Interpretations of Shakespearian Comedy, 1981

Summary

The major productions in the summer of 1981 represented the entire range of Shakespearian comedy: The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Winter’s Tale at Stratford; Troilus and Cressida at the Aldwych Theatre; Measure for Measure and Much Ado About Nothing at the National Theatre; and for good measure Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Glyndebourne. The interpretations ranged even more widely in approach and in achievement.

John Barton's Stratford Merchant of Venice was an expansion for the main stage of his outstanding 1978 studio version which I reviewed in detail in Shakespeare Survey 32. In order to achieve some of the concentration of that staging, all the action was contained on a large circular platform at the very front of the stage, with a powerful overhead lamp dead centre which was used to emphasize moments of emotional intensity. Behind this hung a huge translucent canopy, through which could be glimpsed gondola mooring-posts for Venice or leafy boughs for Belmont. As before, the costumes were Chekovian/Edwardian, and much of the business was carried over; but the impact of the play as a whole was significantly different, and more uneven.