By Dr Laila Abdel Aal Alghalban
Nothing can make us as happy as a new adventure. The classics do not need a particular age to be relevant to different audiences to identify with; they address human struggle with the ups and downs of life. What if new adaptations of the classics in drama, novel, movies, and song lyrics take diverse strands, transcending space and time? What should be kept intact? And what should be changed?
Two flabbergasting stories
These questions came to my mind as I have come across two flabbergasting stories about the same topic a few years ago. I thought, oh wow. It occurred to me that the adventure of rewriting or remaking classic works of art generally spark heated discussions. Yet, before approaching this topic, let us ask this question: What makes a classic work of art?
Timeless human treasures
A key criterion is that a classic work of art retains its artistic value, inspirational power and renewable interpretations, no matter how old it is, and where and when the audiences or readers live. The classics breathtakingly handle the mysteries and complexities of the raw, primal human instincts, whims, aspirations, agony, pains, weakness and overall experience. Every time we read or watch the classics, we get new insights, a greater adrenaline rush, and a cathartic moment brushing away negative emotions and giving way to uplifting energy to occupy us instead. The classics reveal some of their secrets to every reader or viewer, and here lies their eternal beauty whose vibe and intellectual stamina never exhaust, never die out. Other criteria include: a captivating storyline, well-developed and relatable characters, universally timeless themes, artistically well-described setting and scenery, and stunningly memorable and elegant styles and techniques. Modern classics are about real-life stories that may go unnoticed in a noisy, foggy and distracting life, but are just really shocking actually when we look into them.
A punch to the guts
The first story is about a new production of Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman, in which Willy Loman’s family is introduced as a black American family. This was the only change: the casting. However, it was significant enough for theatergoers to feel the novel touch evoking novel overtones and themes such as racism, discrimination, and masculinity crisis. Such nuances perfectly resonate with present-day life and ensure the enduring appeal a classic work of art usually has. The Lomans are not only ordinary American citizens haunted by the American dream but they are also Afro-Americans, which cast light on their extra hardships, and that the American dream is way too unreachable for Afro-American families. There was a thunderous applause after the show. The audience must have felt that going to theater to watch the play was worthwhile, an memorable treat. An epiphany of ideas must have hit the audience members to think about lot of things.
The art of retelling
The second one was a new call for rewriting Hamlet. Everyone is invited to the adventure of rewriting Shakespeare’s masterpiece. Adaptations must be along the conventions of the immersive theatre. The project, which is a site-specific production, promotes audience participation in the show even before the theatrical performance. Breaking the fourth wall in immersive theatre, actors can talk to audience members who are invited to act and improvise scenes, change the choices characters make, etc. The new adaptations of Hamlet resonate with the hot topics and issues that cause a lot of headache and heartache to current societies. Almost every single element of the classic Hamlet changes : setting, themes, storyline dialogue, characterisation, morals, etc. Women characters are especially empowered; they defy the end Shakespeare wrote. Socially-sensitive themes such as rape and color have broken so many boundaries. The moral lesson all of these depictions give is that we are always left with bitter choices.
Bizarre things
Adaptations sometimes change storyline laws. More inquisitive writers can peel off the original storyline and follow a different strand of the story. Audience members may also find the language of the new depictions very shockingly offensive, sloppy and trashy, littered with a lot of swear words. Some writers believe that this is the best way to get a message across. The scale of change in new adaptations is beyond limits and sometimes beyond imagination. It could lead to a complete distortion of the original work. Puritists must have a very hard time reading or watching their beloved works of art being tarnished and turned into bizarre things. They firmly believe that adaptations are desperate attempts to capitalise on the fame of other great artists’ works , which is a sort of artistic poverty or lack of talent. Consequently, many people would follow suit,; they want the classics to be intact.
By Dr Laila Abdel Aal Alghalban Professor of linguistics Faculty of Arts Kafr el-sheikh University
Email: [email protected]
