UW Theatre & Performance
A MIDSUMMER'S 'READING' LIST
BY THE DRAMATURGY TEAM
Get yourself even more immersed in the world of A Midsummer Night's Dream with our curated 'reading' list! No matter your age or taste, we've got something in here for you.
BOOKS (FICTION)
Elizabeth von Arnim
The Enchanted April
Four women take a vacation from their mundane, suffocating lives to a medieval Italian castle. In a month that passes by like a brief dream, they rediscover joy, love for life, and themselves.
Italo Calvino
The Baron in the Trees
A young Italian nobleman rebels against his parents and flees from his constricting world by climbing into the trees, where he remains for the rest of his life. From his perch in the treetops, he witnesses the world changing before his very eyes.
Soman Chainani
The School of Good and Evil
Magic, friendship, and fairytale with a dark twist.
Clarice Lispector
The Apple in the Dark
​A man flees from a crime he believes he committed, plunging into the darkness of the green world. A spellbinding retelling of the Biblical creation myth, but might not be appropriate for younger audiences.
Casey McQuiston
Red, White & Royal Blue
A sweet enemies-to-lovers tale, following the son of a US President and a prince of the British royal family as they challenge conservative environments and homophobic family structures to live their lives as they want.
Terry Pratchett
The Wee Free Men
Follows a young girl who can see fairies and monsters that no one else can. When her little brother is kidnapped by the fairy queen, she must journey to fairyland to save him. An enthralling tale of magic, nature, and dreams.
BOOKS (NONFICTION)
Northrop Frye
Anatomy of Criticism
A very helpful text that serves to contextualize Shakespeare’s work.
Olivia Laing
Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency
​A wonderfully elegiac set of essays on the importance of art in dark times. At once tearful and hopeful, it flows freely through themes of queerness, nature, and love to create a moving reflection on the liberatory potential of art.
Edward Parnell
Ghostland: In Search of a Haunted Country
​A meditation on grief in the wake of personal tragedy, Ghostland is a journey through Britain’s haunted natural landscapes, filled with folklore and legends that doubtlessly inspired writers like Shakespeare.
Merlin Sheldrake
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
A brilliant, close examination of the hidden lives of fungi and their astonishing and intimate roles in human life.
Suzanne Simard
Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest
This book, by a pioneer on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence, is a wonderful journey into the intimate world of trees, complex and interdependent beings with rich communal lives.
Slavoj Zizek
​Looking Awry: An Introduction to Jacques Lacan through Popular Culture
A humorous reading of psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan through examples from pop culture. Highlights Lacanian insights at work in horror, thrillers, romances, mass media's perception of ecological crisis, and dreams.
MOVIES
Tom Gustafson (2008)
Were the World Mine
​A hilarious romantic comedy following an openly gay student who is cast as Puck in his private school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Somehow discovering the real-life version of the play’s ‘love-in-idleness’ flower, he hatches a plan to give his homophobic town a piece of his mind.
Robin Hardy (1973)
The Wicker Man
The disturbing tale of a police detective who goes to an isolated Scottish isle to look for a missing girl. But his investigation threatens to unearth more than he bargained for. An enthralling work of folk horror, but might not be appropriate for younger audiences.
David Lynch (2001)
Mulholland Drive
“A love story in the city of dreams”, this richly surreal film is full of depth and ambiguity. A poignant tale of lesbian romance, the subconscious, and illusions, it offers no easy answers and defies singular interpretations. Might not be appropriate for younger audiences.
Hayao Miyazaki (1997)
Princess Mononoke
Set in Japan’s Muromachi period (1336-1573), this beautifully animated film follows a young prince who has left his home in search of a cure for a curse. He finds himself caught in a conflict between iron-forging industrialists and an ancient forest where gods and spirits still dwell.
Henry Selick (2009)
Coraline
A spectacular masterpiece of stop-motion animation, this film follows a young girl trapped in boredom discovers an alternate world behind a secret door that appears to be the happy life she dreams of. Everything, however, is not as it seems.
Ed Watkins (2023)
Queer Planet
​A wonderfully witty documentary about the many, many instances of queerness in nature. Emphasizes that queerness isn’t an anomaly, but instead something natural and worth celebrating.
MUSIC
MUSIC
PLAY//LIST
Click on the image to see our playlist (get it?) themed around our production of A Midsummer Night's Dream !
MUSIC
Submit A Song!
Have a suggestion (or two, or three, or as many as you like) for our playlist? Click on the image to submit your song ideas, for a chance to win a free ticket to the show!