The Bard Goes Trendy

by E. Nina Rothe

In the past year I've been privy to not one but two -- count 'em two! -- great new

reinterpretations of Shakespeare's tragedies. First it was 'Richard III' done in Arabic and renamed 'Richard III: An Arab Tragedy' -- ah the genius of simplicity in a title -- and then that most tragic of tragedies, dealing with love lost, incest of intentions, depths of despair and filial devotion 'Hamlet'. This latter one was titled 'Hamlet - The Clown Prince' and was interpreted by -- you guessed it! -- a troupe of actors acting as clowns. Both productions genial, both of them taking the Bard to a whole new level of understanding.

To me, the genius of reinterpreting a classic Shakespeare play lies in its simplification of the text, without straying from the poetry and meaning, and rendering it more accessible, to a wider audience. With 'Richard III: An Arab Tragedy' Sulayman Al-Bassam -- a Kuwaiti director and actor of mixed English and Arab background -- translated the text into simply street Arabic which was then supertitled (I saw it at Brooklyn Academy of Music, in NYC) in modern day English. This way, both the Arabic and English speakers in the audience could relate in a simple way to the story, which now took place in a fictional Gulf country run by a despot dictator a-la Saddam Hussein. Of course, being that Al-Bassam is Kuwaiti, I could see how this would have been the perfect choice for him... 

'Hamlet - The Clown Prince' instead did it differently. It magically shortened what is the longest of Shakespeare's plays and the most time consuming to watch and read. Never a favorite of mine, 'Hamlet' always appeared too wordy and lengthy and -- to quote one of the clowns "In Hamlet ladies and gentlemen EVERYBODY dies!" I hadn't always caught on to the misogynistic nuances of Hamlet -- I know, I know, hit me over the head with them, they now scream at me from the text! -- and I could not understand deep in my heart the pain of Ophelia. Also, Gertrude, Hamlet's mom, never really struck me as the full-bodied character pivotal to the plot that she actually is. After an evening with the clowns, I was made a convert. 'Hamlet' is now my favorite play and I have it on my Itouch -- yes, if you love Shakespeare, there's an APP for that?! -- so whenever I need a quick pick-me-up, up comes the Itouch and there I go, with my dear Hammy and Fifi and all of them... 

My own connection with Shakespeare is multi-layered. My Grandfather Hans was the most widely utilized translator of the Bard from English into German. Until very, very recently, my father received some hefty royalties off the performances of his translations! I grew up with a true reverence for his work and that only doubled when my father surreptitiously scattered Grandpa Hans' ashes at Stratford-upon-Avon after his death, so he could forever be by his revered master. So, if I ever want to go and speak to my beloved Grandfather, feel his wonderful aura, I have to do so by walking around the grounds and talking to myself, since he's obviously in an unmarked grave! But it's worth it for a man who inspired everything I am today, more than any other person in my life. In turn, Shakespeare is also very dear to my heart. It represents what Hans loved... I connect with it on an almost spiritual level...

Anyway, I wanted to share my newfound rediscovery of Shakespeare and wonder what was the last play of his that you watched and whether it managed to inspire you by its novelty interpretation... Please do share! Consider it a bit of market research, Elizabethan style. 

Top image courtesy of the Washington Post, middle image courtesy of Habitat Center