom, even when he has the head of a donkey. Female sexual agency is a big theme, and that was not common when the Bard wrote this play.

Midsummer has had myriad adaptations and derived works over the centuries, and I decided to focus on a few from the last few years or so that have taken this already quietly subversive play and used it to amplify queerness and alternative lifestyles. The stage play has been presented in so many queered and modernized variations, including one featuring Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), however, most of these cannot be streamed online in their entirety. Here is a fun clip, though, to illustrate that this is Not Your Father's Play!

The most traditional recent film adaptation would likely be the 1999 theatrical movie, which was star-studded with Michelle Pfeiffer, Kevin Kline, Calista Flockhart, and more:

Were The World Mine (2008) tells the story of a gay theater student in a small town who, through his performance as Puck in his school’s production of Midsummer uses the power of a magical plant to turn his entire town gay to show them how it feels to different in a musical spectacular not to be missed.

Midsummer is a great Pride Month movie choice; however, you choose to experience it. The entire film of Were The World Mine has been made available for free (at press time) on YouTube by its distributor, Wolfe Video, so you have no excuse but to check it out! A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999) is available for digital purchase and rental on several major platforms.