The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 16.1832  Tuesday, 8 November 2005

From: 		Al Magary <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: 		Saturday, 05 Nov 2005 14:40:50 -0800
Subject: 	Shakespeare or non-Shakespeare?

This might join Richard Burt's thread on current trends in Shakespeare. 
  As an occasional visitor in the Forest of Arden I approach as an 
open-minded traditionalist, as I've indicated more than once in 
skeptical reviews of Laird Williamson's Julius Caesar at Ashland (2002) 
and Andrew Davies' Othello (TV, 2001).  Now I am definitely not looking 
forward to--in fact, I hesitate to look at--the BBC's new Shakespeare 
series (the first program, Much Ado, was scheduled on BBC1 Mon. 11/7; 
Macbeth, Taming, and MND follow in November).

Or should I say, *non-Shakespeare* series, for they're retaining some of 
his plot materials but rewriting the text.  Shakespeare's language in 
total is surely the overwhelming claim on immortality, not (all) the plots.

Mark Lawson previewed the series in the Guardian Nov. 2 and, with 
restraint, describes the pitfalls of "Changing the Bard."  I commend it 
to the list: 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5323701-110428,00.html  The 
counterpoints, I suppose, are at the BBC: 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/shakespeare/

Here's Lawson's conclusion:

"But--having selected settings, names and deviations from the plot--the 
scriptwriter comes to the most crucial calculation: language. The 
frequent justification for renovating his dramas is that most of the 
plays use borrowed plots. Shakespeare, though, transformed the stories 
he stole into language of complete originality.

"Acknowledging this problem, two Hollywood directors--Baz Lurhmann's 
'Romeo and Juliet' in 1996 and the 'Hamlet' (2001) from Michael 
Almereyda--kept the original text in sensitively edited form. '10 Things 
I Hate About You' [1999] and 'O' [2001], while employing contemporary 
high-school speech, found a patois so rich in neologisms and metaphors 
that it became a kind of poetry. There is also, in '10 Things', a key 
scene in which Kat read a Shakespeare sonnet in class.

"The BBC 'Much Ado' employs the same device, through a sonnet read at a 
wedding, but, while none of the scripts are badly written, they settle 
for the vernacular banter of mainstream peaktime drama. It's not the 
fault the writers that they can't compete with Shakespeare, but it may 
seem strange to future generations that Hollywood proved more respectful 
towards Shakespeare than the BBC. Drama producers probably wouldn't 
commission a series of plays based on the plots of opera because there 
wouldn't be much point without the singing. Shakespeare's plots without 
the language also lack the singing and the point."

It's pretty awful when I fear what I might find under the greenwood tree 
when the cattle have been standing.  Too bad, for I would otherwise look 
forward to Damian Lewis apparently in his Shakespeare debut, as Benedick.

Cheers,
Al Magary

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