photographed by Marc Brenner for The Independent
Whether you are an English major or not, chances are that you have an opinion on Shakespeare. He’s simply too prevalent in Anglophone culture to completely avoid encountering. You may have studied his work in college, or you may have simply read a play out loud in a high school English class. You might have had a role in a local production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream or watched professional Shakespeare in the Park performances during the summer. Still not convinced? What about films like the teen flick 10 Things I Hate About You, sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet, or musical hit West Side Story? Yep, those are all retellings of Shakespeare plays. I could go on and on about all of the words that were invented by Shakespeare, the names he made up, and the turns of phrase that are just lines from his plays that are now colloquialisms, but I won’t, because I have a more important mission: proving that Shakespeare is still alive and relevant today.
Picture via Time Out London.
Shakespeare has been in the literary canon for so long, that for many, he has developed a veneer of stuffiness and respectability that doesn’t really go with the original spirit of his plays. The past tends to get a reputation for prudishness due to the more recent memory of the straight-laced Victorians, but the Elizabethans and Stuarts of Shakespeare’s day were famous for enjoying a good time. As such, Shakespeare’s plays are often clever, funny, bawdy, thrilling, haunting, and even downright gory. Let’s not forget that the first Globe Theatre burned down when the real cannon they were using in a production set the thatched roof on fire! The trick is to find the productions that are willing to engage with the text as was intended rather than to place it on a dusty pedestal.
Theatre in Shakespeare’s day was a dynamic industry; plays were organized and performed by groups who handled every aspect of production, from writing to acting to stage effects. Rather than actors signing on for one play and then seeking their next role across London, they would have a home in their troupe. Because of this, the actors in a troupe were highly familiar with each other and could work well and efficiently together. This was crucial in the lively world of Elizabethan theatre, where avid audiences’ attendance had to be won from competing groups. Because of this, troupes had to be fast and flexible, able to produce new shows in what seems like an insanely short amount of time today. By having a large rotation of shows, they could keep audience members coming back time and again, luring them in with frequent new productions as well as previous favorites.
Shakespeare’s troupe was a powerhouse of English Renaissance theatre. First named the Lord Chamberlain’s Men and then the King’s Men to reflect their powerful patrons, their productions were popular in a changing array of settings, from performances for Elizabeth I and James VI & I at court to a parade of theaters.
Photograph from Wikipedia.
The most famous today is the Globe, a round, open-air building with a stage in the middle, seating around the edges and standing room on the floor around the stage. A replica now stands in London, offering regular performances in the same setting that Elizabethan audiences would’ve experienced. Shakespeare’s Globe was built in 1997, fulfilling actor and director Sam Wanamaker’s dream of building a recreation of the original Globe Theatre, a project over twenty years in the making. Like the original Globe, tickets run a range of prices, including extremely inexpensive tickets for the “groundlings,” who watched the whole play on their feet, to pricier seats for more wealthy theatergoers.
Though the Globe does its best to offer an authentic Elizabethan theatergoing experience, their productions are anything but stuffy. They consider themselves to be “conducting a radical theatre experiment,” and as such they aren’t afraid to take risks with their shows. A famous production of Titus Andronicus was so gory that audience members fainted and those closest to the stage were advised to wear waterproof ponchos to protect their clothing from sprays of stage blood. Likewise, in Shakespeare’s day, theatre troupes were all male, meaning both male and female parts were played by men. Today, Globe productions often take a similar gender-bending approach to plays, casting actors in roles regardless of gender – what some may consider a radical approach has its roots in tradition!
Currently, in-person Globe performances are on hold, but they are available to watch online. A premiere is shown every two weeks for free on YouTube, while a large back catalogue of filmed performances is available to rent or buy on GlobeTV. Rentals are ₤5.99 and purchases for yourself or as a gift to others are ₤11.99. The Globe’s website also has lots of free resources to teach visitors about Shakespeare, the theatre, and their work and history, including a blog, podcast, and virtual tour.
Another modern Shakespeare project embraces the less well-known Blackfriars Theatre, which the King’s Men used as their winter theatre from 1608 to 1642. A replica of this venue has been built in Staunton, Virginia, by the American Shakespeare Center, a unique theatre project that seeks to bring Shakespeare’s works to life in the same way they were done in the Bard’s own day and in his own theaters. That means a troupe of actors works together on each performance, without the oversight of a director. They orchestrate every aspect of each production themselves, in much the same way The King’s Men would’ve done. Their repertoire is based in Shakespeare’s classics, but they also include productions of plays by Shakespeare’s contemporaries and later classics of the stage, as well as new productions, keeping the tradition of a writer and cast working together on plays alive and well.
Their home troupe performs from Blackfriars Playhouse, a replica of the Blackfriars Theater, which was an indoor design rather than the more familiar “wooden O” of the Globe. ASC also has a traveling troupe, which brings lively performances to locations across the US.
As with many businesses, ASC’s doors are currently closed to prevent the spread of coronavirus, but they are not leaving Shakespeare fans to fend for themselves. In the absence of live shows, they are providing online versions of their current season’s selections. BlkFrs TV provides cinema-quality streaming videos of all of the performances from ASC’s 2020 Actors’ Renaissance and Tour Homecoming seasons. Viewings are available by buying a $10.00 ticket to the play of your choice; special rates are also available for groups and distance learning opportunities.
Ticket sales support ASC’s Keep the Lights On campaign, which keeps the company in operation during the current period of closure and continues to provide theatre experiences for fans, as well as contributing to an Employee Relief Fund for ASC’s staff and artists.
While trips to the Globe and Blackfriars Playhouse are ideal, take this opportunity while you are spending more time at home to try out some of these free and low-cost options for bringing Shakespeare into your quarantine – with no risk of infection!
