From Inna

Unfortunately, I don’t have any interesting links to share this week. However, I wanted to reflect on some things I have been thinking about since we began this process.

            I’m particularly interested in the casting of females as male characters in our production. The fact that we are able to do this, shows just how fluid some of Shakespeare's roles are in terms of gender assignment. (Just think of a production of Streetcar where Stanley is played by a woman and Blanche by a man). 

I'm reminded of a production of Romeo and Juliet I saw in Moscow some years ago, done in the style of traditional Japanese theatre (I believe it is called Nogaku). The cast was all male and it took me some time to get used to the very stylized movements of the players. However, twenty minutes into the production I was so memorized with the actors, their voices, and their movements that I discarded my previous conceptions on how Romeo and Juliet ‘ought’ to be played and simply listened to the music of Shakespeare. Undeterred by social constraints, they seemed to approach the script with such clarity of mind. Their driving force was the language and not some constructed perceptions of Shakespearian theatre.

            That, to me, is the beauty of Shakespeare. It makes me think that if we just focus on the universality of the language and the ideas, we can make the play resonate regardless of gender or props or costumes. The words themselves are so moving and sharp that they almost speak for themselves.