Though the whole "revenge" theme is still very relevant in this day and age, I kind of thought that the whole struggle over kingship was a little outdated (or maybe I'm just spoiled, living in the US of A?) A friend actually suggested that someone do a modern adaption of Hamlet with them crazy Columbian drug lords instead of kings. I totally agree, though one might run into problems with all the references to 'kings' and such.
Yes, though we no longer believe in the divine right of kings, the violent power struggles and especially the culture of paranoia are things we come back to today. C.P. Cavafy's King Claudius (http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=163&cat=4), Zbigniew Herbert's Elegy of Fortinbras (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=179877), and Heiner Müller's Hamlet Machine (which frames Hamlet in the light of East Germany and the failure of revolution) engage in readings with respect to the latter; Brecht's interpretation of the former appears in A Little Organum for the Theatre.
Orchestral? Oh, I'm jealous. For some reason, every Shakespeare production I see is haunted by the spectre of awful music. Macbeth, it was people literally banging metal sheets together (the type you might roof your shed with); As You Like It was supposedly-futuristic-but-really-crap GarageBand drivel; the rest, just noise. (What is it about good old Will that urges people to experiment?)
Those do sound awful! I can see how a director might think the metal sheets were a decent idea, since I expect people use them for thunder sound effects and there's a lot of that in Macbeth. I believe in experimental productions of Shakespeare, but there are bound to be a good number of clunky decisions. Pericles was stunning in terms of visual spectacle (some of those dresses and sets almost looked like they belonged in a Busby Berkeley production) and music (I think there was even a harp), which helped offset the fact that the play itself isn't one of the finest attributed to Shakespeare.
It's true, the last thing we want is another Cyberwoman. I found the writers' characterization of Ianto and his relationship with Jack confusingly uneven in the first season, but they've done an okay job of establishing something in the second season. In the first season, I didn't find Ianto or his relationship with Jack interesting, but I'm pleased that there's more consistent and developed characterization to work with now.
Reposted for typo
Yes, though we no longer believe in the divine right of kings, the violent power struggles and especially the culture of paranoia are things we come back to today. C.P. Cavafy's King Claudius (http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=163&cat=4), Zbigniew Herbert's Elegy of Fortinbras (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=179877), and Heiner Müller's Hamlet Machine (which frames Hamlet in the light of East Germany and the failure of revolution) engage in readings with respect to the latter; Brecht's interpretation of the former appears in A Little Organum for the Theatre.
Orchestral? Oh, I'm jealous. For some reason, every Shakespeare production I see is haunted by the spectre of awful music. Macbeth, it was people literally banging metal sheets together (the type you might roof your shed with); As You Like It was supposedly-futuristic-but-really-crap GarageBand drivel; the rest, just noise. (What is it about good old Will that urges people to experiment?)
Those do sound awful! I can see how a director might think the metal sheets were a decent idea, since I expect people use them for thunder sound effects and there's a lot of that in Macbeth. I believe in experimental productions of Shakespeare, but there are bound to be a good number of clunky decisions. Pericles was stunning in terms of visual spectacle (some of those dresses and sets almost looked like they belonged in a Busby Berkeley production) and music (I think there was even a harp), which helped offset the fact that the play itself isn't one of the finest attributed to Shakespeare.
It's true, the last thing we want is another Cyberwoman. I found the writers' characterization of Ianto and his relationship with Jack confusingly uneven in the first season, but they've done an okay job of establishing something in the second season. In the first season, I didn't find Ianto or his relationship with Jack interesting, but I'm pleased that there's more consistent and developed characterization to work with now.