Open Forum

I am considering my first attempt at directing Shakespeare, and am thinking about a gender-flipped version of Taming of the Shrew. For those of you more experienced in these matters, I'm wondering if it's recommended to use the original text and go from there or if there are any other versions out there worth perusing.  Thanks!

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Lori Zyla
Parkersburg WV
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I actually have a version that is cut to an hour (or so) and, although not gender-swapped, has had most of the parts adjusted to reflect a female heavy cast. The only male characters left are the 4 suitors. I can check with the person who adapted it to see if I can send it to you if you're interested.

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Shira Schwartz
Chandler Unified School District
Chandler AZ
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I'm a purist so I only do the "real-deal". My I suggest John Basil's book Will Power: How To Act Shakespeare in 21 Days. It teaches you how to use the First Folio as a guide to acting the text. And the First Folio text is available online, usually free. Also, I like the Neil Freeman editions of the First Folio and you can purchase from him a CD of the text to use in cutting.

Also, I think Shrew isn't about physical fighting. There is only one line that indicates that Kate has slapped Petruchio. It's a play about trying to fit in, playing the game, being aware of the game, and finding a team-mate to play the game with. If Kate is a "shrew" from the get-go and is "tamed" why would we like her?

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John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
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I heartily second the recommendation of Will Power!

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Amy Learn
Ballwin MO
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Thanks for the input!  i am definitely interested in exploring all possibilities before I make a decision.

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Lori Zyla
Parkersburg WV
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I am interested in perusing that version as well.  If your source would be interested in working with groups that would pay rights to use their adaptation I would love to get a perusal to look at viability for my school.  Thanks

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Kristen Tumminello
Drama Department Program Director
The Academy for Academics and Arts
Huntsville AL
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I am NOT a purist, your idea sounds great to me! I have directed a lot of Shakespeare over the years, you can get the scripts online free from multiple sources - however, when cutting, I would cut & paste to word and "cut" by using strike-through so that the kids can still see what would have been there (I once just deleted, it caused a lot of questions and I quickly re-issued the script). I also provide the kids two resources - 1) the Folgers edition of the script - it has  IMO the best and clearest explanation of the language, and 2) The No Fear Shakespeare version. I kinda hate that one, but the kids don't, they love it, and this is about their experience and not my high ideals.

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Jeffrey Davis
Plainsboro NJ
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AND the Folger editions are free online but I'm not sure if you can print from the Folger site. I like the Simply Shakespeare editions if you want a "translation". It costs more but has much more information. The "Shakepeare Made Easy" version of A Midsummer Night's Dream is DEADLY!! It's one of the few books in my life I have actually thrown away!

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John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
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Depending upon how progressive and accepting your students, audiences, and administrators are, you might also explore Charles Marowitz's dark adaptation of the piece, THE SHREW, which juxtaposes portions of the Shakespeare text with scenes of a modern couple trying to work through a relationship in the shadow of centuries of the kind of sexist "comedies" of which Shakespeare's is perhaps the most famous. It's a rough script, but one that if read by the students in conjunction with your staging will certainly provoke lively (and ultimately healthy) discussions about the mind-set of gender relations in Western culture.  Beaumont and Fletcher (Shakespeare's playwright successors in the King's Men in the early 17th Century) also wrote an interesting comic/romantic sequel to the Shakespeare play called THE WOMAN'S PRIZE; or THE TAMER TAMED.  It's actually a very playable piece, and available in online versions.  As far as introducing students to the joys of exploring and playing Shakespeare, I'll immodestly take the opportunity to mention my own book, Translating Shakespeare: A Guidebook for Young Actors, published last year by Smith and Kraus.  If it helps you (or your students) at all in your work, that would be very gratifying for me.  

Oh, and I would definitely use the original Folio text (check out the early Quarto too, The Taming of A Shrew as well--a very different version, maybe an early stab at the story by Shakespeare himself, maybe not).  

