Nowadays, it seems as though a vast majority of Shakespeare productions have been displaced into different and unconventional settings. Looking through the Globe Theatre’s website, none of the upcoming shows seem to be set in the 16th or 17th centuries. Last year’s Edinburgh University’s Shakespeare Company’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was set in 1973, and this year’s Romeo and Juliet draws from mid-century Italian cinema. I have also recently seen a production of The Tempest set in space, and Macbeth set in a modern day war zone. There seems to be a mass exodus from the written setting of Shakespeare plays into new, imagined settings.
Shakespeare’s stories have been consistently retold over the last 400 or so years. Every Shakespeare play has been done before, if not to death. Changing the setting of a play is partly just an easy way to add novelty to a well-known play. Change the costumes, change the background and you’ve got something new.
Recently, I wrote about adaptations in theatre, coming to the conclusion that an adapted play is most intriguing when it provides an interpretation and new imagination of the script at hand — but does that extend to setting? Or are Shakespeare adaptations set in wild locations simply a novelty and devoid of further meaning?
In modern-day theatres, we have a lot more liberty in theatre with technology and special effects. Shakespeare still dominates many major theatre productions, so why not adapt large-scale plays to large-scale productions? Shakespeare himself was influenced by developments in theatre — when theatres progressed from outdoor, open-air spaces to indoor, candle-lit halls — and adapted his plays as such. This is particularly evident in later plays such as The Tempest, which calls for a more intimate and magical environment that is better suited for an indoor space.
The 2024 production of The Tempest at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane demonstrated the value of incorporating modern technology and effects in theatre. A science-fiction version set in space initially sounds almost absurd in the context of a 17th-century Shakespeare play, but the unorthodox setting lent itself to an immense spectacle of magic and fantasy. The huge, flowing background with beaming lights created a sense of the eternal depth of outer space. This emphasised the mystery of Shakespeare’s play, as well as incorporating the legacy of sci-fi icon Sigourney Weaver, playing Prospero.
Such bizarre settings also help to expand the viewership of Shakespeare plays. By aligning a Shakespeare play with a more modern genre — such as science fiction — a wider demographic is drawn in. The Globe Theatre especially demonstrates this, by putting on a range of Shakespeare plays that often involve energetic dances and music to engage not only adults, but children as well. Whilst a child may not entirely understand the words, a child would understand special effects and fun costumes.
Not every Shakespeare production has to be intense and completely serious; they can be silly and fun. Crazy settings open up Shakespeare beyond the academic world, and demonstrate the potential range of a Shakespeare production. This helps to welcome wider audiences into cultural spheres that can initially appear intimidating, by bridging older language with modern settings. Shakespeare has been, and will continue to be, done over and over — so why not have some new fun with it?
“Inside Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre” by andrew_j_w is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.