Studying Shakespeare Adaptation : From Restoration Theatre to YouTube

Shakespeare’s plays have long been open to reimagining and reinterpretation, from John Fletcher’s riposte to The Taming of the Shrew in 1611 to present day spin-offs in a whole range of media, including YouTube videos and Manga comics. This book offers a clear route map through the world of adaptation, selecting examples from film, drama, prose fiction, ballet, the visual arts and poetry, and exploring their respective political and cultural interactions with Shakespeare’s plays. 36 specific case studies are discussed, three for each of the 12 plays covered, offering additional guidance for readers new to this important area of Shakespeare studies. The introduction explains key areas that are subsequently explored through the chapters on individual plays, including: Shakespeare’s own adaptive art and its Renaissance context; production and performance as adaptation; generic expectation and transmedial practice, and a brief overview of adaptation theory. Organized chronologically, the chapters cover the most commonly studied plays allowing readers to dip in to read about specific plays or trace how technological developments have fundamentally changed ways in which Shakespeare is experienced. With examples encompassing British, North American, South Asian, Japanese, European, and Middle Eastern adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays, the volume offers readers a wealth of insight and examples from different ages, territories and media. Cover Contents About this book Introduction 1 Titus Andronicus Edward Ravenscroft, Titus Andronicus, or the Rape of ­Lavinia (1678) Ira Aldridge as Aaron on the Victorian stage The Hungry, dir. Bornila Chatterjee (2017) 2 Richard III David Edgar, Dick Deterred (1974) Disability studies: Richard’s deformed body The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses, dir. Dominic Cooke (2016) 3 A Midsummer Night’s Dream Henry Fuseli, Robin Goodfellow-Puck (1787–90) A Midsummer Night’s Dream, dir. Max Reinhardt and ­William Dieterle (1935) Appignanesi and Brown, Manga Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2008) 4 Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare: The Animated Tales (1992–4) Ben Power, A Tender Thing (2009) Romeo and Juliet on YouTube 5 The Merchant of Venice Mark Leiren-Young, Shylock: A Play (1996) The Merchant of Venice, dir. Trevor Nunn, Chris Hunt (2001) Howard Jacobson, Shylock Is My Name (2016) 6 Hamlet Sulayman Al-Bassam, The Al-Hamlet Summit (premiered 2002) Haider, dir. Vishal Bhardwaj (2014) Ophelia in the twenty-first century: survival and revival 7 Othello Othello and its eighteenth-century editors Charles Mathews, Othello, the Moor of Fleet Street (1833) Othello, dir. Dimitri Buchowetzki (1922) 8 King Lear Edward Bond, Lear (1971) Ran, dir. Akira Kurosawa (1985) Jane Smiley, A Thousand Acres (1991) 9 Macbeth Eugène Ionesco, Macbett, translated by Donald Watson (1973) Mickey B, dir. Tom Magill (2007) David Greig, Dunsinane (2010) 10 Cymbeline David Garrick, Cymbeline (1762) George Bernard Shaw, Cymbeline Refinished (1937) Cymbeline, dir. Michael Almereyda (2014) 11 The Winter’s Tale Mary Cowden Clarke, The Girlhood of Shakespeare’s ­Heroines in a Series of Tales (1850–2) The Winter’s Tale, dir. Gregory Doran, live-screening (1999) Christopher Wheeldon, The Winter’s Tale ballet (2014) 12 The Tempest Dryden and Davenant, The Tempest or the Enchanted Island (1667) W. H. Auden, ‘The Sea and the Mirror: A Commentary on Shakespeare’s The Tempest’ (written 1942–4) The Tempest, dir. Derek Jarman (1979) Afterword References Index Shakespeare's plays have long been open to reimagining and reinterpretation, from John Fletcher's riposte to The Taming of the Shrew in 1611 to present day spin-offs in a whole range of media, including YouTube videos and Manga comics. This book offers a clear route map through the world of adaptation, selecting examples from film, drama, prose fiction, ballet, the visual arts and poetry, and exploring their respective political and cultural interactions with Shakespeare's plays. 36 specific case studies are discussed, three for each of the 12 plays covered, offering additional guidance for readers new to this important area of Shakespeare studies. The introduction signals key adaptation issues that are subsequently explored through the chapters on individual plays, including Shakespeare's own adaptive art and its Renaissance context, production and performance as adaptation, and generic expectation and transmedial practice. Organized chronologically, the chapters cover the most commonly studied plays, allowing readers to dip in to read about specific plays or trace how technological developments have fundamentally changed ways in which Shakespeare is experienced. With examples encompassing British, North American, South and East Asian, European and Middle Eastern adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, the volume offers readers a wealth of insights drawn from different ages, territories and media. -- From publisher's website "Shakespeare's plays have long been open to reimagining and reinterpretation, from John Fletcher's riposte to The Taming of the Shrew in 1611 to present day spin-offs in a whole range of media, including YouTube videos and Manga comics. This book offers a clear route map through the world of adaptation, selecting examples from film, drama, prose fiction, ballet, the visual arts and poetry, and exploring their respective political and cultural interactions with Shakespeare's plays. 36 specific case studies are discussed, three for each of the 12 plays covered, offering additional guidance for readers new to this important area of Shakespeare studies. The introduction signals key adaptation issues that are subsequently explored through the chapters on individual plays, including Shakespeare's own adaptive art and its Renaissance context, production and performance as adaptation, and generic expectation and transmedial practice. Organized chronologically, the chapters cover the most commonly studied plays, allowing readers to dip in to read about specific plays or trace how technological developments have fundamentally changed ways in which Shakespeare is experienced. With examples encompassing British, North American, South and East Asian, European and Middle Eastern adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, the volume offers readers a wealth of insights drawn from different ages, territories and media."-- Provided by publisher