Shakespeare in performance works were plundered for these scenes. Among the drolls taken from Shakespeare were "Bottom the Weaver" (Bottom's scenes from "A Midsummer Night's Dream") and "The Grave-makers" (the gravedigger's scene from "Hamlet"). At the Restoration in 1660, Shakespeare's plays were divided between the two newly licensed companies: the King's Company of Thomas Killigrew and the Duke's Men of William Davenant. The licensing system prevailed for two centuries; from 1660 to 1843, only two main companies regularly presented Shakespeare in London. Davenant, who had known early-Stuart actors such as John Lowin and Joseph Taylor, was the main figure establishing some continuity with
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968 film) the innovative." Peter Holland, editor of The Oxford Shakespeare edition described it as "[turning] the sentimentality into something rougher and muddier; his fairies, accompanying Titania (Judi Dench), naked with her modesty covered by a long wig, were dirty urchins covered in mud." The "Athens" scenes were shot at Compton Verney House. The film was generally poorly received by critics. Penelope Houston, reviewing the film for The Spectator, wrote: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968 film) A Midsummer Night's Dream is a 1968 film of William Shakespeare's play "A Midsummer Night's Dream", directed by Peter Hall. It stars Derek Godfrey as Theseus,