The language of Shakespeare's actual play may seem thorny at first, but once they get familiar with it, the rewards are much greater than any adaptation. Especially if you're dealing with high school students.  

Find an interesting context and time period to set it in to clarify the dramatic situation for all; that's a better option for accessibility and "adaptation" than dumbing down the text.

Best of luck to you!  You're doing an important thing by introducing your students to playing Shakespeare. I hope you enjoy the ride.

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David Montee
Director Theatre Division
Interlochen MI
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Just go for it.  I prefer the original text but always cut it myself.  Cutting Shakespeare yourself or with students can give them and you a greater understanding of the text.  Cut way more than you think it will make the piece more focused and memorable.  Best of luck.

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[Chris] [Veneris]
Theatre Educator/NC Chapter Director]
Guilford County Schools
[Greensboro] [NC]
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Hi Lori,

I've been doing Shakespeare w/kids since 1999 and have tried it all, working with students k-12. I wound up starting a non-profit theatre company because there was so much demand by students wanting to participate. I invite you to call or email me at home: 360-468-3516, richardandjeanna@gmail.com.  

In a nutshell, it depends on what age group you are working with, their experience, your experience, and how hard you/they want to work. Going the "purist" route is exciting if you have the right tools, as John Perry suggests. I studied with Shakespeare & Co. in Lennox, MA and their program (using First Folio) is amazing. I chose another path, ultimately, which is a stepping stone approach to the original text. I started with simple adaptations which my students soon outgrew. Then I wrote my own adaptations which were more faithful to the original text (see my website below for examples). Then the students very naturally graduated to the original text, which we started doing when they were in 7th to 12th grade, depending on their experience.

What I can tell you for certain is that the adaptations (well, mine at least, he said modestly) take away the fear and intimidation factor with the language. You do not have to teach them to understand it because it is so easy to understand, yet just slightly tweaked from the original. Plus they can understand the jokes right away, so there's buy-in once they realize it's funny.

Shrew is a great show, but totally lopsided in terms of gender. I routinely change roles from male to female as needed for my casts. But my mission is not so much to serve Shakespeare as to serve the students. In the end, this system does both, because when they come to the original text after having had fun in an adaptation, they are much more open to it and not at all put off by the language. This serves them in English classes, where learning Shakespeare is typically dull as dishwater. 

Don't hesitate to contact me at home if you have more questions or I can be of help. Do check out my website, as well as Shakespeare & Co. for other information and materials that can help you.

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Richard Carter
Lopez Island WA

www.communityshakespeare.org
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I would think that if it is your first time directing a Shakespeare-- going with another's cutting, might be easier.  However, cutting Shakespeare can be a lot of fun and as others have noted, the texts are available online.  It can be a bit daunting at first, I really had to muscle up the courage to cut The Bard's work for The Tempest a few years ago, but once I got into it, it was a lot of fun and relatively easy.  As an author, he gives us so much to work with, it was pretty simple to pick the moments I wanted to work on and then go from there.

I do really like John's book suggestion as well.

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Michael Johnson
Trinity NC
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(Stands up from his chair in the circle) "My name is Phillip, and I am a purist and sometimes an anarchist"

Ahem. Will Power is an excellent resource. I read 'Clues to Acting Shakespeare' and it has some useful things in there, which, depending on your students, might be too technical and dry on the page, but do offer practical things to work with, especially with reference to Folio editions.

Being a lover of Shakespeare and having read nearly all, the insights recently learned about the Folio punctuation make a lot of sense. Another work which I forget the name of now talked also of how Shakespeare's writing progressed in order to catch the realism of people's speech and emotion to a more nuanced degree (which earned the plays written the unfair label of 'problem' plays, but I digress).

