Historical Context - Post 5

The first contemporary Shakespeare show that I decided to watch was Much Ado About Nothing, starring Catherine Tate and David Tennant. The first difference from a traditional Shakespearean show was the costume and set - They were both very modern with bikinis, sun loungers, etc. Also, the staging was very modernised as there was a rotating stage. Continuing with the modern-theme, there was a music track placed on top, featuring electric guitars, which would also not be used in a traditional show as this type of music was not around at the time, and also because music was live on stage at the time so a track would not be used as this technology was not invented at the time. Moving on in the play, there was a 70s-type disco with a popular dance track being played. Not only was this behaviour not typical in Shakespearean times but music like this was not invented. I can appreciate how some adaptations of these shows like to modernise the staging and costume (as well as other concepts) while continuing to use Shakespearean English as it is a way of keeping audiences engaged and making them more relatable as well as making the adaptation more individual and unique.

The second contemporary Shakespeare play that I decided to watch was The Comedy of Errors by The Royal Shakespeare Company. This adaptation had a lot of technology onstage, which, clearly, was not invented in Shakespeare's times. As this was a performance for children, there were a lot of 'goofy' props used to keep them entertained, such as glasses with the attached big nose; again, these are a modern invention therefore I can imagine they chose to use these to keep the audience entertained, as Shakespeare is such a difficult concept to understand (especially for children). The space in which they are performing in does not look like an open air theatre therefore I can imagine that if this was performed in this space in Elizabethan England, the tickets would cost a lot more as it would protect the audience from the weather conditions therefore making them more comfortable. Lastly, from the clips that I saw, I could see that women were playing women, which was very rare in Shakespearean England where women were usually played by boys or young men.

I think one of the most famous contemporary versions of a Shakespeare show is Baz Luhrmenn's 'Romeo + Juliet', featuring Leonardo DiCaprio. This is a film adaptation of one of Shakespeare's most famous plays. While still including the Shakesperean dialogue, the setting is very modern; the Montagues and the Capulets are shown as warring mafia empires, the swords are replaced with guns, and the some of the names of the characters are changed (giving Lords and Ladys first names, etc). This adaptation is very different to an adaptation I have seen performed live in which they stuck to the script and did not change the setting to modernise the play. I saw this adaptation in a small hall where the only set they had was a small, fake staircase and a square that transformed into different things. I can imagine that, in Shakespeare's time, there was no advanced set so the performance was focused on the bare actors themselves.