I was thinking today about A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and specifically about the little play within the play that the mechanicals put on. They’re worried that the portrayal of the roaring Lion might frighten the ladies of the court, and so go to pains in their Prologue to reassure everyone that Snug is not a real lion. Absurd, of course, because with their childish costumes and inept performance, there was never any chance anyone would mistake him for a real lion.
Except… This is a play with real fairies, making real mischief among the mortals, for their own sport. What if, during the performance of “Pyramus and Thisbe”, some watching fey were to englamor Snug, so that he did present a convincing lion, with a genuinely mighty roar, and an appearance much truer than a shoddy half-mask? Has this ever been done?
(If not, I hereby grant any directors reading this permission to try it.)