Adapting Classic Plays
Classic plays have lasted through the ages by being redone and modernised at every turn in history. Contemporary theatre relies on reworking and utilising themes and events classical playwrights have exercised many times over, however this poses the question of whether or not theatre is being dumbed down for the modern audience and whether it is simply becoming fast entertainment.
Adapting classic plays helps modern audiences engage with the themes and characters presented and provides easier entertainment. Shakespeare, for example, intertwined themes of hardship, heartbreak, love and betrayal as well as countless other motifs and issues which people are still experiencing today; these never go out of fashion and illustrate why his plays find themselves staged so often. The diversity of modern adaptations not only allows audiences to better appreciate and understand Shakespeare’s
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In giving the director the liberty to shape classic plays into their own through adapting them, they can gain a sense of ownership from their production (Crabs 2014) while communicating the audience that it was and still is a commentary of the time in which it was written. The audience can often feel whether or not a production is truly authentic, which is why Peter Meineck professor of Classics at New York University argues “it is more important for plays to work than to be accurate” (van Nievelt 2013) and so it is vital that the director feels ownership of the adapted play. This new wave of auteur directors means there is a multitude of avenues being opened up for the audience to fully understand both play and playwright from a divergent perspective, exploring the classical texts which are so often redone and revamped to fit into contemporary theatre in a way that audiences today can engage
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