Notes from the Director
To be or not to be? That might be the question. You’ll have to forgive me for dragging in a "Hamlet" reference or two while we talk about Shakespeare. It’d probably be sacrilegious if I didn’t.
That question - the one most popular among melancholy Danish princes and English actors of a certain age - might be the most famous line Shakespeare ever wrote. On the surface it’s simple. The structure is simple and the thought behind it simple as well. Is it better to be or not to be? To live or to die? But that’s not why the line sticks with us. It’s what lurks just below the surface, the complicated thoughts and feelings it evokes that give such a simple sentence weight. It is deceptive this simplicity.
So too is "As You Like It" Often referred to as Shakespeare’s sweetest comedy, the plot seems simple. Light spoilers here. Orlando and Rosalind meet and fall in love, circumstances separate them, they meet again with one of them in disguise, hilarity ensues, in the end the disguised party is revealed, and everyone gets married. A rather simple set up for a simple story about love. Romantic Comedy 101 some might say.
But just like "to be or not to be" there is a more complex story at work here. When Shakespeare wrote about his leads escaping from the city to the forest, he was also writing about the ways we are trapped by society and how we might find freedom. His concern with the oppression we must endure to exist in a rigid and ruled society sometimes stacked unfairly against us and the relief that comes from escaping those that would seek to define us and box us in against our will is palpable. And maybe just a little bit more progressive than we expect from a playwright who died over 400 years ago.
As you’ll soon see we at Eclectic have made some changes to the Bard’s original tale. Updating it to reflect our current social concerns of gender identity and politics is no easy task, and it would be an oversimplification for me the write it off with a hand wave of "gender is a social construct". For while this might be true, we live in a time where the freedom to be who we truly are with regards to sexuality, gender identity, and gender expression is still a fragile thing. It is a conversation that we’ve started, but have not yet finished. A conversation we will be continuing tonight. Because while it is impossible to truly know what Shakespeare may have thought about these issues, we do know that he valued freedom and understanding. That more than anything, his writing endures because he is one of the first to write about the world beyond kings and queens. He is writing about us. Writing about our problems and concerns. Writing about our struggles and joys. Writing about the way our world changes and challenges. Tonight we will let the Bard speak, and in his words maybe we’ll find just a little more empathy than we were expecting.
So I imagine about now, they’re getting ready to start the show. You’ve found a good seat and looked through the actor’s bios. You’ve seen our stage manager come in or out of the booth more than once, and maybe even turned to your friend and pointed out that these director’s notes are getting awfully long. She sure does have a lot to say. And to that end, I can offer no other explanation than Rosalind’s own. "Do you not know I am a woman? When I think, I must speak".
Enjoy the show.
Katherine Siegel
That question - the one most popular among melancholy Danish princes and English actors of a certain age - might be the most famous line Shakespeare ever wrote. On the surface it’s simple. The structure is simple and the thought behind it simple as well. Is it better to be or not to be? To live or to die? But that’s not why the line sticks with us. It’s what lurks just below the surface, the complicated thoughts and feelings it evokes that give such a simple sentence weight. It is deceptive this simplicity.
So too is "As You Like It" Often referred to as Shakespeare’s sweetest comedy, the plot seems simple. Light spoilers here. Orlando and Rosalind meet and fall in love, circumstances separate them, they meet again with one of them in disguise, hilarity ensues, in the end the disguised party is revealed, and everyone gets married. A rather simple set up for a simple story about love. Romantic Comedy 101 some might say.
But just like "to be or not to be" there is a more complex story at work here. When Shakespeare wrote about his leads escaping from the city to the forest, he was also writing about the ways we are trapped by society and how we might find freedom. His concern with the oppression we must endure to exist in a rigid and ruled society sometimes stacked unfairly against us and the relief that comes from escaping those that would seek to define us and box us in against our will is palpable. And maybe just a little bit more progressive than we expect from a playwright who died over 400 years ago.
As you’ll soon see we at Eclectic have made some changes to the Bard’s original tale. Updating it to reflect our current social concerns of gender identity and politics is no easy task, and it would be an oversimplification for me the write it off with a hand wave of "gender is a social construct". For while this might be true, we live in a time where the freedom to be who we truly are with regards to sexuality, gender identity, and gender expression is still a fragile thing. It is a conversation that we’ve started, but have not yet finished. A conversation we will be continuing tonight. Because while it is impossible to truly know what Shakespeare may have thought about these issues, we do know that he valued freedom and understanding. That more than anything, his writing endures because he is one of the first to write about the world beyond kings and queens. He is writing about us. Writing about our problems and concerns. Writing about our struggles and joys. Writing about the way our world changes and challenges. Tonight we will let the Bard speak, and in his words maybe we’ll find just a little more empathy than we were expecting.
So I imagine about now, they’re getting ready to start the show. You’ve found a good seat and looked through the actor’s bios. You’ve seen our stage manager come in or out of the booth more than once, and maybe even turned to your friend and pointed out that these director’s notes are getting awfully long. She sure does have a lot to say. And to that end, I can offer no other explanation than Rosalind’s own. "Do you not know I am a woman? When I think, I must speak".
Enjoy the show.
Katherine Siegel