A simple book of verse and prose, of nature and imagination; I have come to terms with the future. From this day forward I will walk easy on the earth, plant trees, and kill no living things. Live in harmony with all creatures. I will restore the earth where I am. Use no more of its resources than I need, and listen, listen to what it is telling me…M.J. Slim Hooey

A Midsummer Night's Dream is perhaps the best loved of Shakespeare's plays. It brings together aristocrats, workers, and fairies in a wood outside Athens, and from there the enchantment begins. In the introduction to this edition, Peter Holland pays particular attention to dreams and dreamers, and to Shakespeare's construction of a world of night and shadows. Both here and in his commentary he explores the play's extensive performance history to illustrate the wide range of interpretations of which it is capable.