A Midsummer Night's Dream shows us how relationships really work: there must exist an element of reality (Athens) as well as an element of passion (the woods). Our interpretation of the role of the fairies is that they, and their environment, are magical, passionate and free. It's okay to laugh at love's foibles when in the woods, because the web of magic that is woven by the fairies keeps it comical and safe. The Athenians represent reality and how love can be oppressed when the forces of societal conventions intervene. Also important to our staging of the scene with respect to the two young lovers, Helena and Demetrius, is that one of the harsh realities of love is that it can change. The reality is that love is not permanent; but, the magic can certainly make it seem like it's here to stay.
In 2.1, for the first time, the magic of the woods mingles with the reality of Athens. Oberon has just had a tiff with Titania and has plotted a way to get the changeling from her through the use of (surprise!) magic when he espies Demetrius and Helena in the woods. At first watching out of curiosity, he later truly sympathizes with Helena's situation of being shunned by her lover, as he has just been shunned by Titania. We show this sympathy through Oberon's facial expressions and body movements in the background. When he hears Helena tell Demetrius that she is his "spaniel," his interest is piqued. After all, he has just decided that Titania will fall in love with a beast of some sort. This sort of kinky, "bestial" interest of Oberon's is shown by his wiping his forehead and shifting his body to show excitement when Helena mentions being used as Demetrius' dog. We also stage the mingling of magic with reality through the use of one simple stage prop: a flower. Puck has handed Oberon a flower which Oberon then holds as he completes his speech about how he will trick Titania. When he hears the lovers approaching, he drops the flower. The lovers proceed to move back and forth as they are speaking, and when Helena states that "...the story shall be changed," she is picking up the flower. She, then, holds the flower until she exits from the scene. As she is exiting, she drops the flower. Again, Oberon picks up the flower when he makes his promise to Helena that she will get her man. So, the flower symbolizes the magic of the fairies and how it will affect the fate of the young lovers.
The way in which we staged Demetrius's young, indecisive character is through his constantly changing movements both toward and away from Helena, as well as his constantly changing facial expressions. There are times when Demetrius looks lustfully at Helena as he is speaking to her. Other times (and most of the time), he looks at her with disgust. He may draw her close to him in one instant, and push her away the next. We interpreted Demetrius as an adolescent who is "ruled by his codpiece" and can change his mind at the drop of a hat. So, when he is looking lustfully at Helena, or moving toward her, it is when Helena's speech contains sexual undertones (i.e. "spurn me, strike me, neglect me..."). Helena, while young like Demetrius, is more secure in her attitudes. She genuinely loves Demetrius, and will do anything to win his love, even if it means being used as his dog! The ideas contained in Helena's soliloquy about love in 1.1 echo through to this scene. The way that Demetrius speaks to her is truly "base and vile," yet her lovesick mind transposes his speech into dignified elocution, and the more rudely he speaks to her, the more she hangs on him. There is one instance in which Helena is hurt by Demetrius' speech. In lines 206-208, he tells her plainly that he cannot love her. For a few seconds, Helena is quiet, moves away from Demetrius, and looks as though she's really had it with him. But behind her sits Oberon, who motions her back to Demetrius. Though she cannot see Oberon (he is invisible), the magic still works, and she goes back to Demetrius, fuller of love for him than she was before.
Where we are lacking in costumes, we hope that we are abounding in scenery. After all, we shot this on location.
Throughout the play, Helena is a sympathetic character, deeply in love with Demetrius. Helena knows that she is just as "fair" as Hermia. She believes that love is in the mind. She decides to tell Demetrius of Hermia and Lysander's plan to run off into the woods, in hopes that she will win Demetrius' favor. Even though Demetrius treats her like dirt, Helena is willing to do whatever it takes to get him, even being willing to be treated like a dog. Helena has little self-respect. When Lysander, anointed with the love juice, begins to pursue Helena, she is sure that he is mocking her. Helena is always following Demetrius around, constantly transforming bad things he says into good things. While in the woods, Demetrius says that he will "do her mischief." Helena takes this as a sexual connotation. In this play, we see Helena's deep love for Demetrius and her strong determination to win his favor.
Throughout the entire play, and particularly in Act II, scene i, Oberon is a playful character. As king of the fairies, he possesses those characteristics that set him apart from his Athenian counterpart, Theseus. He is mischievous and fun, whereas Theseus is serious and somber. He shares his fairy power with his lady, Titania, whereas Theseus is the sole, tyrannical ruler of Athens, and Hippolyta simply sits back and watches. While Oberon is a jealous character and practices trickery, he isn't nasty and cruel. When he uses trickery and magic both on Titania and on the young lovers, his intentions are good. On the surface, it appears that Oberon is just acting out of jealousy and mean spirit when he decides to make Titania fall in love with a beast in order to snatch her child. But what really motivates Oberon is his love for Titania. He is jealous because the changeling has taken Titania away from him ("And now they never meet in grove or green..." [II.i.29]; "But they do square..." [II.i.31]). So who can blame him for using a little magical trickery to get his woman back? Ultimately, he takes the spell off Titania so that he can be with her once more. His sort of playful ideas about bestiality are partly what draw him to Helena.
In 2.1, he eavesdrops on Helena and Demetrius in the woods, at first, merely curious about their situation. However, when he realizes Demetrius is spurning Helena's love, just as Titania has shunned his, he begins to sympathize with Helena. And for fun, he really becomes interested in her plight when she mentions her own bestial fantasies about being used by Demetrius as his dog. It is at this point that Oberon decides to use the magic of the flower on Demetrius, just as he plans to on Titania. It's simply fun and magic to aid Helena in winning Demetrius' love, a noble intention. All through the play, Oberon's language is beautiful and magical (this is the way the language of all the fairies is), almost as if he is casting a magic spell on whomever he is speaking to.
Demetrius is important because he is the one that screws everything up for the other three lovers. Not the model lover by any stretch of the imagination, he is ruled solely by his sex drive. If Demetrius could have kept his libido in order, then the young lovers would have had a much easier time. Instead, he drops Helena quicker than Romeo can say "Rosaline" and chases after Hermia who wants no part of Demetrius, and she runs off into the woods with Lysander. After all the fun in the woods is over, Demetrius is the one still under the power of the magic flower. It seems fitting that he is once again matched up with Helena, considering his behavior earlier in the play.
Throughout our scene, Demetrius is distraught over his inability to find Hermia. He blames Helena for this. The majority of the time, he is thoroughly disgusted with Helena. On the other hand, there are moments when Demetrius once again lusts after Helena. For example, Demetrius likes the idea of treating Helena like a dog in lines 210-213. However, he quickly changes his tone when she states, "...(unworthy as I am) to follow you..." (214). When she says this, he snaps out of his fantasy. Demetrius once again realizes that he has already won Helena and wants nothing to do with her. The same lust overcomes Demetrius once again in lines 221-222, but it quickly passes, and he is again his old standoffish self. This is Demetrius' story. He goes from love to lust at the drop of a hat. Demetrius is your typical "male dog" stereotype. He is never satisfied with what he has, and that is his major character flaw.