Backstage: Though it’s been nearly 400 years since the great playwright’s death, there are more ways to read, hear, watch, and appreciate Shakespeare than ever. Ready to see the Bard differently? Check out these six busy theater companies to witness deconstructed Shakespeare at its finest.
2 comments:
How cool! For the longest time I found Shakespeare to be a turn-off because of its unapproachable language. The stories always seemed interesting, however, I could never grasp the full idea. Though I do understand Shakespeare now, and enjoy it produced classically, I also am excited to read about different companies producing productions of Shakespeare with a twist. What I particularly enjoy about these renovations of Shakespeare's texts is that the companies are not just cutting the text to fit into a 2-hour time slot, and setting the show in a different time period. (Though I enjoy that too.) These organizations and productions are producing Shakespeare in different settings, under different circumstances with the goal of engaging an audience. I love that people are making strides to make classical theatre, something that can seem unapproachable and boring, exciting, immersive and engaging. I am interested to read more on the company that sets the play in a real life place. Like Taming of the Shrew in a New York City Pub. Do the actors wear costumes? Do they speak in verse? Are the audience members just bar goers, or is this a planned event?
With something like Shakespeare, words that we have heard over and over, it is important and cool that we not be glued to the words but to the stories, and to the ideas. I hope I get to see on of these productions soon!
Deconstructing Shakespeare in recent years has become less like a fad and more like a genuine way to explore the themes Shakespeare explored in a modern context in ways that the audience will connect with. Most members of the common public have issues with iambic pentameter and the cliche stories Shakespeare plays tell, so by putting them in a fresh context, audiences have the chance to get away from these typical productions and experience the material in a light that can be more enlightening or interesting. Drunk Shakespeare is a personal favorite, and the idea of company members getting inebriated right before our eyes is wildly enticing as it speaks to a whole new kind of theatre. The third company also continues the drunk theme with pub crawls complementing the theatre. A lot of these just transplant shakespeare into new venues, which I don't find as interesting, but those that actually change how the audience interacts with the actors are exciting and give a new dimension to theatre that has been performed in very similar ways for a few centuries now.
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