Last month, Iraq’s National Theatre opened an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet at their theatre in Baghdad. In their incarnation, the Montagues and Capulets have been replaced by Sunnis and Shi'ites, the dagger is changed to a suicide bomb and Paris, Juliet’s failed suitor, becomes a Qaeda buffoon wearing an explosive vest. The Islamic sects are not mentioned outright, but the fathers’ headgear makes their alliances clear. The sound of machine gun fire occasionally plays in the background. This production, which they re-titled Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad, is currently being presented at the World Shakespeare Festival in Stratford-upon-Avon.
what eye thynk: Brilliant!
I may lack your avante garde sense of good theater. I'm not even sure I can spell "avante garde". But to me it's like spray painting graffiti on the Mona Lisa ~ some things should be left alone, I'm thinking.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand back when "Jesus Christ Super Star" hit the scene, I liked it.
Maybe this is just a case of personal taste.
@pickrjm martin: but sometimes to address and increase relevancy, a piece of art can be adapted to the times. Witness "West Side Story". ( I own a copy of a short rather comedic musical called "West Bank Story centering around Palestinians and Israelis that is another good example.) We absorb and learn from art from antiquity all the more when (without destroying the original, of course) we bring it into our contemporary circumstances and context. If it serves to help us gain more from the message, so be it.
ReplyDeleteIn response to both of you...
DeleteI generally dislike it when theatres "contemporize" Shakespeare. Mainly they seem to do this for no apparent reason other than to be "different"--the Cleveland area company that placed a production on the moon and costumed everyone in silver mylar spacesuits is a good example. Their choices served only to distract.
On the other hand, Iraq's National Theatre production addresses their own culture where tribal mentality and fidelity to a particular religious sect dominates societal mores. It gives a contemporary face to Shakespeare's core lesson that prejudice is senseless.
you're right. If it's within their own culture, who am I to find fault.
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