Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1353/shb.2023.a910442
Reviewed by: The Tempestby Shakespeare's Globe Meg Cline The TempestPresented by Shakespeare's Globe, London. 908– 2210 2022. Directed by Sean Holmes. Designed by Paul Wills. Costume design by Jackie Orton. With Rachel Hannah Clarke (Ariel), Ralph Davis (Trinculo), George Fouracres (Stefano), Joanne Howarth (Francisco), Oliver Huband (Ferdinand), Nadi Kemp-Sayfi (Miranda), Ciarán O'Brien (Caliban), Ferdy Roberts (Prospero), and others. Continuing a successful summer of exemplary creative productions, Shakespeare's Globe presented The Tempestin modern dress under the direction of Sean Holmes. Filled with undeniable humor, Holmes and company's production was able to raise important issues of overconsumption and colonialism for the assembled crowds through a night of delightfully produced theatrical spectacle, a testament to the idea that a Jacobean play can resonate powerfully in the present. In keeping with a setting in an unspecified recent time period, most of the male characters wore basic suits. What the audience surely was not prepared for was the "suit" worn by Prospero: tiny yellow swim briefs. While the talented Ferdy Roberts presented Prospero as more an unhinged island dweller with a trash-bound grimoire than a malicious wizard, his costume made it difficult to concentrate on his acting at first (I found myself instead wondering about the integrity of the swimsuit as he ran and jumped about onstage.) The moment he removed his patchwork magician's robe to reveal the yellow briefs got a welcome laugh after the dramatic opening storm, though, and the costume choice proved to be only a "brief" distraction from Roberts's nuanced portrayal of the wizard. This initial shock which quickly gave way to indifference mirrored the production's attitudes toward the cheap and disposable items that modern consumers are drawn to buy: flashy and attention-grabbing products which quickly lose their desired effects and become commonplace, whether onstage or in modern society. Later in the production, Prospero's penchant for "fine" clothes was displayed during the memorable attempt by Caliban (Ciarán O'Brien), [End Page 273]Trinculo (Ralph Davis), and Stefano (George Fouracres) to break into Prospero's chambers. The trio had excellent chemistry and stole the show with their comedic mischief every time they took to the stage—including during their attempted "magicide" in act four. As the distracted Trinculo and Stefano rummaged through a chest of Prospero's garments, they pulled out their own "fine" robes to wear—a Gryffindor scarf, robes, glasses, and a Nimbus 2000 for Stefano, and a large brown overcoat and wiry fake beard for Trinculo. At the production I attended, the audience was left in stitches as the two raced to put on the attire as they quoted and enacted a few well-known Harry Potter moments. All the while, O'Brien's Caliban was left standing center stage, his deepening despair on full display as his plan to overthrow Prospero became increasingly d
{"title":"The Tempest by Shakespeare's Globe (review)","authors":"","doi":"10.1353/shb.2023.a910442","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/shb.2023.a910442","url":null,"abstract":"Reviewed by: The Tempestby Shakespeare's Globe Meg Cline The TempestPresented by Shakespeare's Globe, London. 908– 2210 2022. Directed by Sean Holmes. Designed by Paul Wills. Costume design by Jackie Orton. With Rachel Hannah Clarke (Ariel), Ralph Davis (Trinculo), George Fouracres (Stefano), Joanne Howarth (Francisco), Oliver Huband (Ferdinand), Nadi Kemp-Sayfi (Miranda), Ciarán O'Brien (Caliban), Ferdy Roberts (Prospero), and others. Continuing a successful summer of exemplary creative productions, Shakespeare's Globe presented The Tempestin modern dress under the direction of Sean Holmes. Filled with undeniable humor, Holmes and company's production was able to raise important issues of overconsumption and colonialism for the assembled crowds through a night of delightfully produced theatrical spectacle, a testament to the idea that a Jacobean play can resonate powerfully in the present. In keeping with a setting in an unspecified recent time period, most of the male characters wore basic suits. What the audience surely was not prepared for was the \"suit\" worn by Prospero: tiny yellow swim briefs. While the