If you have time, do try and cut the text down yourself. It gives you much more familiarity with the text and allows you to pick your particular focus. I directed my first two Shakespeare productions last year, 'Romeo & Juliet' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' I totally chime with one other poster who stated placing the production in an updated context and not changing the text (other than cutting) to give new insights or make it more accessible; R&J we set in a winter wasteland in Viking times, whilst with MND we set in an Indian context. Add music, too. It helps keep the audience engaged and gives them a brain break from the complex language and ideas being put forth.

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Phillip Goodchild
Theatre Arts Instructor/Assistant Department Head of English
Hillsborough County Schools
Ruskin FL
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The first Shakespeare play I directed was the Scottish play with 7th graders. I used 5 leads, one for each act and in the 4th act I used a female since Lady M isn't in that act. It is still the best Shakespeare I've ever done. I was looking at the DVD of the production a few years ago because I was giving it to one of the actors for graduation and I marveled at how good it was.

In that production I had the students purchase sweat pants and sweat shirts in a color for their character. I had plaid chest sashes for the leads and dresses for the few female characters. Any girls cast as soldiers were girl soldiers, not pretending to be male. We used wooden swords and slow motion sword fights. Kentucky Shakespeare loaned me a crown and throne.

My favorite moment was hearing a parent say "I thought it would be good but not this good." 

Keep it simple, I call it Naked Shakespeare. Shakespeare with nothing you don't absolutely need onstage.  

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John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
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It's great to hear about all of the Shakespeare excitement out there...!

A couple of years back, I published a text aimed at getting students into the frame of mind of stylized performance, based on workshops that I've been giving through the course of touring my one-man shows ("Moliere than Thou," "Lot o' Shakespeare" and "Breakneck Hamlet") I work from the foundation of "being seen" and "being heard" and expand from there.

It's called "Acting at the Speed of Life; Conquering Theatrical Style," and I'd be happy to share perusal copies with theatre faculty. (Requests to: tim@timmooneyrep.com) 

Break legs!

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Tim Mooney
Prospect Heights IL
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Thanks for the several queries for "Acting at the Speed of Life!" Just to clarify: when I say "perusal copies," these are NOT copies that you are responsible to get back to me. They are yours to keep (but not to photocopy and distribute). 

Best wishes,

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Tim Mooney (tim@timmooneyrep.com)

Prospect Heights IL
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I don't necessarily want to repeat other's sentiments, but I will say that I like the middle road of doing your own cutting based on the work of others before you.  I do Shakespeare annually with my 8th graders.  I haven't tackled Shrew because I, personally, can't get past the gender messages inherent in it, but it sounds like you have ideas and I say kudos for that!  I wish you luck.

So, here's what I have done (with the Scottish Play because Witches! And R&J because teenagers not liking the world adults have created for them! And Hamlet because kids are very in tune with questions of identity! And Dream because Fun! Plus lots of leads! Plus lots of roles for both male and female actors!): I begin with the unedited text (widely available online and very cut-and-paste-able into a word doc.) Then I gather a bunch of edits (almost always one of those is Cass Foster's very good 60 Minute Shakespeare series.) I take each script and compare it against the edits and note in the word doc of the entire script (using strike-throughs, sometimes different color fonts are helpful to delineate different edits).  I ALWAYS find, in doing so that there are lines and/or passages that don't really resonate with me personally, and if this is so, why compel students to act them?  To me, the edit, as far as Shakespeare goes, is an essential step because, honestly, there are going to be parts of the play that are incomprehensible to you, and why suffer the indignity of giving those to students and then having to explain/defend them publicly?

Also, and this is gauche, I know, but cut deep.  Several of the plays I've listed above I've done multiple times, and, you know what? Each of them I've asked myself why didn't you cut deeper last time?  You are challenging students and audiences in doing this at all---we might as well create as smooth a road as possible.  Nobody, in the end, said "I wish this were longer."  

My point is, doing your own cut allows you to engage with the material in an important way before students ever see it, but don't re-invent the wheel--look at other edits before you.

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Ryan Moore
Theatre Teacher and Forensics Coach
Ferndale MI
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