Fandom High School

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."

After the violent disaster that had been Jono and Hannibal's wedding (of which she had contributed much of the violence), Karla was tempted to show Ran. But she wasn't sure Peridot's reading level was up to snuff to follow the subtitles. So, instead, she had another movie that discussed violence in its many variations and the effect it has on the text. But before she could start the movie, there was something she had to clear up first.

"Okay, so everything in the documentary...forget it," Karla said, rubbing her temples. "I'm sorry. It was just...yeah, everything about it was wrong. Hilarious, but wrong." It was below her Queenly dignity to admit that she'd gone home and snickered at all the words Philomena had underlined with her finger. And then sent it to Ender, because what was the point of having friends if she couldn't troll them? "So, take it as a joke--a parody--and let's move on."

There, that done, Karla could move onto the proper lecture. "So, one of the benefits of modern adaptations is the ability to look at the plays in ways that Shakespeare and his contemporaries could never have imagined. There are new ways of looking at the text, like feminist criticism or queer theory--that is, examining the plays with an eye towards how gender or sexuality is constructed. And with that, comes a focus on minor characters. Modern adaptations can expand upon their roles or delve deeper into their characterizations, or even use them to shed new light on the text. Today, we're looking at one of the most famous examples of this, by revisiting our first play, Amleth."

"So, just about every year, the island picks a day and makes you sing," Karla said with the smug smile of someone who'd been through it a million times by now and had no fear of it left. "You will sing. Likely, you will sing in public and in front of your peers. If you're lucky, you'll get away with just singing about what you're doing, little musical additions to your conversation. If you're unlucky, you'll end up singing something personal and private in front of someone--confessing your innermost thoughts and emotions to the person you're talking to. For one day, you get to experience living in a musical--almost. One of the rules of being in a musical is that the characters don't know they are in a musical and so the random outbursts into song are either not noticed, even when they happen just a few feet away, or everyone participates and it's considered normal."

Could you see where this was going yet, class? At least, those of you from modern times? "Today, we're going to watch one of the most famous adaptations of Shakespeare's work, East Side Story, which is a modern, musical take on the play, Star-Crossed. In both plays, two teens from rival factions fall in love, but their friends and families are both feuding. That feud leads several deaths, including the death of a family member of the female lead's at the hands of the male lead." Karla continued explaining the plot of Star-Crossed, going over the relationships between the characters and how young the leads were written as and the power structures between the families.

"In East Side Story, some of that narrative is complicated," Karla continued. "Rather than being two opposing wealthy families and their retainers, the musical provides a racial and economic element, with one side being the established white gang and the other the newly-arrived immigrants from Puerto Rico. Either way, the causal hatred between the two groups leads ultimately to tragedy, turning what many consider to be Shakespeare's most romantic play into his most tragic."

Karla's class took place in an ordinary classroom, though she'd taken a leaf from Lady Ghanima's book and had all the desks cleared out, replacing them with cushions and over-sized beanbags, as well as a few padded chairs. They were going to be watching movies this session and Karla saw no reason why everybody shouldn't be comfortable. When the class entered, they'd see her lounging across a small loveseat, waiting for them to find a spot they wanted to claim as their own.

"Ambition," she said when everyone was settled. "Pride. Love, lust, and hatred. Anger. Fear. A question of what truly is the measure of a man. A truly staggering number of puns and dick jokes. I fell in love with Shakespeare when I was a student here," in no small part due to Ender Wiggin "and it was his depiction of human nature that did it. What is the best course to take for a son who finds that his mother has married his uncle--who is also his father's murderer? How much blame can be attributed to a man who kills his king, but is urged into the deed by others? What is a suitable punishment for a man who believed lies and gossip to the point where he repudiates his bride? Or, in another play, kills her? William Shakespeare wrote a great many plays across a great many genres, but in the end, they all come back to one central theme: people's motivations. By writing about people, truly recognizable people, Shakespeare plays have survived multiple centuries--a real feat in this short-lived world--and are still popular and relevant today. Had you gone to a normal high school, you likely would have read several of his plays before graduation. In this class, we'll be watching movies."

She straightened in her seat, feet finally hitting the floor. "Not just any movies; modern retellings of his classic plays. Many old classics are filmed and then immediately shown on the Black and White Period Piece Old Lady Boring Movie Channel, or whatever it's called," Karla dismissed the question with a wave of her hand "--of interest only to people who liked the original work. But Shakespeare's plays are constantly being updated, modernized, and retold, thus reaching out to new audiences all the time. And the reason for that is because his characters and his plots work regardless of what time period they're set in. They're problems and issues that people still face today, if in slightly altered forms: fears of infidelity, questions of one's legacy, ambition and advancement, falling in love, interpersonal problems. prejudice."

No one had promised this was going to be a light and cheerful class, kids. Even if it was a summer workshop. "So, first, introductions. It's a tradition that spans back to my time here, too. I am Karla, graduate of the class of 2013, though it's been about six years in my world since I graduated, rather than three." Really, that long? Mother Night! "When I'm not teaching here, I'm the Queen of the Territory of Glacia." She also served in the First Circle of the Dark Court, but there didn't seem to be any Kaeleerans in the room this year, so she left that off. "Today, for your introductions, name and class, favorite Shakespeare play and why if you have one--no worries if you don't--and tell me what you think this Shakespeare quote means: The worst is not, So long as we can say, 'This is the worst.' Or, if you'd prefer something slightly less macabre, try God has given you one face, and you make yourself another."

And with that, she was pointing at a student. "And you are?"