Mrph1
he/him
from Mercia
(4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Relationship Status: Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies
he/him
#2: Aug 1st 2023 at 12:41:43 AM
The Royal Shakespeare Company seems to be performing a heavily reworked version of "The Fair Maid of the West"
this winter.
A bit torn on that. A lot of 16th/17th century plays are problematic, or clunky by modern standards, and can use a rewrite for a 21st century audience. On the other hand, aside from Shakespeare, they're performed pretty rarely (at least in the UK) so it would be good to see the original as written.
How much updating is justified, I wonder?
Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 16th 2023 at 9:16:42 AM
Total posts: 2
Since the bard has his own thread...
Who else, modern or historic, writes plays that get your attention?
Tom Stoppard and David Hare are on my modern list.
On the historical side, there's J.B. Priestley (although An Inspector Calls is the only one I've had the chance to see live) and Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, then there are the much older ones where I'm more curious than an actual fan, just because so little other than Shakespeare gets revived - Jonson, Marlowe and Webster will probably get me turning up, if anyone ever performs them.
(And I've got the complete Middleton in print somewhere, but honestly I struggle to read the old English...)
London's Globe did a 'Read not Dead' thing pre-pandemic, where they'd revive one of the golden age plays for a single performance. Rehearsed for one day, then performed once or twice in modern dress with no props, scripts in hand. Only saw one of them, but it was a great idea...