Hamlet soliloquizing to Yorick's ribcage.

Nov 17, 2006 10:10

I have not read the script, seen a production, or even heard the score for the smash Broadway musical Urinetown...which, on some level, makes me a bad theatergoer and even moreso a bad Neo-Futurist. But additionally, it means I can't speak with any authority as to what is happening in this lawsuitI think there are some interesting questions being ( Read more... )

theatre, news

Leave a comment

somebodystrange November 17 2006, 16:53:12 UTC
I remember when I was in high school drama club, and the playbooks we received included stage directions, set design notes, etc, etc, etc that were supposed to be helpful -- but instead became dogma to be slavishly followed. (I think that's what happens when fundamentalists do theatre.)

I was probably halfway through my theatre major at Valpo before things really became clear. I used to think that the only way for a director to make something "new" out of an old play was to do a complete overhaul and reinterpretation -- such as changing the entire era of a piece (a production of A Chorus Line at Valpo did this rather poorly, updating costumes and lines until references to "Steve McQueen" were actually replaced by "Harrison Ford". Ugh), or casting people against gender or race (I would have loved to have seen Patrick Stewart's Othello in which black and white were reversed).

Because of this, the idea that a new production of an old play should automatically be significantly different in some way is almost a shock to me. Perhaps this is also because I'm a writer and director, and just barely arrogant enough to be proud of my work and what I think it means and stands for, and I don't like it when other people start messing around in my sandbox. I think I'd be content, as a director, to think that other people liked my choices enough to want to emulate them. And I completely understand what you're saying about actors, directors, and others needing to find their own voice and raise the bar, although it's nothing I'd ever really considered before.

Wow. I have a lot to think about.

Reply

somebodystrange November 17 2006, 16:53:34 UTC
Oh, and before I saw your first footnote, I was going to reference that particular movie.

Reply


Leave a comment

Up