talented Ferdy Roberts presented Prospero as more an unhinged island dweller with a trash-bound grimoire than a malicious wizard, his costume made it difficult to concentrate on his acting at first (I found myself instead wondering about the integrity of the swimsuit as he ran and jumped about onstage.) The moment he removed his patchwork magician's robe to reveal the yellow briefs got a welcome laugh after the dramatic opening storm, though, and the costume choice proved to be only a \"brief\" distraction from Roberts's nuanced portrayal of the wizard. This initial shock which quickly gave way to indifference mirrored the production's attitudes toward the cheap and disposable items that modern consumers are drawn to buy: flashy and attention-grabbing products which quickly lose their desired effects and become commonplace, whether onstage or in modern society. Later in the production, Prospero's penchant for \"fine\" clothes was displayed during the memorable attempt by Caliban (Ciarán O'Brien), [End Page 273]Trinculo (Ralph Davis), and Stefano (George Fouracres) to break into Prospero's chambers. The trio had excellent chemistry and stole the show with their comedic mischief every time they took to the stage—including during their attempted \"magicide\" in act four. As the distracted Trinculo and Stefano rummaged through a chest of Prospero's garments, they pulled out their own \"fine\" robes to wear—a Gryffindor scarf, robes, glasses, and a Nimbus 2000 for Stefano, and a large brown overcoat and wiry fake beard for Trinculo. At the production I attended, the audience was left in stitches as the two raced to put on the attire as they quoted and enacted a few well-known Harry Potter moments. All the while, O'Brien's Caliban was left standing center stage, his deepening despair on full display as his plan to overthrow Prospero became increasingly d","PeriodicalId":304234,"journal":{"name":"Shakespeare Bulletin","volume":"43 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135194930","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1353/shb.2023.a910440
William G. Roudabush
Abstract: This article offers a new interpretation of Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida in the context of "that terrible Poetomachia " at the turn of the seventeenth century. It argues that Shakespeare stages a microcosm of the poets' war between the recently revived children's companies and the professional theater. Shakespeare appropriates conventions from the boy company repertories to defend against their caricatures of professional playing and its system of apprenticeship. Reading the play as a whole, and the character of Cressida in particular, as perspectival double images, it shows how Shakespeare uses the indeterminate body of the boy actor playing Cressida to create a visual analogy between the two and to foreground their shared dramatic situations. Through the figure of Cressida, Shakespeare metatheatrically dramatizes the vulnerability and exploitation of Elizabethan boy actors caught between warring theaters, and in doing so weaves the War of the Theaters into the Trojan War to reflect on his own contemporary theatrical market.
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Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1353/shb.2023.a910447
Reviewed by: Romeo and Julietby Lyric Theatre Molly Quinn-Leitch Romeo and JulietPresented by the Lyric Theatre, Belfast. 402– 503 2023. Dramaturgy by Anne Bailie. Directed by Philip Crawford. Set design by Robin Peoples. Lighting design by James C. McFetridge. Costume design by Gillian Lennox. Music composed by Chris Warner. With Adam Gillian (Romeo), Emma Dougan (Juliet), Thomas Finnegan (Mercutio/Apothecary), Patrick Buchanan (Lord Capulet), Rosie McClelland (Lady Capulet), Ray Sesay (Friar Laurence), Eugene Evans (Count Paris), Finnian Garbutt (Benvolio), and others. Philip Crawford's Romeo and Julietopened the Lyric Theatre's 2023 season on a cold, damp February evening in Belfast, contrasting with the hot Verona summer of the play's setting. Noting that this production was the company's twenty-fifth Shakespeare production on Ridgeway Street and the first production of Romeo and Julietsince 1971, the program celebrated the legacy of the Lyric's founder Mary O'Malley (who started the formative theater in her back garden shed in 1951) and affirmed their commitment