He further cites Jean Froissart's account of the Battle of Crecy, which supports the military origin of Bottom's line: "When the Genoese felt the arrows piercing through their heads, arms, and breasts, many of them cast down their crossbows, and cut their strings, and resumed discomfited." Archers would cut their bowstrings, thus destroying their weapons, in the midst of a retreat so that the enemy could not use their own instruments against them. It is the equivalent of striking artillery, rendering the equipment useless. With this understanding, Bottom's phrase can be interpreted as a military expression for "hold your position, or give up and retreat." In the context of the play, Bottom is being comically pretentious, saying: "Be present at the rehearsal, or quit the troupe." Notable interpretations Actors who have played the role on film include Paul Rogers, James Cagney and Kevin Kline. In the BBC Television Shakespeare version, he is played by Brian Glover. In BBC One's ShakespeaRe-Told, he is played by comedian Johnny Vegas. Croatian actor Ozren Grabarić portrayed Bottom in a noted and award-winning performance at the Gavella Drama Theatre's cult production of the comedy, directed by Macedonian theatre practitioner Aleksandar Popovski. At the Czech Theatre of Fidlovačce, Bottom was performed in an alternation between Ctirad Götz and Jakub Slach. Cultural depictions Bottom has been the subject of several paintings. German composer Felix Mendelssohn musically referenced Bottom in his overture inspired by A Midsummer Night's Dream, with the strings mimicking an ass's bray on two occasions in the piece. Later German composer Hans Werner Henze has used Bottom twice as an inspiration: in the second sonata which comprises his Royal Winter Music and in his Eighth Symphony. Nick Bottom is also the main character of the Tony-nominated 2015 musical Something Rotten!, in which he competes as a playwright against William Shakespeare, his name being a reference to the character in Shakespeare's play. References Characters in A Midsummer Night's Dream Fictional artisans Fictional actors Male Shakespearean characters Fictional Greek people