The Beatles perform A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

Here's a clip of John, Paul, George and Ringo back in their early mop-top days, starring in a TV performance of the Pyramus and Thisbe scene from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's from the 1964 TV show Around the Beatles, and it's absolutely unprofessional, raucous and juvenile, almost at the level of a summer camp production. But that probably would've been fine with Shakespeare, given that the scene is from a play-within-the-play and the actors are supposed to be inept amateurs. (Are my ears playing tricks on me, or could that really be the voice of a young Peter Cook heckling them from the audience?)



Got a tip for Monsters and Rockets? Want to contribute to the site? Send us an email.