to "bringing the classic text into a modern-day setting" for Belfast audiences. Indeed, the modern setting of this production was immediately apparent as I took my seat in the auditorium, the set design juxtaposing Italian Renaissance inspired architecture with a digital advertisement board, which was scrolling through adverts for brands such as Aperol and mock magazine covers featuring shots of Romeo and Lady Capulet, among other characters. The set designer, Robin Peoples, situated the production in a Verona inspired by Italian luxury and high fashion, with opera arias playing before the show began to reinforce the production's continental backdrop. Costume designer Gillian Lennox created branding for both feuding families, with two "C"s aligned beside a centered figure of a puma for the House of Capulet and "MONTAGUE" crowned by a capital "M" for the House of Montague. These distinctive logos were incorporated into the modern designer wardrobe utilized throughout the play to distinguish the houses within this fashion-forward Verona. Crawford and voice and text coach Michael Corbridge still managed to preserve a sense of familiarity and localism in line delivery as most of the actors kept their distinct Northern Irish accents. Whilst the most obvious method of differentiating between the Montagues and Capulets of Romeo and Julietin a Belfast theater might be to fit them within either a Nationalist or Unionist template, this production was purposefully nonsectarian. Instead, as suggested by the digital [End Page 293]magazine covers, the families were presented as rival haute couture fashion houses, a spin on Shakespeare's "Two households, both alike in dignity" (Prologue 1). Crawford commented in the program that the production had made a conscious decision to avoid any "analogy between the feuding families and the sectarian politics of Northern Ireland." The absence of this sectari
《罗密欧与朱丽叶》由贝尔法斯特抒情剧院呈献,402 - 503 2023年。安妮·贝利编剧。导演:菲利普·克劳福德。Robin Peoples的布景设计。灯光设计:James C. McFetridge。服装设计:Gillian Lennox。音乐由克里斯·华纳作曲。亚当·吉莉安(罗密欧)、艾玛·杜根(朱丽叶)、托马斯·芬尼根(墨丘西奥/药剂师)、帕特里克·布坎南(凯普莱特勋爵)、罗西·麦克利兰(凯普莱特夫人)、雷·塞萨伊(劳伦斯修士)、尤金·埃文斯(巴黎伯爵)、芬尼安·加巴特(班沃里奥)等人。菲利普·克劳福德的《罗密欧与朱丽叶》在贝尔法斯特一个寒冷潮湿的2月晚上拉开了抒情剧院2023年演出季的序幕,与剧中维罗纳炎热的夏天形成鲜明对比。值得一提的是,这是剧团在里奇韦街(Ridgeway Street)上演的第25部莎士比亚作品,也是自1971年以来第一部《罗密欧与朱丽叶》(Romeo and juliet)的作品。该节目颂扬了剧团创始人玛丽·奥马利(Mary O’malley,她于1951年在自家后花园的小棚里创办了这家剧院)的遗产,并肯定了他们为贝尔法斯特观众“将经典文本带入现代背景”的承诺。事实上,当我在礼堂就座时,这部作品的现代背景立刻就显现出来了,布景设计将意大利文艺复兴风格的建筑与数字广告板并列,广告板上滚动着Aperol等品牌的广告,还有模仿杂志封面的罗密欧和凯普莱特夫人(Lady Capulet)等人物的照片。布景设计师罗宾·帕克斯(Robin Peoples)受意大利奢侈品和高级时装的启发,将舞台设在维罗纳(Verona),在演出开始前播放歌剧咏叹调,以加强舞台的欧洲大陆背景。服装设计师吉莲·伦诺克斯(Gillian Lennox)为这两个长期不和的家族设计了品牌,卡普莱特家族(House of Capulet)的两个“C”排列在一只美洲豹的中间,蒙太古家族(House of MONTAGUE)的“蒙太古”(MONTAGUE)的“M”上方。这些独特的标志被整合到整个戏剧中使用的现代设计师衣橱中,以区分这个时尚前卫的维罗纳的房屋。克劳福德和语音和文字教练迈克尔·考布里奇仍然设法在台词中保持熟悉感和地方感,因为大多数演员都保留了他们独特的北爱尔兰口音。贝尔法斯特剧院区分《罗密欧与朱丽叶》中的蒙太古和凯普莱特最明显的方法可能是将他们置于民族主义或联合主义的模板中,但这部作品有意非宗派主义。相反,正如数字杂志封面所暗示的那样,这两个家庭被描绘成相互竞争的高级时装品牌,这是对莎士比亚的“两个家庭,都有同样的尊严”(序言1)的演绎。克劳福德在节目中评论说,这部作品有意识地决定避免任何“把不和的家庭与北爱尔兰的宗派政治相提并论”。这种宗派类比的缺失表明导演有意摆脱近年来笼罩着北爱尔兰社会政治和戏剧遗产的两分法暴力。我注意到她的半身像挂在大礼堂外的墙上,这让我想起了奥马利在“麻烦”的轰炸中对Lyric的存在和生存的影响。歌词剧院在里奇韦街的建筑本身几乎被一枚200磅重的炸弹摧毁(亚当斯196),奥马利从字面上和象征意义上重建了剧院。由于《罗密欧与朱丽叶》是第25部在里奇韦街剧院上演的莎士比亚作品,它的创作团队着眼于未来,并从新的角度看待“冲突后”北爱尔兰的莎士比亚表演,而不是停留在过去的陈词滥调上。然而,可以说,这部自觉非政治性的作品在贝尔法斯特戏剧界和学校进行治愈工作的方式上仍然是政治性的。这部作品将年轻的爱情、现代科技、暴力的物质遗产和自杀转移到当代,引起了人们对北爱尔兰年轻一代中惊人的高自杀率的关注,罗密欧与朱丽叶的最终死亡提高了观众对这一紧迫的当代问题的认识。这是一部高度认识到其触发主题的作品。伴随学校工作坊和支持…
{"title":"Romeo and Juliet by Lyric Theatre (review)","authors":"","doi":"10.1353/shb.2023.a910447","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/shb.2023.a910447","url":null,"abstract":"Reviewed by: Romeo and Julietby Lyric Theatre Molly Quinn-Leitch Romeo and JulietPresented by the Lyric Theatre, Belfast. 