Probably Shakespeare's most performed comedy is also the most misunderstood. Mathias Schönsee's new production at the Globe Berlin leaves behind the romantic, explanatory performance tradition as well as the burlesque. Here comes a "Midsummer Night's Dream" that is closer to the author, close to the text (translation: Christian Leonard).

Four young lovers flee the strict laws of Athens and get lost in a forest full of ghosts and elves, get caught up in the maelstrom of their longings and passions, dream of heaven and fall into the abyss. On Midsummer's Eve, the spirits of nature whirl everything upside down and play their tricks on people, shattering all the rules and reshuffling the cards. A sensual, turbulent round dance that juxtaposes the uniform civil society with the exotic jungle. The ensemble becomes a band and accompanies the play with magical live music.

At its core, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is about love. In Shakespeare's work, it falls from the sky like a hawk, cannot be tamed, breaks every norm. Shakespeare's love is neither a romantic ideal nor a solidarity pact against loneliness. It is like a struggle with a wild animal that longs for tenderness. But at the court of Athens, strict laws prevail: children must follow their father's will, women are subject to their husbands. The forest with its strange, driven creatures is like a dark mirror of this standardised world. In the moonlight, the passions that are suppressed in the city become visible. These two spheres are translated into simple poetic images and dazzling costumes. The unusual stage scenery of the Globe Berlin does the rest, because it promotes the audience's imagination and thus the fascinating, original ability of theatre to create palaces and forests in the imagination, which is also what Peter Brook's work stands for. Real people are shown in all the masks and play forms. The characters are tragic and comic at the same time in their earnest endeavour and failure.

Featuring Helena Krey, Lea Sophia Geier, Saskia von Winterfeld, Adrian Stowasser, Anselm Lipgens, Florian Kroop, Peter Beck, Uwe Neumann

Director: Mathias Schönsee / Music: Bernd Medek / Set design and costumes: Ira Storch und Katharina Piriwe / Make-up: Deborah Marie Klein / Assistant to director: Gabriela Ganc / Translation, dramaturgy and production management: Christian Leonard

Funded by the NEUSTART KULTUR program with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the Karin and Uwe Hollweg Stiftung.