Productions of Shakespeare?s plays continue to charm, excite and engage audiences across Britain. Maria Evans explains what all the fuss is about.
What is it about Shakespeare? Four hundred years on, nobody could dispute his enduring appeal, both nationally and internationally. His plays are still capable of packing houses across the world whilst his language has influenced the development of English to an incredible degree. And, so great is his status, that he is the only writer who young people in the UK have to study as part of their compulsory education.
In 1999, The Guardian ran one of their media debates: ?Is Shakespeare overrated?? Edward Burns, a senior lecturer in English, asked, ?Who really wants to see another Romeo and Juliet? Does anyone who is seriously interested in theatre still go to the RSC?? Well the answer is that: ?yes, they do?. The 2004/05 Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) productions of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear and Macbeth exceeded projected box office targets in Stratford, and played to capacity houses in London and Newcastle. Current productions of Julius Caesar and Two Gentlemen of Verona have been touring across England, Scotland and Wales and are again frequently sold out. Obviously in Stratford and London, international tourism plays a part ? and I?ll come back to that later in this article. But in Ollerton? Forres? Newcastle? So, who are these audiences and why do they keep returning?
Expressive education
One obvious audience is school groups, who make up, on average, about 25% of ticket sales. And, of course, you could argue that school groups might choose different plays if Shakespeare wasn?t compulsory. But that argument misses a fundamental truth that we, in the RSC?s Learning Department, see over and over again: students respond brilliantly to Shakespeare when his work is introduced through an inspiring production or through exciting and engaging education work. One schools? audience gave a spontaneous standing ovation to a recent performance of our new production of A Midsummer Night?s Dream. Unburdened of the notion that Shakespeare is ?overrated?, young people leave our education workshops full of excitement and enthusiasm. And the very nature of Shakespeare?s plays and language gives young people permission to be expressive in a manner that is so often missing from their lives ? and, in fact, in a way that is often denied them. It also gives them opportunities to explore, in safety, a range of situations and emotions that many of them have to deal with daily. So we continue to have first-hand experience of the enduring appeal of Shakespeare for young people.
But what about international visitors, a group that accounts for a large proportion of sales, particularly in Stratford. Maybe this is more to do with the ?Been there, done that, got the T-shirt? mentality: ticking off the boxes of the tourist?s checklist ? ?Must go to London, Oxford, and Shakespeare?s Stratford where I have to see a play?. But this is too simplistic, and fails to address the genuine interest in Shakespeare that is strongly reflected in our visitors? home environment. The RSC regularly tours internationally, particularly to America and Japan, and the demand for its work there nearly always exceeds our capacity to supply. The same holds true for many other UK theatre companies. When I worked for Cheek by Jowl I watched its all-male As You Like It play to packed houses across the world, from the Netherlands to Brazil.
Emotion and eloquence
So what can account for Shakespeare?s enduring appeal if not curricular or tourist necessity? What about all of our other audiences ? families, couples, groups, individuals? In the same Guardian article Professor Stanley Wells defended Shakespeare?s reputation, claiming he ?has no rival for emotional and intellectual breadth, for wit and humour as well as rhetoric and poetic eloquence, for human understanding and imaginative power, and for the capacity to engage with the minds and hearts of his audiences. Which is another way of saying that he is, in the fullest sense of the word, the greatest of entertainers.?
I will now explore this by focusing on three areas that are key to Shakespeare?s enduring appeal.
Appeal to all ages ? Shakespeare?s plays and characters span an astonishing range of backgrounds and ages, often all within the same play. As just one example, a colleague reported her five year old being enraptured by the world of the fairies in our current production of A Midsummer Night?s Dream. Students adore the interpretation of Puck as a punk in the same play, and all audiences enjoyed the trials and tribulations of the young lovers, and of the mechanics.
The topicality and relevance of Shakespeare?s plays ? In 2004, the RSC conducted a unique poll of its actors looking at the most popular of Shakespeare?s plays and the reasons behind their popularity. Sir Antony Sher claimed that ?As long as love, power, fear and jealousy remain strong human experiences, most of Shakespeare?s plays will be startlingly modern and relevant.? Hamlet and King Lear came out on top as Shakespeare?s best plays; they were also voted as the plays with the most resonance today. Coriolanus came third. Sir Ian McKellen said he?d given his vote for Coriolanus because ?all the characters and their political positions fill our daily newspapers, albeit under other names?.
The potential for reinterpretation that keeps Shakespeare?s plays fresh ? Patently, many of us are keen to see yet another Hamlet or Macbeth. Why is that? The answer lies in the amazing potential to find new meanings within Shakespeare?s plays. As the world changes, the experiences and interests of directors, designers and actors change in turn, bringing fresh eyes to these 400-year-old plays and turning them into exciting and insightful commentaries on contemporary life. And, finally, as RSC Artistic Director Michael Boyd, commenting on the above poll, claimed, ?You never see a moral dilemma resolved by him ? it has to be done by us, the audience, and therefore his plays can be constantly reinterpreted.?
Maria Evans is Director of Learning at the Royal Shakespeare Company.