No Fear Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Get this No Fear to go!
Act 1, Scene 2, Page 2
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BOTTOM
What is Pyramus? A lover or a tyrant?
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BOTTOM
What’s Pyramus? A lover or a tyrant?
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QUINCE
A lover that kills himself, most gallant, for love.
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QUINCE
A lover who kills himself very nobly for love.
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BOTTOM
That will ask some tears in the true performing of it. If I do it,
let the audience look to their eyes. I will move storms. I will
condole in some measure.—To the rest.—Yet my
chief humor is for a tyrant. I could play Ercles rarely, or a part
to tear a cat in to make all split.
The raging rocks
And shivering shocks
Shall break the locks
Of prison gates.
And Phoebus'
car
Shall shine from far
And make and mar
The foolish Fates.
This was lofty!—Now name the rest of the
players.—This is Ercles' vein, a
tyrant’s vein. A lover is more condoling.
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BOTTOM
I’ll have to cry to make my performance believable. And
as soon as I start crying, oh boy, the audience had better watch
out, because they’ll start crying too. I’ll
make tears pour out of their eyes like rainstorms. I’ll
moan very believably.—Name the other
actors.—But I’m really in the mood to play a
tyrant. I could do a great job with Hercules, or any other part that
requires ranting and raving. I would rant and rave really well. Like
this, listen.
The raging rocks
nd shivering shocks
Will break the locks
Of prison gates.
And the sun-god’s
car
Will shine from far
Away, and make and mar
Foolish fate.
Oh, that was truly inspired!—Now tell us who the other
actors are.—By the way, my performance just now was in
the style of Hercules, the tyrant style. A lover would have to be
weepier, of course.
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QUINCE
Francis Flute, the bellows-mender?
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QUINCE
Francis Flute, the bellows-repairman?
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FLUTE
Here, Peter Quince.
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FLUTE
Here, Peter Quince.
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QUINCE
Flute, you must take Thisbe on you.
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QUINCE
Flute, you’ll be playing the role of Thisbe.
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