Lysander |
Demetrius |
Lysander is a charismatic and charming Roman man who falls in love with Hermia. He needs her father, Egeus's, approval to marry her, so he shows off to impress him. This is why he is fighting with Demetrius for the right to marry Hermia. He is the “Every Man” in this situation, as the audience will want to root for him to be successful, rather than Demetrius.
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Demetrius is a rich Greek man with a huge ego. He already has Egeus’s approval to marry Hermia, but still needs Hermia to agree to this marriage. This is why he shows off in similar ways to Lysander to impress Hermia. Demetrius finds Helena’s attempts for attention to be very annoying, and at times kind of creepy, so he goes out of his way to avoid contacting her. Despite being more villainous than Lysander, the audience will still want Demetrius to have a happy ending.
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Played by Donald Glover:
Donald Glover a.k.a. “Childish Gambino” is incredibly talented at many things, including acting, comedy, and music. Glover as Lysander could show off his dance moves, rap skills, or stand-up comedy to impress Egeus. |
Played by Lin-Manuel Miranda:
Lin-Manuel Miranda is a multi-talented musician/actor. He can really make Demetrius a convincing yet likeable jerk. Miranda as Demetrius could show off his dance moves and rap skills to impress Hermia. |
Hermia |
Helena |
Hermia is a spoiled upper class citizen who always ends up being the center of attention, but doesn’t necessarily want to be. While Hermia likes living like a princess, her true desire is to live a nice quiet and happy life. Unfortunately, her conflicting love for Lysander and her father wanting her to marry Demetrius gets in the way of her overall goal. It isn’t until Demetrius and Lysander both fall for Helena that Hermia misses being the center of attention. By the end of the show, Hermia finds a nice balance between being the center of attention and living a quiet happy life.
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Helena is a funny kind of crazy character, and the complete opposite of Hermia. She is jealous of her friend and is desperate to achieve her high status and levels of attention. Helena wants people such as Demetrius to notice her, but no one seems to care. So she does whatever it takes to be the center of attention and get Demetrius to fall for her. Helena starts regretting her actions once Demetrius and Lysander fall for her, especially since she thinks they are pulling a practical joke. This makes Helena no longer want to be the center of attention. Like Hermia, Helena finds a nice balance between being the center of attention and living a quiet happy life.
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Played by Anna Kendrick:
Hermia is kind of like the main character from the Pitch Perfect movies: doesn’t intend on taking the spotlight, but always ends up as the most prominent singer in the acapella group. That character happens to be played by Anna Kendrick |
Played by Jameela Jamil:
Helena reminds me a whole lot of Jamil’s character from The Good Place: Tahani Al Jamil. Tahani is a rich socialite who tries to out-do her more successful sister and others who are better than her in very elaborate, extravagant, and kind of crazy ways. |