ORSON WELLES’ INTERMEDIAL VERSIONS OF SHAKESPEARE IN THEATRE, RADIO AND FILM by Clara Fernández-Vara B.A. English Studies, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), 2000 Thesis Supervisor: Peter S. Donaldson Submitted to the Department of Comparative Media Studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Comparative Media Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, September 2004. © 2004 Clara Fernández-Vara. All rights reserved The author thereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part. 2 3 INDEX ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................... 5 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 9 PARADOXES AND AMBIGUITIES IN ORSON WELLES’ OEUVRE ............................................ 17 ORSON WELLES AS AUTEUR ............................................................................................... 23 THESIS STRUCTURE............................................................................................................ 31 CHAPTER 1: 1937-1939: THE FEDERAL THEATRE PROJECT AND FAUSTUS; THE MERCURY THEATRE AND JULIUS CAESAR .................................................. 36 THE FABRICATION OF A THEATRE STAR ............................................................................ 36 THE FEDERAL THEATRE PROJECT: THE NEGRO THEATRE UNIT AND PROJECT 851........... 40 THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF DR FAUSTUS ............................................................................ 43 THE MERCURY THEATRE................................................................................................... 52 CAESAR .............................................................................................................................. 55 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 63 CHAPTER 2: RADIO INNOVATIONS: THE MERCURY THEATRE ON THE AIR AND THE CAMPBELL PLAYHOUSE............................................................................. 64 RADIO DRAMA AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF RADIO............................................................. 65 THE MERCURY THEATRE ON THE AIR AND THE CAMPBELL PLAYHOUSE .............................. 69 HAMLET IN THE COLUMBIA WORKSHOP .............................................................................. 85 JULIUS CAESAR................................................................................................................... 92 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 98 CHAPTER 3: MACBETH (1948), INTERMEDIAL PRODUCTION METHODS... 101 VOODOO MACBETH .......................................................................................................... 101 THEATRE/FILM MACBETH (1947-8) ................................................................................. 106 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 125 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 127 4 APPENDIX A – ILLUSTRATIONS............................................................................... 135 ILLUSTRATION 1: POSTER FOR FAUSTUS, JANUARY 1937............................................ 135 ILLUSTRATION 2: ORSON WELLES AS FAUSTUS........................................................... 137 ILLUSTRATION 3: THE VOODOO MACBETH STAGE ...................................................... 139 ILLUSTRATION 4: MACBETH DESCENDING THE STAIRS ................................................ 141 APPENDIX B – THEATRE PRODUCTIONS CREDITS........................................... 143 “VOODOO” MACBETH ...................................................................................................... 143 DOCTOR FAUSTUS ........................................................................................................... 145 CAESAR (1937)................................................................................................................. 146 MACBETH (1947) ............................................................................................................. 147 APPENDIX C – RADIO PROGRAMS LISTING ........................................................ 149 APPENDIX D -- MACBETH (1948) FILM CAST AND CREW ................................. 152 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................. 153 INTERNET RESOURCES.............................................................................................. 156 FILMOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 157 5 ABSTRACT In addition to being a key figure in the history of filmmaking, Orson Welles was an original theatre director and radio performer and producer. The aim of this thesis is to study Welles’ achievements and failures in theatre, radio and film, as well as comparing his craft and techniques in each medium during his early career. Welles’ adaptations of Shakespeare will provide the guiding thread of this intermedial exploration. Close reading of these texts will show the recurrence of intermediality in Welles’ work, namely, the way techniques from one medium feed into the other two. Borrowing conventions and devices that are proper to other media and importing them into a target medium is his basic innovative strategy. This use of intermediality brings about innovative effects that favour agile and gripping storytelling, though it can also hamper the understanding of the piece. 6 7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many people I would like to thank who have helped me, directly or indirectly, in the elaboration of this thesis. These are just a few of them. Many thanks to ‘La Caixa’ Fellowship, for kindly providing me the means to study at Comparative Media Studies MIT, supporting me through my two years of study, and making sure that my arrival and stay would smooth and comfortable. Thanks to my thesis advisors: Peter Donaldson, to whom I am deeply grateful for his support, guidance, encouragement, and understanding; as well as for allowing me to have wonderful opportunities for learning and developing my interests in Shakespeare and the Media. Diana Henderson, who with her relentless advice kept me alert to the problems of this thesis, helping me to make the best of my research; thanks also for her refreshing conversations on theatre. Henry Jenkins, who with his encyclopaedic media knowledge illumined the way of my research; always available and ready to provide prompt feedback and support. Thanks to William Uricchio, who insisted on an early start on our theses, and on the historical framework within which we were working. I cannot forget to thank my teachers at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Manuel Aguirre, Antonia Rodríguez-Gago, Robert K. Shepherd and Philip Sutton, who taught me the professional skills to get here, gave me unfailing encouragement and trusted me more than I trust myself. 8 Thanks to MIT Libraries, for providing me with most of the books and theses I needed in my research, and to Doug Purdy, who always helped me obtain the audiovisual materials from the Film Office, most times for as long as I needed. Thanks to my classmates of 21L.435 / CMS.840, Literature on Film—Shakespeare on Film, who provided a unique environment for wonderful discussions of Shakespearean filmic adaptation, as well as extremely interesting presentations and comments. My thanks to those who have accompanied me in the last two years in my Shakespearean and Media ramblings, Edward Barret, Susan Brock, Kurt Fendt Ellen Harris, Carolyn Heath, Bernice Kliman, Sylvia Morris, Michael Oulette, Eric Rasmussen, Janet Sonenberg, Irving Signer, Edward Baron Turk, Belinda T. Yung, among others. Thanks to my friends and family in Spain, for still being there. Many thanks to the other Comparative Media Studies graduates students: to CMS’03, for their example and useful veteran advice, especially to Sussanah Rachel Mandel; to CMS’05, for their refreshing and professional presence around the office. Very special thanks to the other CMS’04 graduate students, my wonderful classmates and friends: Robert J. Bain, Michael Epstein, Cristóbal García Herrera, Neeti Gupta, Moneta Ho, Sarah Kamal, Yannis Zavoleas. And last, but not least, thanks to Matt Weise, my special classmate, thesis buddy, best friend and movie companion, for his support, encouragement and feedback during the last two years. 9 INTRODUCTION Orson Welles has become a brand-name in film studies; his filmmaking is generally considered among the most innovative and daring in cinema history. His career, nonetheless, was littered with obstacles that got in the way of the production of his films and, in the worst cases, maimed them irrecoverably. The recurrence of these production problems earned him the label of ‘doomed director,’ which was no help when looking for funding to produce his films. The biggest doom of his film career, however, would be that it overshadowed his successful beginnings as a stage and radio director. The renown and prestige he acquired in these two media granted him a spectacular