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Dear Meg,
I had seen that article on translating Shakespeare in my American Theatre Magazine. I read the first couple of paragraphs and skimmed along the rest.
There's going to be a hornets' nest of response to that.
But mainly it will be a competition for who wants to be the most lusty intellectual pooh-bah sounding off to vie for the outrage limelight.
That to me is just a bunch of Fox TV.
The only real response is to try it. You can talk about how you think its going to be forever, BUT nothing takes the place of action. Experiment.
Immediately I read that one note idea of his, I thought -- try it.
Certainly there are enough novels stealing the plots and soliloquies and characters from Shakespeare's plays. The Story of Edgar Sawtells -- based on HAMLET, the whole scene in the rain is right out of the Player King's speech -- Serena by Ron Rash: plot MC BETH, leading lady Lady M mixed in with some Marlowe.
But Shakespeare's English, while Elizabethan, is English, not Japanese or Russian. I take this olde time English for my Mother Tongue, huge, ancient, unwieldy, speaking to me from its origins when the vocabulary was in full flower with words colliding and fresh minted.
So I don't think we should be talking about translating our own language. How about calling it an update?
I think we should set up a group within ASF called something like"Fresh Mint" and look at this idea of updating some of the more rigidly archaic passages. Exploring that.
By the way, what did you think of HAMLET yesterday. I just saw the first act but didn't find myself thinking it was obtuse. Maybe because there were so many highly skilled actors making it easy for us.
Dear Meg,
I had seen that article on translating Shakespeare in my American Theatre Magazine. I read the first couple of paragraphs and skimmed along the rest.
There's going to be a hornets' nest of response to that.
But mainly it will be a competition for who wants to be the most lusty intellectual pooh-bah sounding off to vie for the outrage limelight.
That to me is just a bunch of Fox TV.
The only real response is to try it. You can talk about how you think its going to be forever, BUT nothing takes the place of action. Experiment.
Immediately I read that one note idea of his, I thought -- try it.
Certainly there are enough novels stealing the plots and soliloquies and characters from Shakespeare's plays. The Story of Edgar Sawtells -- based on HAMLET, the whole scene in the rain is right out of the Player King's speech -- Serena by Ron Rash: plot MC BETH, leading lady Lady M mixed in with some Marlowe.
But Shakespeare's English, while Elizabethan, is English, not Japanese or Russian. I take this olde time English for my Mother Tongue, huge, ancient, unwieldy, speaking to me from its origins when the vocabulary was in full flower with words colliding and fresh minted.
So I don't think we should be talking about translating our own language. How about calling it an update?
I think we should set up a group within ASF called something like"Fresh Mint" and look at this idea of updating some of the more rigidly archaic passages. Exploring that.
The last production I saw was by the Wooster Group who dissected Richard Burton's film HAMLET which was projected on several large screens while actors acted it out live in front of the screens with strange costumes and experimental deconstruction of the text using peculiar voices. Plus most of them were way the wrong age for their characters.
The purpose was to overcome the smug assumptions of the audience and kick them out of their comfort zone. It was supposed they all knew how HAMLET should be and would boringly expect that old-hat type of production.
Honestly, by the end of the Wooster Group HAMLET I was convinced that this WAS the audience's comfort zone. Being gross and stupid with the play.
But I have to say the Wooster Group debacle refreshed me.
Because yesterday I so appreciated the clear, unfussy acting I saw. I was moved right from the beginning. Is this because of Haiti? World grief? The words "Melancholy Dane" actually made sense to me for the first time. It is a sad, sad story to me now!!!
This discussion relates to a question I have been wanting to pose for over a year: What is theatre? Is it a museum for re-enacting theatre history? Is it a place for celebs to dabble with their "craft." Are the writers just trying to get "real money" jobs in Television? Or is it an alchemist's lab? .......
The purpose was to overcome the smug assumptions of the audience and kick them out of their comfort zone. It was supposed they all knew how HAMLET should be and would boringly expect that old-hat type of production.
Honestly, by the end of the Wooster Group HAMLET I was convinced that this WAS the audience's comfort zone. Being gross and stupid with the play.
But I have to say the Wooster Group debacle refreshed me.
Because yesterday I so appreciated the clear, unfussy acting I saw. I was moved right from the beginning. Is this because of Haiti? World grief? The words "Melancholy Dane" actually made sense to me for the first time. It is a sad, sad story to me now!!!
This discussion relates to a question I have been wanting to pose for over a year: What is theatre? Is it a museum for re-enacting theatre history? Is it a place for celebs to dabble with their "craft." Are the writers just trying to get "real money" jobs in Television? Or is it an alchemist's lab? .......
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