Consider how these productions are employing all the techniques, technology and resources of modern theatre.
Richard III - Schaubühne - Dir. Thomas Ostermeier
Similarly to Elizabethan Theatre, this production used music in order to set the atmosphere and abstractedly narrate the events happening on stage. A single drum kit, to the side of the stage where a drummer would play electrifying, strong beats in order to echo what was happening on stage or in the thoughts of Richard III, played by Lars Eidinger. As well as this an echo-like quality microphone suspended above the stage which Eidinger used for asides and soliloquies, often rapping them, spitting them out. Although the sound created wouldn't have been what was traditional in Elizabethan theatre, the intention for the use of music was the same. However, the technology of today allowed the use of the microphone, which really emphasised the use and effect of music and sound in the piece and how this can elicit certain experiences for the audience, whilst also representing the fast evolution of the use of new technology in theatre performance and the way in which it is becoming more and more adapted and evolved since the Elizabethan era.
Interestingly, the stage reminded me of the traditional globe stage in that it had a balcony and an entrance at the back of the stage in the centre, with a curtain for a door. This same stage was used for every location and scene and only transformed in minor ways with a change of prop/furniture so in this sense it was similar to traditional Elizabethan performances. Also similarly, there was audience participation used to humiliate the character Buckingham, played by Moritz Gottwald. The brutality of the participation which involved the audience shouting 'You look like shit' - and spurred on my Richard (Eidinger) transported me to the Elizabethan age and the behaviour which audiences at that time would have adopted towards actors during a performance - something which is rare in theatre now.
Although this production was modernised, with modern costume, prop and devices with the music and technology there was definitely an air of the biblical or the old and epic about it which was synonymous with some Elizabethan Theatre.
Midsummer Night's Dream - Dir. Joe Hill-Gibbins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjz5yHwyM-w
An inventive and daring aspect to this play was the use of real, earth and soil on stage which gave the play an air of experiment which wouldn't have been present in Elizabethan theatre. I thought that this was a really interesting use of modern ideas for theatre, not only did it mean that the actors were evidently embodying more animalistic traits as they became dirtier and more covered in earth, but it meant that the actors themselves were performing with endurance, attempting to struggle through the soil to play their part.
Another way in which this production defied traditional Elizabethan devices in both production and writing was that the sense of catharsis is completely destroyed at the end. Rather than leaving the story with Puck (Lloyd Hutchinson) and his apologetic speech bringing the play to a solution, the characters descend once again into madness and darkness as they struggle through the dirt, filthy and hysterical on stage, shouting over each other.
Twelfth Night - Dir. Simon Godwin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-8kVX7-LqY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_giK0zGjc8
This production most obviously defies Elizabethan values and style with it's reimagined 'Malvolia', played by Tamsin Greig. Women had not been allowed to play even the female characters during shakespeare's time, let alone the male ones. In this production the character is reimagined and so cleverly played in that the re-imagination of the character doesn't change it or warp it, but focuses solely on Malvolio's character traits and his identity. Interestingly this production explored, not just disguise and confusion in that people may not be what they seem, but also gender fluidity and sexuality, which the play lends itself to and therefore seems only right to have explored it in such modern times. This is another aspect ot the play which defies Elizabethan style.
The set design, costume, and overall production value for this play was extremely elaborate, meaning that many of the effects would definitely never have been able to be achieved in the Elizabethan era. Lighting was used to define the different locations and set the atmosphere, which wouldn't have been an option in Shakespeare's time. However, similarly to traditional Elizabethan theatre, live music was used, especially to narrate particular parts of the play and set the tone in the background. The music seemed to follow the characters and helped to give the play it's playful, mischievous quality. Imogen - Dir. Matthew Dunster
Similarly to the National Theatre's production of 'Twelfth Night', this recalamation of the play 'Cymbeline' to be renamed 'Imogen', the real main part to the play and with actually the most lines in the play was adapted with the backdrop of the drugs business and gang violence in London. Firstly, there is vital difference in that this modern production explores a modern London, one which transcends the Elizabethan Era and it's idea of what London was defined by and could be in the 17th century.
'Imogen' included the actors being suspended in the air for battle scenes and important objects being suspended throughout the play which Elizabethan theatre didn't have the technology or science for at that point. However it was described by the technical director that Shakespeare intended for actors to be able to fly which was the reason for the hole in the cieling, claiming that giving the actors the capability to fly on stage captures the exhileration and explosiveness of the battles Shakespeare has written to be performed.
This production was filled with the use of ensemble dances and singing reflective of society in London, particularly in the streets and in the 'urban concrete jungle' of it. It is possible to suggest that this isn't much different from Elizabethan performances which would have taken place at the Globe as a representation of society in London at that time also, proving that Shakespeare is able to transcend time and place.
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