A feast of magic, music, humour and spectacle, A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies. The boundaries between reality and imagination merge as the characters find themselves caught in a web of magic in the Athenian woods.

This production revives Gregory Doran's hugely popular and critically acclaimed show from the 2005 Comedies Season.

'Gregory Doran's world class production... funnier than anything currently on stage, screen or television' -Daily Mail

'One of the two or three truly great productions of this great play I have ever seen' -Sunday Times

'A lovely production, combining hilarity with a great heart and a real sense of wonder' -Daily Telegraph

Joe Dixon, who played Oberon in the 2005 production, returns to the Company to take the role of Bottom. His other RSC credits include Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors, also part of the 2005 Comedies Season, as well as Paris in The Roman Actor (2003) and Mendoza in The Malcontent (2002). The role of Oberon will be played by Peter de Jersey, who last performed with the Company as Antiochus in Believe What You Will, Evander in A New Way To Please You and Macro in Sejanus: His Fall, all as part of the 2005 Gunpowder Season.

Also returning to the Company is Mark Hadfield, who takes the role of Puck following his most recent RSC performance as Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales (2005). Mark's other theatre credits include 39 Steps for Yorkshire Playhouse and Don Juan for the Peter Hall Company, as well as his recent performance as Grivet in the National Theatre's production of Therese Raquin.