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The Theatrical Adaptations of JM Coetzee's Foe Kareesha Between Text and Stage: The Theatrical Adaptations of J.M. Coetzee's Foe Kareesha Naidoo Supervisor: Dr. Hermann Wittenberg A thesis produced as per the requirements of The University of the Western Cape, Department of English for the completion of a M.A. Degree (Full Thesis). March 2016 Abstract Between Text and Stage: The Theatrical Adaptations of J.M. Coetzee's Foe K.Naidoo MA Full thesis, Department of English, University of the Western Cape This thesis will critically analyse two theatrical adaptations of J.M Coetzee‟s Foe (1986). Primarily, this thesis will be seeking to understand the complex relationship of the primary text to its adaptations more closely, regarding them not only as second-order versions or interpretations of the novel, but also to consider the way they may retrospectively construct new readings and understandings of the source text. This thesis will not only consider the way in which Foe is used in the adaptations but also how Robinson Crusoe (1719) influenced the adaptors and adaptive process. Theories of adaptation will be discussed, drawing extensively on work by Linda Hutcheon (2006) and Robert Stam (2005). One of the key ideas in adaptation theory is that adaptive fidelity to the source text is neither possible nor desirable, but that adaptation is a more complex, multi-layered intertextual and intermedial interplay of fictional material. One of the aims of this thesis is to ask whether or not Foe can be successfully transposed to the stage. This thesis will serve as a close analysis of the two theatrical adaptations, focusing on the beginning and endings of the respective adaptations. This research will contribute a new approach to Coetzee studies and to Foe in particular by exploring how these texts can lead to a broader understanding of Coetzee‟s work and the way it crosses into different media. March 2016 i Key Words J.M. Coetzee Glazer, Peter Wheatley, Mark Foe Robinson Crusoe Theatre Adaptation Fidelity Concretization Didascalia ii Declaration I hereby declare that Between Text and Stage: The Theatrical Adaptations of J.M. Coetzee's Foe is my own work, that it has not been previously submitted for any degree or examination at any other university, and that all the sources I have used or quoted from have been indicated and acknowledged by complete references. Kareesha Naidoo Date: _______________________ Signature: ____________________ iii Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge and give thanks to the following people: First and foremost my supervisor Dr. Hermann Wittenberg for his continuous expert guidance, support and for being a mentor throughout this research journey, Dr Alannah Birch for encouraging me to pursue this degree as well as Professor Miki Flockemann for her inspiration and guidance. I would like to express my deepest thanks and sincere appreciation to Professor Peter Glazer from Berkeley University, California for graciously sending me his theatre script and Claire Gilbert from Complicité for sending me research material. A special thanks to Cecilia Blight, Lynne Grant and Victor Clarke from the National English Literary Museum (NELM) for assisting me through the Coetzee archives, Paul Adolphsen for the discussions on theatre adaptation and sharing resources as well as Iona Gilbert for support. I would also like to thank the Mellon Foundation for financial support. Finally I would like to thank my family, especially my parents, for supporting me throughout this degree and my best friend Chanel Catherine Fredericks for her constant encouragement. iv Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... i Key Words ................................................................................................................................. ii Declaration ................................................................................................ ............................... iii Acknowledgments..................................................................................................................... iv Chapter One - Introduction ................................ .................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview .............................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Introduction to Adaptation Theory ...................................................................................... 8 1.3 Understanding the Novel ..................................................................................................... 9 1.3.1 Coetzee and Defoe ...................................................................................................... 16 1.3.2 Setting and Realism .................................................................................................... 18 1.3. 3 The Novel and History ............................................................................................... 21 1.3.4 Gender Revisionism .................................................................................................... 24 1.3.5 Foe and Metafiction .................................................................................................... 26 1.4 Chapter Outline .................................................................................................................. 28 Chapter Two - Theatre and Adaptation ............................................................................. 29 2.1. Overview of Chapter ......................................................................................................... 29 2.2 An Introduction to Theatre ................................................................................................. 29 2.3 Adaptation Theory ............................................................................................................. 31 2.4 Fiction and Prose: Limitations of the media ...................................................................... 41 Chapter - Three The Adaptations of Foe - Beginnings ...................................................... 47 3.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................ 47 3.2 Theatre Style ...................................................................................................................... 47 3.3 Didascalia ........................................................................................................................... 51 3.4 Creating an island .............................................................................................................. 59 3.5 Comparing opening scenes of the Plays ............................................................................ 64 Chapter Four - The Adaptations of Foe – Endings ........................................................... 78 4.1 A Critical reading of Foe‘s ending .................................................................................... 78 4.2 Wheatley‟s Ending ............................................................................................................. 84 4.3 Glazer‟s Ending ................................................................................................................. 89 Chapter Five - Conclusion .................................................................................................... 99 Works Cited ....................................................................................................................... 103 v Chapter One Introduction “Foe is a story about telling stories It is about whose story to tell and who has the power to tell it. It is about having a voice.” – Mark Wheatley (1996) 1.1 Overview J. M Coetzee‟s Foe was published in 1986, attracting a large volume of critical scholarship. There have been many articles, theses, book chapters and even a special issue of Journal of Literary Studies1 devoted to the novel, particularly in the field of postcolonial studies, postmodernism and feminist criticism. Foe is a re-imagined version of the iconic novel Robinson Crusoe (1719) by Daniel Defoe. The novel tells the story of a woman named Susan Barton who is searching for her lost daughter and becomes marooned on an island where she meets Robinson Cruso (Coetzee drops the „e‟ of „Crusoe‟) and Friday. Little attention has been given to the two theatrical adaptations of the novel. This thesis will explore how these texts can lead to new understandings of Coetzee‟s work by looking comparatively at two theatrical adaptations of the novel, one by Mark Wheatley in 1996 and the other by Peter Glazer in 2003. This will be a comparative study with a cross- medial approach offering a new approach to Coetzee‟s Foe, and potential for new critical insights. Throughout this thesis it is imperative to know that this is a textual study and not a performativity study. This thesis will not act as a review of the performance, but is rather a textual and interpretive study that looks at the two adaptations in relation to adaptation studies, as well as extending Coetzee studies in the field of intermediality and adaptation. 1 Issue 5 volume 2, June 1989. 1 However, this thesis will make use of the reviews of the respective plays available in order to supplement the respective texts with information about their staging. Coetzee‟s novel is a story which, as will be seen, poses formidable challenges to an adaptation, and
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