402– 503 2023. Dramaturgy by Anne Bailie. Directed by Philip Crawford. Set design by Robin Peoples. Lighting design by James C. McFetridge. Costume design by Gillian Lennox. Music composed by Chris Warner. With Adam Gillian (Romeo), Emma Dougan (Juliet), Thomas Finnegan (Mercutio/Apothecary), Patrick Buchanan (Lord Capulet), Rosie McClelland (Lady Capulet), Ray Sesay (Friar Laurence), Eugene Evans (Count Paris), Finnian Garbutt (Benvolio), and others. Philip Crawford's Romeo and Julietopened the Lyric Theatre's 2023 season on a cold, damp February evening in Belfast, contrasting with the hot Verona summer of the play's setting. Noting that this production was the company's twenty-fifth Shakespeare production on Ridgeway Street and the first production of Romeo and Julietsince 1971, the program celebrated the legacy of the Lyric's founder Mary O'Malley (who started the formative theater in her back garden shed in 1951) and affirmed their commitment to \"bringing the classic text into a modern-day setting\" for Belfast audiences. Indeed, the modern setting of this production was immediately apparent as I took my seat in the auditorium, the set design juxtaposing Italian Renaissance inspired architecture with a digital advertisement board, which was scrolling through adverts for brands such as Aperol and mock magazine covers featuring shots of Romeo and Lady Capulet, among other characters. The set designer, Robin Peoples, situated the production in a Verona inspired by Italian luxury and high fashion, with opera arias playing before the show began to reinforce the production's continental backdrop. Costume designer Gillian Lennox created branding for both feuding families, with two \"C\"s aligned beside a centered figure of a puma for the House of Capulet and \"MONTAGUE\" crowned by a capital \"M\" for the House of Montague. These distinctive logos were incorporated into the modern designer wardrobe utilized throughout the play to distinguish the houses within this fashion-forward Verona. Crawford and voice and text coach Michael Corbridge still managed to preserve a sense of familiarity and localism in line delivery as most of the actors kept their distinct Northern Irish accents. Whilst the most obvious method of differentiating between the Montagues and Capulets of Romeo and Julietin a Belfast theater might be to fit them within either a Nationalist or Unionist template, this production was purposefully nonsectarian. Instead, as suggested by the digital [End Page 293]magazine covers, the families were presented as rival haute couture fashion houses, a spin on Shakespeare's \"Two households, both alike in dignity\" (Prologue 1). Crawford commented in the program that the production had made a conscious decision to avoid any \"analogy between the feuding families and the sectarian politics of Northern Ireland.\" The absence of this sectari","PeriodicalId":304234,"journal":{"name":"Shakespeare Bulletin","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135194932","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1353/shb.2023.a910446
{"title":"Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare Theatre Company at Sidney Harman Hall (review)","authors":"","doi":"10.1353/shb.2023.a910446","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/shb.2023.a910446","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":304234,"journal":{"name":"Shakespeare Bulletin","volume":"243 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135194919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1353/shb.2023.a910441
Stephen Drover
Abstract: While most adaptation scholarship has predominantly concentrated on product—comparing source material to adapted script—there is a noticeable lack of process analysis applied to understanding new adaptations. The focus of this article is to examine the working process of adaptation under the permissive classification of "departure" from a rehearsal room perspective, and to propose a framework for analyzing that process. This article endeavors to answer the question of what the working process of intentionally departing from Shakespeare looks like in our contemporary theater practice. Using autoethnography, ethnography, and literature review, I detail and compare the creation processes of two contemporary Shakespeare departures based on Titus Andronicus—The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius and Black Fly—and propose an analytical framework that is based on collaboration between artists, negotiations of fidelity, and a reclamation of narrative.
