A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, illustrated by Kate Brown
Publication date: 14th February 2008

This romantic comedy is the most magical of Shakespeare's plays. The drama is set in an enchanted moonlit forest  inhabited by meddlesome fairies, four young Athenian lovers, and a troupe of amateur actors.

In this Manga version, Shakespeare's enduring characters are set adrift in present-day Athens. But it is a present with a difference, for the world has been shaped by an alternative history. Rigid class systems and 'god given' monarchies of the past have not been lost. Modern technologies meet ancient tradition; and the citizens of  Athens are frustrated by continuing restrictions and rigid hierarchies.  Only the forest, home to the fairies and fey spirits, can offer the illicit lovers what they seek.

This book is the fifth to appear in the Manga Shakespeare series. It combines the original abridged Shakespeare text with manga illustrations by Kate Brown. Books in the Manga Shakespeare series have been critically acclaimed,  and are widely available in a number of  countries including USA, Japan, Korea, India, and Italy. SelfMadeHero published their first books in the Manga Shakespeare series - Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest and \Richard 111  last year to critical acclaim.. SelfMadeHero is the first publisher to commission full length manga books   in the UK using UK manga artists. 

SelfMadeHero launched the first title in  its Eye Classics graphic novel imprint last October – Nevermore by Edgar Allan Poe.  

Editorial style

The series keeps true to the language of Shakespeare, but the text is specially abridged for use in the manga. The books make Shakespeare more accessible to teenagers using dynamic  images  to tell the story in a visual language that appeals strongly to this age group. Manga is often used as an  instruction medium in Japan, and increasingly has applications  in the West. Manga uses 'sequential art' to tell stories, communicate, and to stimulate ideas.

• Title: A Midsummer Night's Dream
• Original author: William Shakespeare
• Adapted by: Richard Appignanesi
• Illustrated by: Kate Brown
• 208 pages, paperback
• Publication date: 14th February 2008
• Published by: SelfMadeHero
• Fiction. Price £6.99.
• Colour: 8 colour, 200 black and white
• ISBN: 978-0-9552856-4-6
• Publication date: 14th February 2008