I am not a fan of this opera· I find Britten's music difficult and much too serious for the comedic romp that I think Shakespeare intended his play to be· While Britten's libretto follows Shakespeare's fairly closely (much of the first act has been cut; and apparently there is only one new line not in the original script), little of Shakespeare's humor comes through (except for the antics of the Mechanicals as they practice and perform their play)· The staging and acting has a wooden quality· For the most part, the performers are singers first, actors second· They come on stage, hit their mark, face the audience, sing their lines, then move on to the next mark· I wonder how it would be staged by a modern opera company?