A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Vancouver

Oscar-winning director’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” hits the big screen in Vancouver.

Described by director Julie Taymor as a hybrid of film and theatre, “where the best of both worlds has the opportunity to join forces and create a unique new form of entertainment,” the team behind this latest screen adaptation of the Shakespeare comic classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream reads like an awards nomination list. Taymor has won numerous accolades for her work in both cinema (Frida, Across the Universe) and stage (Salome, The Lion King—incidentally, the later is coming to Vancouver this weekend), and her crew’s credits including Birdman and The Wolf of Wall Street, among others.Based on Taymor’s own recent staging of the play (it was filmed at Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn), the film features a cast including Homeland’s David Harewood. Costumes by Constance Hoffman, the creative mind behind the New York City Opera’s Madame Butterfly, dresses the ethereal experience.Initially a one-time-only screening, tickets were snapped up so quickly (at the time of this writing, just a few remain) that an encore presentation has been added for June 24. A Midsummer Night’s Dream Saturday, June 20 (12:55pm); Wednesday, June 24 (7pm)Scotiabank Theatre (900 Burrard St.)Tickets $22-$23Cineplex.com