Current Theatre Notes

Abstract

LTHOUGH this listing of Shakespearian productions for the rAn g year October I954 to October I955 could not hope to be allinclusive, it is believed to be representative. As such, it strikes several hopeful notes. There is cause for rejoicing in the very number of productions being offered throughout the world, whether on million-dollar stages with professional casts or on makeshift platforms by touring college students. For Shakespeare's plays were written for the theatre, and every such representation, whether a first and cautious effort or a polished and inspired production, brings the play to the viewer in its proper medium. In addition there is apparent in many of the reports here listed a considerable amount of imagination in the staging of the work. Rather than conforming strictly to acting texts furnished them by the play distributors, numerous organizations have explored possibilities of new interpretations and modes of presentation. The reports here noted reflect a trend toward simplification in the physical production, with use of skeletonized scenery or unit settings on which the action can flow continuously. There seems to be an increased desire to let the lines speak for themselves in establishing the scene, and a decrease in the fustian that characterized productions at the turn of the century. The use of either modern or non-period dress also reflects this tendency toward simplicity, as demonstrated by the Cleveland Play House production of Julius Caesar (see illustration, opposite p. 97), or the Pennsylvania State College Taming of the Shrew, in which characters were dressed in identical costumes to which identifying touches were added. In the United States, colleges and universities are still the leading producers of Shakespeare. Increased production is noted, however, among many community theatres, some of which offer a Shakespeare play annually. One interesting development is an increase in the number of summer theatres in this country now offering Shakespearian plays, in addition to the festival theatres at Yellow Springs, Ohio; Ashland, Oregon; Stratford, Connecticut; and San Diego, California. The interest of the community theatre in Shakespeare is all the more commendable when one considers that such a production is much more difficult to mount successfully than the average contemporary play, and that in most cases the cast and the director, unlike university students, have full-time jobs during the day. Among the organizations offering a Shakespeare play for the first time in England are the Progress Theatre in Reading and the Bridgnorth Players, who announced that, although they had been badly supported, the effort was worth-while and they would continue with more Shakespeare plays. One of the