Cultural Weekly: The mission of the Shaw Festival, presented annually in the pretty little town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, is not only to present the works of George Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries, but also that of modern playwrights who, like the great master, explore social issues in a complex manner. On a recent visit to the fest, I took in seven plays by Shaw and others, many examining women challenging the restrictive roles forced on them by a male-dominated society both in Shaw’s time and today.
7 comments:
I think it’s a really genius idea to update old plays to include social commentary, and examine the ways in which society has and hasn’t changed, especially in relation to women’s issues. I think too often when people bring up offensive / problematic themes in works of art/ literature of the past, they are met with cries of “Get over it, that’s how the world was like at the time! Stop being so sensitive!” While that may be the case, I think that as society progresses it is our job as artists to look back critically on work, even work we deem revolutionary or classic, and update it to, hopefully, make a small change in society and reflect on the progress we’ve made and the progress we hope to continue to make. Even theater, usually regarded as being a place of liberal- mindedness and progressiveness, I think still has a long way to go. Not only are women usually overshadowed by men in the public eye in regards to play writing, designing, and directing, but stories told in most popular theater productions rarely reflect the diverse and complex issues women face. I applaud anyone using art to try and produce social change, especially in theater.
After reading this article the only question I have is: why, for the love of God, did the commission a MALE PLAYWRIGHT to write a play about a WOMAN’S story. After reading this article the only question I have is: why, for the love of God, did the commission a MALE PLAYWRIGHT to write a play about a WOMAN’S story. After reading this article the only question I have is: why, for the love of God, did the commission a MALE PLAYWRIGHT to write a play about a WOMAN’S story. After reading this article the only question I have is: why, for the love of God, did the commission a MALE PLAYWRIGHT to write a play about a WOMAN’S story. After reading this article the only question I have is: why, for the love of God, did the commission a MALE PLAYWRIGHT to write a play about a WOMAN’S story. And he made the play about two men. :(
After reading this article the only question I have is: why, for the love of God, did the commission a MALE PLAYWRIGHT to write a play about a WOMAN’S story. After reading this article the only question I have is: why, for the love of God, did the commission a MALE PLAYWRIGHT to write a play about a WOMAN’S story. After reading this article the only question I have is: why, for the love of God, did the commission a MALE PLAYWRIGHT to write a play about a WOMAN’S story. After reading this article the only question I have is: why, for the love of God, did the commission a MALE PLAYWRIGHT to write a play about a WOMAN’S story. After reading this article the only question I have is: why, for the love of God, did the commission a MALE PLAYWRIGHT to write a play about a WOMAN’S story. And he made the play about two men. :(
#bump
After reading this article the only question I have is: is reposting someone's ranty comment AWESOME or is it PLAGIARISM? After reading this article the only question I have is: is reposting someone's ranty comment AWESOME or is it PLAGIARISM? After reading this article the only question I have is: is reposting someone's ranty comment AWESOME or is it PLAGIARISM? After reading this article the only question I have is: is reposting someone's ranty comment AWESOME or is it PLAGIARISM? After reading this article the only question I have is: is reposting someone's ranty comment AWESOME or is it PLAGIARISM? After reading this article the only question I have is: is reposting someone's ranty comment AWESOME or is it PLAGIARISM? After reading this article the only question I have is: is reposting someone's ranty comment AWESOME or is it PLAGIARISM? After reading this article the only question I have is: is reposting someone's ranty comment AWESOME or is it PLAGIARISM? After reading this article the only question I have is: is reposting someone's ranty comment AWESOME or is it PLAGIARISM? After reading this article the only question I have is: is reposting someone's ranty comment AWESOME or is it PLAGIARISM? #hmm
The Shaw Festival has accrued a very interesting and comprehensive line up of shows featuring women. What I think is really important is their use of more familiar plays and musical, but choosing to add emphasis to the particular plights of the women characters. Many are familiar with shows like Sweet Charity and Pygmalion, which makes it easier to attract an audience and get the message across. Personally, I am excited to hear about the way they staged Sweet Charity, since it is in the season this year for my high school. It is really important to have these stories focus on women, and have it be done in an explicit manner. All too often women’s issues get buried underneath the rest of the plot, like the author mentioned about The Divine: A Play for Sarah Bernhardt. Including more obscure but direct pieces, like The Twelve Pound Look, really hammer in the message to audience members who were maybe only drawn to the festival because of the bigger named shows.
I am always really interested in discussing women's role in theater. Now we are in a time period where women's rights exist, and thus the more recent shows have them playing more important roles. However, when we do older shows where women's role aren't as strong and prevalent, it's always interesting to see how people use women. I have heard of a lot of shows where the women play the men's roles, and vice versa. I think that that is a really interesting and inventive way to make an older show reflect society now. More than anything I am thrilled that we are reading articles about this topic, and that they are being written. It is so important to continue to discuss women, in all art forms, especially as their rights increase and the world, and society changes.
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