The Theatre Times: The International Shakespeare Festival in Gdańsk is not the festival of masterpieces and it never has been its aim. However, if you are looking for interesting, innovative and updated voices in reading Shakespeare’s plays you should definitely follow the upcoming edition and visit Gdańsk in Poland. I am sure you will find something worth sharing with your audience.
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I’m curious how works “not depicting divisions” drew in success. I find that a little unclear. Recently, I’ve found that the most impactful theatre I’ve seen is the one that depicts subversive conflicts and divisions (Cabaret, Hadestown.) (I thought The Outsiders fell a little flat though.) Plus R&J’s biggest theme is that conflict kills. I did see a video essay a few days ago on how true anti-war films can’t exist, because even the depiction of war subtly glorifies it despite film’s attempts to portray the contrary. But in an attempt to not glorify war, does never showing conflict at all sanitize the very real war-filled world we live in now?
Anyways. I don’t know that I fully agree with the sentiment in this article. Saying that a performance that literally changed lyrics to include Netanyahu, “is not about the Israeli Prime Minister”? Crazy sentence. Plays are always dramaturgically tied to the political, social, global, warring, and geopolitical societies they are both written and performed in. Makes me wonder if the way this article says “displaying conflict isn’t relevant when there is real-world conflict” and “plays aren’t about real-world people” is satire. Also, the Julius Caesar conflict? Why is the tone here uplifting the content of the play, while the author diminishes it in the sentence following it? Based on the way the direction of Julius Caesar is described, it sounds awesome, relevant, and chaotic. (And very reminiscent of modern leaders. I know this festival takes place in Poland, but “his monologues don’t make sense” fits into a modern context in the USA. Or, I’m sorry, can this not be about world leaders?? I’m confused.) Bottom line is, art is always saying something, no matter the original intent of the assumed prestige of the festival.
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