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(As a side note: I'll be crossposting most of my DW entries to LJ, but likely will keep most of my 'boring lists of manga' on LJ only. This is to keep the DW account less cluttered.)
I had mentioned troublesome plays in my last Shakespeare post, and it's notable that 3 of the 4 are mostly due to modern sensibilities. Henry IV had its focus change over the years. Shrew and Merchant of Venice, which I'll get to later, both deal with aspects that are a little politically incorrect now.
Much Ado doesn't have that problem. It was difficult to perform in Shakespeare's time, and is still difficult. This is especially vexing, as I'd argue it's Shakespeare's best comedy (well, half the time; the other half I argue for Twelfth Night).
The trouble is it's almost a tragedy. I mean really, really almost a tragedy. We don't have any other Shakespeare comedies with such utter highs and lows. The highs would be almost everything regarding Beatrice and Benedick (who, recall, are meant to be the 2nd, supporting couple of the play). And the lows...
Oh, Claudio, how are you meant to be played? Any company performing Much Ado has run into the problem of this guy, who callously spurns his fiancee at the altar and ruins her life, based on, um, possible easily faked evidence. He then finds out it's false, and in the end the girl gets to marry him anyway. Yeah, there's a marriage that'll go well.
Don Pedro's not much better, but then Don Pedro isn't one of the romantic leads. It's no wonder most audiences think Beatrice and Benedick are the leads. It doesn't help that even after the two find out how wrong they were, they're still cracking jokes in the final act (jokes usually cut these days).
Actually, cutting seems to be one of the ways to get around things. If you remove Don Pedro and Claudio's mocking of Benedick in the final act and make them very serious, it helps. (For some reason, a lot of people cut the funeral scene as well, despite being an excellent chance to show remorse. Perhaps it's because Claudio never actually says anything during it.)
The other thing to do, of course, is to play up Claudio's youth and callowness. Yes, he's a jerk, but he's just a boy! He'll grow up! (This is usually combined with overly somber Act 5). This doesn't always work, but it's a good way to handle it.
Much Ado is generally a play of wild mood swings anyway, as well as wild pacing issues (everything seems resolved by the start of Act 2, and there's then 2 full acts of nothing much happening till the plot unfolds again). If only it weren't so damn well-written. :)
(I note that a recent BBC show dedicated to 'modernizing' Shakespeare did change the ending, having Hero (played by Billie Piper) dump Claudio and swear off men forever. I'm generally about as much a fan of this as I am of King Lears that end with Cordelia living and marrying Edgar. Don't mess with the bard's ambiguity, deal with it properly!)
I had mentioned troublesome plays in my last Shakespeare post, and it's notable that 3 of the 4 are mostly due to modern sensibilities. Henry IV had its focus change over the years. Shrew and Merchant of Venice, which I'll get to later, both deal with aspects that are a little politically incorrect now.
Much Ado doesn't have that problem. It was difficult to perform in Shakespeare's time, and is still difficult. This is especially vexing, as I'd argue it's Shakespeare's best comedy (well, half the time; the other half I argue for Twelfth Night).
The trouble is it's almost a tragedy. I mean really, really almost a tragedy. We don't have any other Shakespeare comedies with such utter highs and lows. The highs would be almost everything regarding Beatrice and Benedick (who, recall, are meant to be the 2nd, supporting couple of the play). And the lows...
Oh, Claudio, how are you meant to be played? Any company performing Much Ado has run into the problem of this guy, who callously spurns his fiancee at the altar and ruins her life, based on, um, possible easily faked evidence. He then finds out it's false, and in the end the girl gets to marry him anyway. Yeah, there's a marriage that'll go well.
Don Pedro's not much better, but then Don Pedro isn't one of the romantic leads. It's no wonder most audiences think Beatrice and Benedick are the leads. It doesn't help that even after the two find out how wrong they were, they're still cracking jokes in the final act (jokes usually cut these days).
Actually, cutting seems to be one of the ways to get around things. If you remove Don Pedro and Claudio's mocking of Benedick in the final act and make them very serious, it helps. (For some reason, a lot of people cut the funeral scene as well, despite being an excellent chance to show remorse. Perhaps it's because Claudio never actually says anything during it.)
The other thing to do, of course, is to play up Claudio's youth and callowness. Yes, he's a jerk, but he's just a boy! He'll grow up! (This is usually combined with overly somber Act 5). This doesn't always work, but it's a good way to handle it.
Much Ado is generally a play of wild mood swings anyway, as well as wild pacing issues (everything seems resolved by the start of Act 2, and there's then 2 full acts of nothing much happening till the plot unfolds again). If only it weren't so damn well-written. :)
(I note that a recent BBC show dedicated to 'modernizing' Shakespeare did change the ending, having Hero (played by Billie Piper) dump Claudio and swear off men forever. I'm generally about as much a fan of this as I am of King Lears that end with Cordelia living and marrying Edgar. Don't mess with the bard's ambiguity, deal with it properly!)
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