大象传媒

A wood in New Jersey stands in for Athens in this funny and energetic adaptation of A Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream. Made by the American Vitagraph Company in 1909, it relishes all the potential afforded by the play鈥檚 magical transformations. Puck (played by a girl) girdles the Earth using a stage diorama (i.e. scenery on a roller device) to simulate movement and thumps down again, magic herb in hand, to wreak havoc on the foolish mortals. It is a joy!

For some reason, lost in the mists of time, Oberon has become a woman called Penelope. Films of this type in 1909 tended to be about a reel long, between 10 to 15 minutes so the play is necessarily reduced to main plot points and important scenes.