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I thoroughly enjoyed the process of devising and developing our recontexualised version of Shakespeare’s play because of the various challenges it gave us such as the use of accents in the dialogue and being attentive to the original fluid language of Shakespeare. We chose to recontextualise the play in 1950s Britain because we wanted to play with the ethnical stereotypes and the strong enforcement of masculinity through media and social norms in that era such as the Malboro Man.
The social norms of men at the time were very rigid, men were expected to work, conform and many of the men fought in the war which ended in 1945 therefore making them quite stoic. In our recontextualisation Benvolio and Mercutio both fit into the societal norms of masculinity in Britain at the time, although Benvolio is represented as a more sympathetic and gentle man, he still has his sense of pride whereas Mercutio is portrayed as a man that has an overwhelming sense of pride and less sympathy.
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Accents were one of the main challenges encountered as it was difficult to balance the pitch and tone of the voice while doing accents. Accents were also difficult to do authentically as we often found our accents morphing into an unintended accent halfway through the scene. We also encountered the problem of staging especially in the Benvolio and Romeo section as Benvolio was not doing much, therefore the scene had to be staged in an interesting way that would draw attention to Romeo while not neglecting Benvolio and his place in the scene. Another main obstacle in our assessment was timing, it was a challenge to have equal line distribution for the characters within the set time frame. We relied much on silence to establish the sadness experienced by Romeo, this dominated much of our time limit causing us to go overtime. We overcame this by cutting out small lines and shortening long unnecessary pauses within the
... comedies rather than tragedies in their source form the original characters from the source plays are revealed. Strong, ‘masculine’ women of the source are only revealed through the intertextuality of genre and the reassigned direct quotes from Shakespeare’s iconic plays. The feminist perspective of Shakespeare’s plays, which was there all along, could only be revealed by the strong use of intertextuality in MacDonald’s play. MacDonald relies on the iconic meta-theatre and intertextuality to magnify the feminist perspective within the Shakespearean plays. When turned in upon itself, Shakespeare’s plays reveal their distinct feminist perspective that could not be uncovered without the extensive and brilliant use of intertextuality such as that of Ann Marie MacDonald. Therefore the metatheatre’s intertextuality reinforces and supports the traits of the feminine.
Kenneth Branagh creates his own individualistic adaptation of this classic through the use of visual imagery, characterization, and setting. Branagh cut many lines and speeches from the text to better support his interpretation of a more open and informal society of warm-hearted, affectionate characters. Though Shakespeare's mood is more formal, Branagh remains true to the essence of the play as all of the same characters and most of the dialogue are justly included in the film. Although distinct differences can be made between Branagh’s film and Shakespeare’s written work, they both share a common denominator of good old-fashioned entertainment; and in the world of theater, nothing else really matters.
Joseph, Bertram. Rev. of The Twelfth Night of Shakespeare’s Audience, by John W. Draper. Review of English Studies 3.10 (1952): 170-71. Print.
An editor who is given the task to edit any play written by William Shakespeare has a sizeable task to fulfill. The main objective in editing is to both make the play more understandable with altered language and also to give one's own perspective on how the editor wants to project the play on stage. I chose page 142 of Act 5, Scene 2 in Freeman's Othello because this page has become the springboard of the climactic turning point in the play. My personal decisions to alter certain lines and words on page 142 are made to give a new light and a fresh point of view on how I feel that particular scene is to be perceived. Because these plays have been altered a numerous amount of times over the centuries, it is important for one to be able to edit and project their perspectives for themselves.
... About You_.” Shakespeare Bulletin: A Journal of Performance Criticism and Scholarship 22.2 (2004): 45-66. Expanded Academic ASAP. Westfield State College Library, MA. 15 April 2005. 15 April 2005.
...he is out for a pre-dawn stroll. “A troubled mind drove me to walk abroad.”(I.i.114) Then later on in Act I there is evidence that Benvolio doesn’t always act sensibly as he convinces Romeo to sneak in un-invited to the enemies masquerade ball, which could end in grave consequences. In Act II Benvolio and Mercutio join together to make fun of the Nurse at her expense, “hide her face, for her fans the fairer face.” (II.iv.98-99)
William Shakespeare’s dramatic and poetic techniques and his use of hyperbole are used to describe the characters emotions and weaknesses. The use of dramatic irony is used to create personal conflict. This is done throughout the play to describe the characters concerns and their situations.
Texts and their appropriations reflect the context and values of their times. Within Shakespeare’s Othello and Geoffrey Sax’s appropriation of Othello, the evolution of the attitudes held by Elizabethan audiences and those held by contemporary audiences can be seen through the context of the female coupled with the context of racism. The role of the female has developed from being submissive and “obedient” in the Elizabethan era to being independent and liberated within the contemporary setting. The racism of the first text is overtly xenophobic and natural, whilst the “moor” is unnatural whereas the updated context portrays Othello’s race as natural and racism as unnatural. Therefore these examples show how Shakespeare’s Othello, and it’s appropriation, Geoffrey
Shakespeare’s play is used in English classes from high school to collegiate levels. The interpretation of Shakespeare can be manipulated to reflect today’s time. In the Masquerader’s production of Much Ado About Nothing, the setting was in New Mexico rather than old time Messina in Sicily. The fields of Tuscany
Shakespeare’s effective use of word choice in ‘brave’ makes the audience understand the protagonist deeply. Ironically, later in the play, Macbeth’s ambitions take over him and become the antag...
Vickers, Brian. Appropriating Shakespeare: Contemporary Critical Quarrels. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 1993.
Cohen, Walter, J.E. Howard, K. Eisaman Maus. The Norton Shakespeare. Vol. 2 Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor. New York, London. 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-92991-1
Transformations inherently contain traces of the author’s social and cultural context. Much of the same can be applied to “Much ado about nothing”. It incorporates comical features, yet retains the sense of tragedy which is attached to almost all of Shakespeare’s plays. Brain Percival’s role as a director, was determining, understanding and distinguishing the social norms and the social structure of the society, and how the themes represented in the play can be transformed into a modern text. The Elizabethan society was typically a patriarchal society. Percival has used as well as transformed certain themes and textual features to ensure, that the film is more appealing and assessable to the critical modern audience.
In Hamlet’s speech, Shakespeare’s efforts to target his Elizabethan audience develop the theme of the frailty of man. Shakespeare conveys this underlying theme of the play by subt...
Vickers, Brian. Appropriating Shakespeare: Contemporary Critical Quarrels. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 1993.