The Importance of Shakespeare--What are the goals/concerns of those who produced Shakespeare in different eras?--How have the choices they made in production served those goals?Why talk about Shakespeare?--Still a major influence and highly prevalent even in modern theatre17th and 18th Centuries: Theater as a Moral Force--Nahum Tate’s adaptation of King Lear, 1681, performed regularly until at least 1838--Idea that tragedy should teach moral values, and the consequences of good and bad characteristics18th and 19th Centuries: Theatre as Emotion and Spectacle--More emphasis on designs of sets, costumes, etc. being tailored to the specific role and play--Scenes were often cut, resulting in a less developed plotEarly-mid 20th Century: Theatre as a Psychological Window--Idea that theatre should represent real life--Major emphasis on what characters thought, more so than what they did or said--Role of Director becomes much more important and has more influence on how the play turns outLate 20th and 21st Centuries and the Search for Something New--Directors try to find ways to make a play more relevant to modern audiences--New setting, often more contemporary--New approach to the text--Non-traditional casting: characters playing roles that their gender or race normally
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