Does Modern Always Work?

Recently schoolteachers, academics and even well-known celebrities have worried about the future of Shakespeare. Last Saturday, Ralph Fiennes was speaking at the Hay on Wye Literature Festival about the way in which it is increasingly difficult to bring people to Shakespearean plays, as audiences simply rule out the language as being too complicated and the plays, too old-fashioned. Consequently, the RSC and other theatre companies have began trying to modernise Shakespearean classics so as to make them more attractive and enjoyable for twenty first century audiences but is modernisation really the solution?

Presently, the RSC are showing The Merchant of Venice, moving the play from the 16th century City of Bridges to present-day Las Vegas. Despite still using the Shakespearean script, the play features casinos, a talk show, an Elvis Presley impersonator, Batman and Glee. Rupert Goold, the director, has skilfully adapted all of the events in the Shakespeare’s original script to work in the modern world. However, despite the casting of celebrated RSC actors such as Patrick Stewart (Shylock) accompanied by a wide variety of new talent, for me, the play raised the question whether modernising Shakespeare is really necessary to attract more viewers.

For me, personally, modernising The Merchant of Venice didn’t do it any favours. I felt Goold was trying to be clever for clever’s sake and that he made many ‘good’ characters very dislikeable and unbelievable. However, with more and more people dubbing Shakespeare as ‘boring’ and ‘irrelevant’ it is clear why many directors decide to modernise Shakespeare.

For me, the reason why the public are starting to turn against Shakespeare is because as schoolchildren they were never taken to see a production and many RSC regulars feel the same. “I think children’s very first experience of Shakespeare should always be in performance…that makes it alive and real” Helen Mirren recently stated in a TV interview and Ralph Fiennes at Hay on Wye completely agreed with her stating that it was all about the seeing, not reading, the performance. Furthermore, with the increasing popularity of period television programs such as Downtown Abbey and films such as Atonement and Pride and Prejudice, it is clear that present day audiences are not boring with the ‘drama from the past’.

Despite this, many feel modernising the Bard (and other classic stories – Pride and Prejudice and Zombies anybody?) is the right thing to do because many argue the plays are extremely complex and children, in particular, do not want to sit through plays with which they cannot relate. Consequently it seems the trend in modernising Shakespeare will continue to grow. For example, David Tennant and Catherine Tate have just began their modern production of Much Ado About Nothing in London whilst Ralph Fiennes has just finished directing and starring in a modern day Coriolanus to be released at the end of the year.