fandomhigh | Modern Shakespeare, Wednesday, Period 1 & 2

Entry tags:

shakespeare

Modern Shakespeare, Wednesday, Period 1 & 2

Rather than the usual pillows and comfortable chairs in a modern living room, today the students would walk through the door of the Danger Shop and enter the Globe Theater. "Hello!" Karla called, waving to them from the middle balcony. "So, the current production of A Midsummer Night's Dream playing at the real Globe in London is sadly well over an hour longer than our class period, and it's not a modern adaptation." Which wouldn't have stopped Karla for a minute if it hadn't been too long to get the students back in time for their next class. "Instead, we'll be watching the newest version, adapted by the Mister What showrunner for the BBC. While his version is closer to the original than many of the other adaptations we've watched this term, he has made some fairly significant changes and has a very modern feel."

A screen lowered from the top of the stage. "Pick a seat--or remain standing if you want to be a groundling--and let's see how this modern adaptation plays out."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A merry mischief maker!

Lucille Sharpe

Peridot

Steven Universe

Gratuity Tucci

Cosette Fauchelevent

Kaylin Neya

So watch it!

At least this performance looked like Lucille would expect it to ~~although I have yet to see it myself~~. The changing of the love stories confused her a little though.

It was Shakespeare, but with more than one black person in it.

Tip was very here for this.

Cosette, being incredibly fond of A Midsummer Night's Dream, was completely into this from the start. She didn't even bat an eye at the changes.

She might have clapped her hands over her mouth to muffle a few tiny squeals of delight here and there, though.

"We've watched many adaptations now. Which was your favorite and why?"

"I liked the one about the side characters," Tip said. "Not all the questions it asks are valuable, or even really sensical, but it still asks them. And points out all the nonsensical stuff that we just kind of let slide in other stories."

"That one is my favorite, too," Karla confided. "Have you read much absurdist humor?"

~~She asked a character played by Bella of all people, smh.~~

". . . I've read a lot of silly stuff, but I'm guessing that's not what you mean."

"Did you learn anything--either about Shakespeare or the modern world--from the adaptations? Which one? What did you learn?"

"I learned from many of them that Earth beings are obsessed with love," Peridot decided, looking a little disgruntled about that fact. "And this concept of 'family.'"

She would have specified 'humans,' but, well, there had been the lions...

Especially the lions.

"This is true," Karla said, perching on the back of her chair, her feet planted in the seat. "Love and family are considered to be two of the most important aspects of a person's life. Wars were fought over them. Greek mythology alone..." She shook her head. "Never mind. We can cover the Greeks later. Do your people not have the same consideration and concepts?"

"We can develop connections and affection," Peridot noted. "And yes, I suppose we can love. But our society isn't as centered around it by any means. And family is... alien."

Literally.

"Gems don't form family units the same way humans do. It just isn't what we are. Oh, we'll group off into assignments that we're most useful in, but I suppose that isn't quite the same thing, is it?"

"That the modern world needs different stories," Lucille said. "In some cases they are very close, in others not. Perhaps that is true for many eras, but I would like to believe that the plays of Shakespeare told in my time would be more to the taste of the Bard himself."

"We could probably debate Shakespeare's 'tastes' all day without getting far," Karla noted, giving Lucille a quick smile, "but I can certainly agree that he might find yours far more recognizable. What would you say the greatest differences between his plays and our adaptations are? Feel free to only name a few, if you'd like."

"Being made sweet when they are not, and comedic when they are tragic," Lucille said. "Letting the story take place in modern times. The latter I can understand better than the former."

"Well, the adaptations themselves show that stories are really flexible. You can tweak elements here and there -- or change the entire setting -- and depending on what you do and how you do it, you can have the story say something completely different than it did before. Like with the Taming of the Shrew. Sure, I mean, it's flawed, but the adaptation turned that from a story about how to oppress women to one about how women can find their own freedoms."

"So, if we're using them to teach wildly different lessons, then why do we still go to Shakespeare and his plays, you think?" Karla asked.

She could ask Gratuity questions all day, honestly. The girl's mind was fascinating.

"Why is almost every movie Hollywood makes a remake of some older movie?" Tip shrugged. "We like to recycle stories. And we don't have to pay Shakespeare royalties."

"If you were going to adapt a Shakespearean play to fit either your world or modern-day America, which play would it be? What changes would you make?"

"Lear with Boov," Tip said, after thinking for awhile. "Or any of the political ones with the Boov. They really recently went from being a total dictatorship led by a Grand Highboov who liked to name everything after himself to a representative democracy -- sort of. I suspect their president will probably still get to name everything after themselves. You couldn't really do the 'divide your land between your kids' bit, because they don't raise their young in families, but that'd be half the fun."

"Interesting," Karla said, both about her choice and the information about the Boov. "How would you handle it, then? If it wasn't about children? Especially with the Earl of Gloucester's plot? Or would you remove that subplot?"

"Well, they still have younger generations. They're just not raised in families. So it'd be pretty easy to still have Lear and Gloucester face off against ruthless underlings. They could even still have the remainder of their tadpole tails."

Who had very fond memories of playing Puck, many years ago.

Even if some of the shenanigans around it had been less than amusing at the time.

One day I will write my Gothic retelling of A Winter's Tale. One day.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Modern Shakespeare, Wednesday, Period 1 & 2

Sign In (06/22)

Re: Sign In (06/22)

Re: Sign In (06/22)

Re: Sign In (06/22)

Re: Sign In (06/22)

Re: Sign In (06/22)

Re: Sign In (06/22)

The Play's The Thing!

Re: The Play's The Thing!

Re: The Play's The Thing!

Re: The Play's The Thing!

Discussion Question 1

Re: Discussion Question 1

Re: Discussion Question 1

Re: Discussion Question 1

Discussion Question 2

Re: Discussion Question 2

Re: Discussion Question 2

Re: Discussion Question 2

Re: Discussion Question 2

Re: Discussion Question 2

Re: Discussion Question 2

Re: Discussion Question 2

Re: Discussion Question 2

Re: Discussion Question 2

Discussion Question 3

Re: Discussion Question 3

Re: Discussion Question 3

Re: Discussion Question 3

Talk to Karla

OOC