I am not sure about this one. The St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s production of Much Ado About Nothing this year will be set in the Old West. I must say that this is not immediately appealing to me. I never have said to myself, “Oh, yes, I love the witty banter between Benedick and Beatrice, I just wish some one would set it in a saloon.” I am not sure that they will actually do that, but just the prospect of it and ethos of the wild west with its coarseness and dusty landscapes does rather de-romanticise it all. And a large part of the allure of going to the festival for me is that it is often a rather magical experience. Still, I will reserve judgement until I see it and see if they can pull it off. I hope they keep the text the same in any case.
Oh but artistic license takes guts and a fair amount of risk to attempt much less to work. In the case of the 1996 Romeo and Juliet flick with Leo Dicaprio and Claire Danes, I thought that worked our rather well. In this case, we shall see…
You are right, Peter, artistic revisioning does take guts and sometimes the rewards are worth the risk. I am just not sure I want that risk at the rather popularist festival. Still, there is a good chance that it will be good and fun even so. We shall see.
I have come to like Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet quite well, though it was a bit much on first viewing. There is a wonderful mini send up of it in the British action/cop parody Hott Fuzz, by the way, which I just saw yesterday and liked a lot. It is very British and very funny, though also very bloody. A word to the wise, if you do not like gore (though it is all rather cartoonish gore) and you think a scene looks like it will have some in it (i.e. if a scene features an axe, a pointy piece of a church roof, some hedge clippers, or the pointy spire of a miniature castle), just go ahead and close your eyes. You can keep your eyes open for the shooting scenes, though, which are rather A-team like in their violence. Oh, and I can’t vouch for the violence in the first 5 minutes as I missed.
If Beatrice prefaces any of her lines about Benedick with a He done did or a yall Ill be put-off. However, there are plenty of strange yet wonderful Shakespeare adaptations. I hope Im pleasantly surprised!
p.s. In my mind, nobody will ever take Emma’s place as Beatrice, so I’m already preparing myself for a bit of disappointment.
No, surely, sherrif, my mama cried; but then there
was a star that two-stepped, and under that was I bornd.
My kin folk, God give you joy!
Hee heeor Hee Haw rather.
Well, I think it will be hilarious… & a great change of pace. Right, NO ONE will EVer be able to take Emma’s place as Beatrice, however, I would like to try. I think the Old West will be a fun time for all. It’s gonna be a hot time in the old Park toniiiiiiiight!
Kick up them spurs & lets have much Ado fun!
Im just sayin that Yall arent lookin too kindly on this here produkshun. And yall ought to git some better perspective on this thang. You know, an open mind. Heck, I say we give this thang a go & not give it a lynchin. We don’t want it to be a ghost town up der on Forest Purk & anyway, I hear that Benedick is a real sharpshooter! I mean aint no way that Beatrice is gone be another Calamity Jane!