![]() ![]() On the other hand, the Globe was set up to do something very specific, and Rice’s vision for Midsummer was about as far from its original raison d’être as one could imagine (and inserting speakers required changes to the building itself). Shakespeare - particularly the comedies - needs fresh perspectives and updating if the plays are to survive in a competitive artistic climate. It drew in new audiences, and Shakespeare’s familiar text had the dust shimmied off it. There are two sides to this debate: Rice’s Midsummer was fun, contemporary, and both a critical and financial success. The Globe was established as an academic project in historically informed performance, and Rice’s Bollywood-themed, sound-system-beclad Shakespeare has been jettisoned from its wattle-and-daub walls, throwing the theatrical world into turmoil. ![]() ![]() But such liberties are still controversial - take, for example, Emma Rice’s Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Globe, and her subsequent exit from the institution. Who - or what - is “Shakespeare”? By 2016, the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, even the lesser known plays such as Cymbeline have been subject to multiple revisions, resettings, and reinterpretations that have pushed the boundaries of what “Shakespeare” is. ![]()
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