People are going to think that what they're seeing is very modern, but it's not. I don't have a heavy take on "Much Ado" because it really does speak for itself. Shearer: For those who will come to the show looking for that classic Shakespeare experience, what are some of the things that have been kept the same?Ĭarpenter: Other than the things I've already mentioned, we've been leaving a lot of it very traditional. We have also gender-flipped Leonato, which is something that a lot of people have done, but now you have two women in power. It was an idea based on the person I was interested casting in the role because they gave such a great audition, and it became a catalyst that changed a lot of things that none of us expected, but everybody's excited about. I'm taking deep inspiration from Elizabeth the First, who would have been the matriarch for much of William Shakespeare's actual life. She's being played by Vivian Guerra, who is definitely playing her as a matriarch. Instead of having a Don Pedro, who is the prince who kind of presides over everything, does the matchmaking and adds the credence later, we have a Donna Petra. There were cases where we had multiple men available who could have played a role, but I decided that a femme presenting person was just going to be a more powerful option. What did you do differently for this show?Ĭarpenter: I tried to do a gender-neutral casting, which means there are roles that are are gender fluid and there are roles that are gender-flipped. Shearer: I know you took a similarly unique approach to the casting for "Much Ado" as well. They allowed us to skip the usual process for royalties and everything due to the unique situation, and I was thrilled because it's a pretty small show, and budgeting for the songs would've changed the way we did a lot of things. So I reached out to of Montreal's publicity team and explained who we were and how we would be using the music. So the goal was to cycle through these elements in different ways. "Much Ado" has banter that is light and fun, but there's also a character assassination that destroys a young woman's identity. They had a very unique style and imagery that reminded me that even when things are dark, they can be different than they are right now. I went to see of Montreal last year and was worried they'd be doing some depressing post-pandemic material, but even the songs that were written with very dark lyrics spoke to me. When I'm putting together any show, whether it's producing or directing, I usually have music that I'm constantly listening to kind of guide that process. Shearer: What gave you the idea to incorporate local music into a Shakespeare play, and how did you work it into the story?Ĭarpenter: I want to make sure that we're representing Athens and having that be front and center. I think our production is going to be a pretty novel experience. It could be taken from front page news, but it's not something I added in. "Much Ado" has a really feminist scene already built in, one that speaks to women who are challenging the patriarchy. That's going to be cool, and it's going to disrupt the fact that we're doing full High Renaissance costumes, but I think the anachronism is going to work really well. We believe there is no better place in the world to study the life and works of Shakespeare.Christine Carpenter: "Much Ado" does kind of hit those marks, but we've also got three choreographed musical numbers set to songs by (Athens indie pop band) of Montreal, who granted us permission to use their actual music in the show. Our vibrant community of doctoral researchers explore Shakespeare from a range of different perspectives, with the support and encouragement of the Institute's world renowned academic staff. We want to bring Shakespeare to life in new ways in the here-and-now across the world. We want to bring the directors, actors, writers, arts administrators and teachers as well as the academics of the future to Stratford. It also plays host to the most prestigious international Shakespeare conference in the world, as well as to the biggest postgraduate conference in Shakespeare studies. The Institute offers an environment in which students and staff are encouraged to be creative. The Institute has been a beacon for international Shakespeare scholarship since its foundation in 1951 and is home to its own purpose-built world-class research library, run by a priceless team of expert librarians. Shakespeare Institute students benefit from our exciting collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) which allows students to study and create theatre in Shakespeare's own daring spirit, as well as benefit from the expertise of RSC artists and practitioners through innovative modules, workshops and projects in subjects such as directing, playwriting, lighting and design.
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