As I college student and the future of America, I really feel like I should be more updated in current events. Like Jordan and Sam brought up in their previous blogs, I rarely find myself picking up a newspaper or turning on the news and I think Sam pretty much explained it very well. These times are so hard, with the war and failing economy, it’s just hard to constantly be reminded of all the negativity. One thing I find as a great escape from all this is entertainment, both in the theatre and cinemas.
In the Chicago SunTimes I found a review written by Hedy Weiss called ‘Macbeth’ worth the toil, trouble. While Macbeth is not a happy story, but as Weiss describes “the story of ambition gone wild, and of the widening trial of blood and guilt that accompanies one couple’s quest for power- is perhaps one of the most unrelentingly brutal and violent of …all [Shakespeare’s work]”. The review was in the director Barbara Gaines’s favor. The overall plot stayed the same and apparently the director successfully put a modern twist on the story; like the “military-industrial complex parties to the sound of sophisticated piano jazz…[and] an army [that] marches forward, "disguised" by a sleek wall of body shields”.
I personally don’t know if I could agree with this critic. While I have not been to Chicago Shakespeare Theatre to personally witness this remake, I am a fan of keeping the classics a classic. I am horrified at some attempts that directors make to modify a perfectly good story. I must admit that occasionally it can be pulled off- I was a big fan of the modernized Shakespeare’s version of Romeo and Juliet. They keep the same language but completely modernized the setting in a way that did not ruin the theme of the story and made it modernly entertaining. I think there is a very thin line in creatively remaking a classic, and butchering a classic. By this critics review, if I lived closer to this theater I would be very interested in going to see this production to find out if Weiss really did successfully modernize Macbeth.The link for the review I am writing about is http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/weiss/1372743,CST-FTR-Weiss12.article
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I agree with you on how many classics should remain classics, at least for the most part. Romeo and Juliet is definitely a favorite of mine and I thought it was very creative how they modernized but still used the same language. It didn’t take from the meanings of the play, yet was able to modernize to where people like me can understand it better. So I do have to say yes there is a line between remaking it and completely taking away from the meaning of the classics.
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