{"title":"Process of Departures: Conversations and Practice in Adapting Titus Andronicus","authors":"Stephen Drover","doi":"10.1353/shb.2023.a910441","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/shb.2023.a910441","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract: While most adaptation scholarship has predominantly concentrated on product—comparing source material to adapted script—there is a noticeable lack of process analysis applied to understanding new adaptations. The focus of this article is to examine the working process of adaptation under the permissive classification of \"departure\" from a rehearsal room perspective, and to propose a framework for analyzing that process. This article endeavors to answer the question of what the working process of intentionally departing from Shakespeare looks like in our contemporary theater practice. Using autoethnography, ethnography, and literature review, I detail and compare the creation processes of two contemporary Shakespeare departures based on Titus Andronicus—The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius and Black Fly—and propose an analytical framework that is based on collaboration between artists, negotiations of fidelity, and a reclamation of narrative.","PeriodicalId":304234,"journal":{"name":"Shakespeare Bulletin","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135194920","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1353/shb.2023.a910443
Reviewed by: Galateaby Treehouse Shakespeare Ensemble at The Wharf Studio Cory Drozdowski GalateaPresented by Treehouse Shakespeare Ensemble at The Wharf Studio, Staunton, VA. 1911 2022, 2111 2022, and 25–2603 2023. Directed by Cole Metz. Dramaturgy by Keith Taylor. With Ariel Tatum (Galatea/others), Kara Hankard (Phillida/others), Beth Harris (Tityra/Melebea/others), Rosemary Richards (Rafe/others), and Mikaela Hanrahan (Cupid/others). In John Lyly's Galatea, the opportunity—or necessity—of trying on different identities provides the perfect environment for liberated self-discovery. Whether through exploring their sexuality while disguised as boys in the forest or trying on the hats of various mystic teachers, the central characters of the play find the stimulus for individual truth and learning in the upheavals and inversions that animate the action of the plot. Treehouse Shakespeare Ensemble's production brought this out through a wonderful sense of play that supported the liberated exploration of the young characters. The play's overall structure follows, essentially, three primary plotlines. The first is the love story between the two girls—Galatea and Phyllida—disguised as boys. So disguised by their parents in order to avoid being sacrificed to Neptune's monster, The Agar, the two girls meet in the forest and fall for each other, not realizing that they are both actually girls. The second plot follows the marooned Rafe, who splits from his brothers in [End Page 276]the pursuit of a living before sequentially encountering and attempting to be an apprentice to increasingly ridiculous mystical masters. Finally, the third plot sees the prankster Cupid messing with Diana's nymphs by making them fall in love against their mistress's code of chastity. Throughout each of these stories, elements of Treehouse Shakespeare Ensemble's production and its performance choices highlighted the themes of playful self-exploration. This sense of play was most prominently highlighted in the company's choice of a framing device that—quite appropriately for the themes of open, youthful exploration—set up the performance as a tale being spontaneously recreated by a troupe of girl scouts. The scouts entered the space to hide for a brief game of hide-and-seek, then regrouped in a circle for what became the impetus for one scout to start the story of The Agar, which kicked off the story of the play itself. Once they all joined in, the scouts spread to the corners of the thrust space to gather items, light the playing space with their flashlights, and wait for opportunities to jump in as one of the characters. For a production that was part of the ensemble's "small scale" series—in which the company had only five actors to fill all the play's roles—this framing device proved effective and efficient in both believably answering the technical challenges and further contributing to the production's presentation of playful exploration. The need to rapidly switch between c
