Julie Taymor

In 2013, Julie Taylor directed a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that has been described as a “darkly poetic cinematic experience.” Characterized by its striking visuals and psychological depth into the unsettling chaos of the fairy world, Taymor’s production design serves as a guide for our production. (For more information about this production, please refer to the section, Production History → Recent Productions and Dramatic Adaptations.)

The promotional poster for the filmed version of Taymor’s production, released in 2014.
David Harewood as Oberon (left) and Tina Benko as Titania (right) in Taymor’s production.
A photograph of Taymor’s production showing Tina Benko as Titania in her bower.
Kathryn Hunter as Puck in the wordless prologue of Julie Taymor’s production.
From left to right, David Harewood as Oberon, Tina Benko as Titania, and Max Casella as Bottom, in a scene from Taymor’s production.
Kathryn Hunter as Puck in the wordless prologue of Julie Taymor’s production.
Two performers as impressionistic representations of deer in the morning of Act IV, Scene 1 of Julie Taymor’s production.
 Kathryn Hunter as Puck, falling from a sheet that becomes a sky, a roof, and more in Taymor’s production.
Projections illustrated the change in the hue of the “love-in-idleness” flower in Taymor’s production.
Titania, queen of the fairies, entered the stage aerially in Taymor’s production; the production’s recurring use of sheets manifested as wings here.
The wedding at the end of the play featured the artisans and partygoers rejoicing, celebrating and dancing together following the end of the play-within-the-play.