Roman Tragedies
Roman Tragedies is a 6-hour stage adaptation of William Shakespeare's plays Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, and Antony and Cleopatra, created in 2009 by the Toneelgroep theatre company of Amsterdam. As of June 2010, the company is touring the world with it. Directed by Ivo van Hove, the production has been highly praised for its acting, its innovative set, and its use of multimedia.
Concept
Roman Tragedies condenses three of Shakespeare's plays into a single 6-hour production. The actors speak Dutch; surtitles are used when touring the production. The surtitles do not present Shakespeare's original text, but rather a lightly modernized adaptation that removes archaisms; only the most famous lines are left untouched.
The production is in modern dress; the characters are dressed as modern politicians even though the text is not adapted to reflect this. Several male characters, including Cassius and Octavius Caesar, are played as women, in order to reflect the existence today of female politicians such as Angela Merkel and Hillary Clinton.[1] The production features much use of multimedia: camera operators are present on stage throughout, so that the actors are visible both on stage and on multiple TV monitors.
The production features an unusual set that enables members of the audience to sit on stage during the performance, on numerous sofas facing in different directions upon the large performance space. When seated on the stage, the audience member is able to view the actors in person, or via the many TV monitors. There is no intermission, but there are several 5-minute set changes. Also on stage is a bar selling food and drink, and an Internet station, which audience members can use during the set changes.[2]
The set also features a news ticker. This is used to summarize events that have been cut for the adaptation (mostly battle scenes), but audience members are also encouraged to submit their responses to the play online, while watching; these responses are played on the ticker during the set changes.[1]
Responses
Reactions to the production have been very positive. Michael Billington of the British newspaper The Guardian claimed it was "as good as theatre gets". Michael Coveney of the British Independent newspaper wrote that although the style was impressive, the acting was the most important quality: "Many of the techniques were familiar in modern production. But the overall scope of this wonderful project was impressive because of the acting quality of Toneelgroep. It made you want to go straight on to Amsterdam and catch the rest of their repertoire."
Tour
The production is currently touring the world. It has performed at the Avignon Festival in France and at the Barbican Centre in London, UK. Its North American premiere was the Festival Transameriques, where it played at Montreal and Quebec City.
References
- ^ Ivo van Hove, interview in The Globe and Mail, 27 May 2010, p. R2.
- ^ review by Michael Coveney for The Independent, 24 November, 2009