{"title":"Galatea by Treehouse Shakespeare Ensemble at The Wharf Studio (review)","authors":"","doi":"10.1353/shb.2023.a910443","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/shb.2023.a910443","url":null,"abstract":"Reviewed by: Galateaby Treehouse Shakespeare Ensemble at The Wharf Studio Cory Drozdowski GalateaPresented by Treehouse Shakespeare Ensemble at The Wharf Studio, Staunton, VA. 1911 2022, 2111 2022, and 25–2603 2023. Directed by Cole Metz. Dramaturgy by Keith Taylor. With Ariel Tatum (Galatea/others), Kara Hankard (Phillida/others), Beth Harris (Tityra/Melebea/others), Rosemary Richards (Rafe/others), and Mikaela Hanrahan (Cupid/others). In John Lyly's Galatea, the opportunity—or necessity—of trying on different identities provides the perfect environment for liberated self-discovery. Whether through exploring their sexuality while disguised as boys in the forest or trying on the hats of various mystic teachers, the central characters of the play find the stimulus for individual truth and learning in the upheavals and inversions that animate the action of the plot. Treehouse Shakespeare Ensemble's production brought this out through a wonderful sense of play that supported the liberated exploration of the young characters. The play's overall structure follows, essentially, three primary plotlines. The first is the love story between the two girls—Galatea and Phyllida—disguised as boys. So disguised by their parents in order to avoid being sacrificed to Neptune's monster, The Agar, the two girls meet in the forest and fall for each other, not realizing that they are both actually girls. The second plot follows the marooned Rafe, who splits from his brothers in [End Page 276]the pursuit of a living before sequentially encountering and attempting to be an apprentice to increasingly ridiculous mystical masters. Finally, the third plot sees the prankster Cupid messing with Diana's nymphs by making them fall in love against their mistress's code of chastity. Throughout each of these stories, elements of Treehouse Shakespeare Ensemble's production and its performance choices highlighted the themes of playful self-exploration. This sense of play was most prominently highlighted in the company's choice of a framing device that—quite appropriately for the themes of open, youthful exploration—set up the performance as a tale being spontaneously recreated by a troupe of girl scouts. The scouts entered the space to hide for a brief game of hide-and-seek, then regrouped in a circle for what became the impetus for one scout to start the story of The Agar, which kicked off the story of the play itself. Once they all joined in, the scouts spread to the corners of the thrust space to gather items, light the playing space with their flashlights, and wait for opportunities to jump in as one of the characters. For a production that was part of the ensemble's \"small scale\" series—in which the company had only five actors to fill all the play's roles—this framing device proved effective and efficient in both believably answering the technical challenges and further contributing to the production's presentation of playful exploration. The need to rapidly switch between c","PeriodicalId":304234,"journal":{"name":"Shakespeare Bulletin","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135194928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1353/shb.2023.a910453
{"title":"By the Queen by Trinity Rep at Lederer Theater Center (review)","authors":"","doi":"10.1353/shb.2023.a910453","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/shb.2023.a910453","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":304234,"journal":{"name":"Shakespeare Bulletin","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135194923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1353/shb.2023.a910445
{"title":"Enter Ghost: An Immersive Haunted Hamlet Experience by Kentucky Shakespeare (review)","authors":"","doi":"10.1353/shb.2023.a910445","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/shb.2023.a910445","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":304234,"journal":{"name":"Shakespeare Bulletin","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135194927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1353/shb.2023.a910438
Abstract: This editorial reflects on community-forming in relation to Shakespeare performance, from the role played by Shakespeare Bulletin over its forty-year history, to the contingencies and vulnerabilities revealed by the environmental catastrophes of summer 2023. The editorial also introduces changes to the Shakespeare Bulletin team, welcoming Hailey Bachrach and Benjamin Broadribb as the new editors of the journal's performance reviews section.
