“But Is It Any Good?”: Evaluating Shakespeare Adaptation
Abstracts, SAA 2020 Seminar. Evaluating Shakespeare Adaptations (Session I) ‘All for your delight, we are not here’: Questioning the preeminent role of the traditional theatre critic Gemma Kate Allred, Université de Neuchâtel Whether through an immersive experience, diversity casting, celebrity casting or updating the text, it is very much of the Zeitgeist for Shakespeare on stage to be adapted for the modern audience. Add into the mix celebrity casting, and questions of authenticity and value are brought to the fore. Within British theatre, we have an established system to assess the worth or merit of a production. Reviewers, often male, upper middle class, and Oxbridge educated, write a few paragraphs for a broadsheet, award a star rating, and the production is rated. However, is this system still fit for purpose? Notions that the audience attracted by these modern productions are simply incapable of understanding is endemic in the critical reviews, with critics placing themselves as an intellectual counterpoint to the uneducated masses. Increasingly, theatre companies make explicit a desire to attract new audiences to Shakespeare. However, in appealing to new audiences, the self-appointed educated elite are implicitly excluded. These established critics frequently don’t get it – but when they are not the intended market for the production, why should they? It’s not for them. In most things we accept when people’s personal preferences differ, and we accept when someone likes something different – coffee or tea we ask – are you a dog person or a cat person? However, with theatre there is a tendency to insist that it is for everyone.
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