Shakespeare in Modern English

By Lurker on Thu, 05/12/2016 - 6:09pm |

THE Oregon Shakespeare Festival has decided that Shakespeare’s language is too difficult for today’s audiences to understand. It recently announced that over the next three years, it will commission 36 playwrights to translate all of Shakespeare’s plays into modern English.

The article goes on to bemoan this, claiming that it doesn't matter if the audience doesn't understand the English. I'm curious about Doctor Cleveland's opinion.

URL:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/07/opinion/shakespeare-in-modern-english.html?_r=1

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As I see it modern english alone will not make Shakespeare's plays easier to understand. Imo that's the least impediment to understanding. The grammar shifts necessary to maintain the iambic pentameter rhythm and the numerous metaphors and analogies are by far the larger impediments to understanding his plays. Removing all of that removes almost everything that makes Shakespeare's plays interesting.

by ocean-kat on Fri, 05/13/2016 - 5:21pm

I cannot post! BOO Hoo

by CVille Dem on Fri, 05/13/2016 - 7:23pm

by CVille Dem on Fri, 05/13/2016 - 6:45pm

FWIW, I have mixed feelings about this... I love Shakespeare's language and think many of the stories are actually a little thin but retelling Shakespeare in contemporary form has created some really cool stuff, from Westside Story to Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet, to things not even based on Romeo and Juliet!

David Mamet, who cannot translate Russian, wrote some beautiful adaptations of The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull and Uncle Vanya.

I have high hopes for this. If standards are high, it could work. Modernizing Shakespeare's language means losing his poetry, but it's okay if the writer creates a new poetry in the process.

by Michael Maiello on Fri, 05/13/2016 - 8:09pm

It will be interesting to see what the 36 playwrights come up with.
The language of Shakespeare is not all that far away. He was playing with people's heads with cadence and meter. The audience at the time was asked to listen in a particular way.
A new version without a similar challenge would be pretty pointless.

by moat on Fri, 05/13/2016 - 9:25pm

A new version without a similar challenge would be pretty pointless.

But skilled writers now, who know our cadence, could do wonderful things.

Consider the # and how it might be dramatized.

by Michael Maiello on Fri, 05/13/2016 - 11:26pm

Hashtag? Oh I get it! Shakespeare for the twitter age.

#tobeornottobe. #thatisthequestion. Whether it's better, when you think about it to suffer #fistsandbullets #reallybadshitgoingdown or #janey'sgotagun #whatdidherdaddydo #ain'tnevergonnabethesame

by ocean-kat on Sat, 05/14/2016 - 3:40am

I'm more into the Virtual Reality fantasy mashups - Brad Pitt vs Kirk Douglas in Coriolanus, Keira Knightley vs. Drew Barrymore as Juliet, Pink vs. Kesha as Cleopatra... I want to see Anthony Hopkins/Hannibal's take on Macbeth.

Nevertheless, the updated dialogue, "Hark, a voice tweets #anon @romeocometh" can provoke a tweetstorm and much more audience engagement.

by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 05/14/2016 - 4:30am

Put another way... were the Oregon Shakespeare festival to give me a legitimate shot at this, where I could do a Tarantino style Hamlet with a strong woman lead called #Ophelia, I'd jump at the chance.

by Michael Maiello on Sat, 05/14/2016 - 7:46am

Arent you describing #TrueRomance?

by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 05/14/2016 - 9:38am

I need to see that again.

by Michael Maiello on Sat, 05/14/2016 - 10:39am

I may be tripping a bit, but still a great flick.

by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 05/14/2016 - 12:33pm

I need to trip again. I haven't done a real psychedelic since the 90s.

by Michael Maiello on Sat, 05/14/2016 - 4:19pm

This is the best part of the trip...when all else fails, we will whip the horse's eyes...and make them sleep & cry...

by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 05/14/2016 - 5:33pm

#TrueITalkOfDreamsWhichAreTheChildrenOfAnIdleBrainBegotOfNothingButVainFantasy

by Michael Wolraich on Sat, 05/14/2016 - 5:35pm

#ToLayHisGoatishDispositionToTheChargeOfAStar!

by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 05/14/2016 - 5:41pm

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