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Re: Thoughts on updating classic plays to be relevant

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nexus@panix.com wrote:
> I tend to think that it many cases this sort of production results from a 
> failure to trust your audience and to trust your artists.  As you note 
> later on, it often seems lazy - an attempt to force an interpretation 
> onto a script, rather than interpret it, via heavy-handed manipulation.

I'm beginning to get that feeling with this particular theatre company.
It's not that I think they are bad in any way, just that I think there
is a need to be a bit on the nose with some of their productions.

There was a production of Merry Wives of Windsor where the actors were
clearly told to play everything as cartoonishly as possible, along with
some modifications that seemed to say "See? This is funny!"

I have to be careful with what I write, however. I don't want to paint
the company in a negative light. This is really just little things
I've noticed.

> In this case, if the play was being marketed as Marlowe's Dr Faustus, 
> I would have been very annoyed when I saw it.  If it was being 
> advertised as a new adaptation, then I might not have been impressed, 
> but I wouldn't feel cheated or deceived.

I recall the poster saying "Adapted by..." but that was about it, I 
think. Maybe the program had something, but I didn't keep it.

> If we claim that a play is universal, then 
> it should work without rewriting. If the actors and directors know 
> their business, Elizabethan/Jacobean drama works very well indeed with 
> no change to the script. 

Let me know what you think of this: I've been pondering if the works 
of Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, indeed any drama with verse
dialogue is perceived as difficult because of the way language was
approached at the time. 

For example, in Shakespeare's day, I suspect people were used to 
a more abstract manner of handling language. Much of the population
was illiterate (as I understand things) and new words were appearing
regularly due to the influx of so many different people from 
different places coming into London. 

I suspect that now language is handled in a much more concrete manner,
largely because now English has more or less be solidly codified. 
That is, "we say this, so it must mean this" as opposed to "we 
say this, but in context with the rest of the statement, it actually
means that"

I know a writer who says that there's nothing difficult with
understanding iambic pentameter - one just has to read it enough
times. Given Shakespeare's regular use of puns and wordplay,
I find myself wondering about that.

> 
> A completely new play, based on the earlier work, and dealing 
> with the same themes, is a different beast.  If one really feels 
> that Hamlet doesn't work, but a modern spin might, then don't 
> jam Hamlet into, oh, a second generation dotcom, do something else.
>

What did you think of the Marowitz Hamlet? I haven't seen it, but
I'm told he rewrote significant portions of the play.
 
> NB: I was involved in two different theatre companies, one in Colorado and 
> one in New York, both of whom believed in performing texts such as 
> these uncut.  It wasn't to everyone's taste, but art rarely is.

How did they deal with the run times? For example, at the theatre 
company I've been referencing, I'm told the director (who is also the
artistic director) is devoted to the idea of a two hour maximum with
intermission and will cut and modify to make sure it happens. As I'm
told, he is just convinced no one will sit for longer than that. He's
a pretty hyperactive person, though, so he could be considering this
from his personal experience.

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Thoughts on updating classic plays to be relevant Anson Carmichael <noemailexists@example.com> - 2019-03-03 17:12 +0000
  Re: Thoughts on updating classic plays to be relevant John W Kennedy <john.w.kennedy@gmail.com> - 2019-03-03 15:36 -0500
  Re: Thoughts on updating classic plays to be relevant nexus@panix.com - 2019-03-04 05:01 -0500
    Re: Thoughts on updating classic plays to be relevant Anson Carmichael <noemailexists@example.com> - 2019-03-05 03:05 +0000
      Re: Thoughts on updating classic plays to be relevant nexus@panix.com - 2019-03-05 03:59 -0500

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