Kidz Book Buzz Blog Tour: Eyes Like Stars (A Midsummer Night's Dream)

“All her world's a stage,” reads the Eyes Like Stars tagline.

This was perfect timing for a Shakespeare-themed book tour, with Moth, Mustardseed & Co. as the heroine’s best friends —my siblings and I went to an outdoor performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream last weekend. The director’s twist was New Orleans, 1930, and boy, did the fairies get a makeover!

Gone were the airy sprites of the original play. Gone were the cheeky blighters of Lisa Mantchev’s novel. Instead, since the play's magic was rooted in the traditions of New Orleans, the costumes had nature-based references, as well as voo-doo and native culture.

It worked very well, and a mixture of southern and French accents gave a fresh spin to the script. Reminded me of the Mexican version my cousins and I staged. Quite different than the traditional, 1935 (Mickey Rooney) production. Or the 1999 (Michelle Pfeiffer) adaptation.

I love Arthur Rackham's Midsummer art.

How about you? Do you have a favorite fairy?

I especially like Pauline and Petrova's portrayals in Noel Streatfeild’s Ballet Shoes. Not a performance goes by that I don’t giggle at an actress’s perfectly innocent utterance of, “And I.”