Robert, those are fantastic ideas! I would have loved to see that.
I'd agree with looking at what changing the genders does to the story, which, since it is a foundational story of Western and (middle) Eastern civilization, and depending on where you are in America, changing such a fundamental aspect of the story might upset some folks, not least the licensee...
Gender swap Shakespeare all you want, though. It's almost a requirement of many modern curriculums. Plus it's fun and no one is likely to low-key threaten your production with legal action. :)
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Phillip Goodchild
Theatre Arts Instructor/Assistant Department Head of English
Ruskin FL
Original Message:
Sent: 03-28-2016 12:08
From: Robert Smith
Subject: Joseph
Hi Charles,
I faced this same dilemma when I produced it. My realization was that the narrator comes out at the start of the show and says, "I'm going to tell you a story." We produced it as story time with all of the performers in jeans and t-shirts. We build six large toy boxes into which we placed all our props and costumes. When each section of the story was told, the actors would grab the props and costumes and put them on. "you, you, and you are brothers. Put on the ballcap. You're Jacob. Here's you beard." At that point, it didn't matter what sex who was because it's all make believe anyway. For extra fun with the theme, we built twelve 2x2 cubes and painted them as children's letter blocks. We used the blocks throughout the show to spell out various messages, including technicolor. One of my students spent weeks with twelve paper cubes figuring out which letters needed to be put on what sides in order to spell out our various messages. It was a blast.
I also split the narrator into six roles, which gave more students a feature moment
Regards,
Bob
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Robert Smith
VA Co-Chapter Director
James Madison High School
Vienna VA