METATHEATRE IN A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (SHAKESPEARE). The term metatheatre is used to refer to any instance in which a play draws attention to itself as a play, rather than pretending to be a representation of “reality.” Various uses of metatheatrical devices can be found in the works of William Shakespeare. One of Shakespeare’s favorite such devices is the “play-within-a-play.” With this device, the theatre audience finds itself watching an audience (on stage) watching a play. The play-within-a-play is thus a self-reflexive device that addresses the question of where audience reality ends and theatrical illusion begins. Shakespeare often incorporated the device as an integral part of his plots. A famous example can be found in Hamlet, in which a play is used as part of the effort to uncover the guilt of Hamlet’s Uncle Claudius. Another famous play-within-a-play is found in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In this work, the play performed by Nick Bottom and his friends takes up almost the entire final act. It appears after the major issues of A Midsummer Night’s Dream have been resolved, and thus it is clearly not integral to the development of the plot. Nonetheless, as this paper will argue, the play-within-a-play in A Midsummer Night’s Dream serves an important function by making commentaries on the events that occurred in the first four acts. Various metatheatrical elements can be found throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream. For example, Bottom appears for a while with the head of an ass, which the theatre audience can see is obviously just a prop. In one scene, the fairy Puck watches Lysander and Demetrius arguing and thus acts as an “audience” on the stage (3.2.401-430). Furthermore, Puck guides the two lovers in their actions (by imitating their voices), thereby taking on the role of a “director.” Puck’s most notable metatheatrical