{"title":"From the General Editor: \"The land is burning\"","authors":"","doi":"10.1353/shb.2023.a910438","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/shb.2023.a910438","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract: This editorial reflects on community-forming in relation to Shakespeare performance, from the role played by Shakespeare Bulletin over its forty-year history, to the contingencies and vulnerabilities revealed by the environmental catastrophes of summer 2023. The editorial also introduces changes to the Shakespeare Bulletin team, welcoming Hailey Bachrach and Benjamin Broadribb as the new editors of the journal's performance reviews section.","PeriodicalId":304234,"journal":{"name":"Shakespeare Bulletin","volume":"67 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135194916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1353/shb.2023.a910439
Sujata Iyengar
Abstract:Combining the methods of traditional theater history with semiotics and digital cultural studies, this article focuses particularly on Simon Godwin's production of Antony and Cleopatra at the National Theatre (2018) and on the avowed inspiration of the Nigerian-Jewish-descended British actress Sophie Okonedo by the world-famous vocalist, digital producer, and media celebrity Beyoncé Knowles-Carter (usually known simply as Beyoncé). Godwin's production carefully used a multiethnic cast and placed particular emphasis upon the relationship between Cleopatra and other women, both allies and enemies, in part by strategically reassigning Dolabella's lines to Octavia and thus creating an encounter between Cleopatra and Octavia that never happens in the Folio text. The article speculates that using allusions to Beyoncé out of context (away from the rich intertext of the film Lemonade [2016], for example, and away from transnational Black feminist debate) and to a majority-white British audience membership risked diluting Beyoncé's nuanced and politicized commentary—and, perhaps, diminished the nuanced treatment of labor and gender in Shakespeare's play. The investigation concludes, however, with a reflection upon the pros and cons—for artists and for audiences—of foregrounding digital subcultures in this way on stage and in academia.
{"title":"Queen of Egypt and Queen of the Bey-Hive: Sophie Okonedo's Cleopatra at the National Theatre (2018)","authors":"Sujata Iyengar","doi":"10.1353/shb.2023.a910439","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/shb.2023.a910439","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Combining the methods of traditional theater history with semiotics and digital cultural studies, this article focuses particularly on Simon Godwin's production of Antony and Cleopatra at the National Theatre (2018) and on the avowed inspiration of the Nigerian-Jewish-descended British actress Sophie Okonedo by the world-famous vocalist, digital producer, and media celebrity Beyoncé Knowles-Carter (usually known simply as Beyoncé). Godwin's production carefully used a multiethnic cast and placed particular emphasis upon the relationship between Cleopatra and other women, both allies and enemies, in part by strategically reassigning Dolabella's lines to Octavia and thus creating an encounter between Cleopatra and Octavia that never happens in the Folio text. The article speculates that using allusions to Beyoncé out of context (away from the rich intertext of the film Lemonade [2016], for example, and away from transnational Black feminist debate) and to a majority-white British audience membership risked diluting Beyoncé's nuanced and politicized commentary—and, perhaps, diminished the nuanced treatment of labor and gender in Shakespeare's play. The investigation concludes, however, with a reflection upon the pros and cons—for artists and for audiences—of foregrounding digital subcultures in this way on stage and in academia.","PeriodicalId":304234,"journal":{"name":"Shakespeare Bulletin","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135194924","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}