# Oddball Shakespeare Adaptations **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 8, 2019, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddball-shakespeare-adaptations/836711 "2019-07-08T14:54:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tarataratara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tarataratara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarataratara)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddball-shakespeare-adaptations/836711/21 "2019-07-08T23:59:00Z")
David Tennant and Catherine Tate in a modernized Much Ado About Nothing. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS1wo_8L3Yc) Modernized Julius Caesar - Marc Antony’s speech. Try not to get goosebumps. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2Q7apiYunEU/hqdefault.jpg "Julius Caesar, Act 3 Scene 2 | 2012 | Royal Shakespeare Company") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q7apiYunEU) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddball-shakespeare-adaptations/836711/22 "2019-07-09T00:43:24Z")
[The Donkey Show](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Donkey_Show_(musical)) - An immersive version of _Midsummer Night’s Dream_ set in a disco. Lots of fun out on the dance floor, I’ve seen in 3 times now. [Sleep No More](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_No_More_(2009_play)) - An amazing immersive experience following the storyline of _MacBeth_. One of the most amazing theatrical experiences of my life. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddball-shakespeare-adaptations/836711/23 "2019-07-09T02:43:04Z")
[quote=“Tarataratara, post:21, topic:836711”] Modernized Julius Caesar - Marc Antony’s speech. Try not to get goosebumps. [/QUOTE] Whew… Tried, and failed. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddball-shakespeare-adaptations/836711/24 "2019-07-09T06:02:21Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I think most of the Shakespeare productions I’ve seen have been at least a half-bubble off plumb. This happens all the time here - _Two Gentlemen of Verona_ done as a Shaw Brothers flick, _Macbeth_ as a post-apocalyptic story all _Mad Max_-costumed .\* Midsummer Night’s Dream\* with giant puppet fairies. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddball-shakespeare-adaptations/836711/25 "2019-07-09T11:41:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > **Cal** , I’d say that _Forbidden Planet_ is at least as close to _The Tempest_ as _West Side Story_ is to _Romeo and Juliet_, and that’s usually described as an adaptation, too. Sure, there are some significant differences, but there are even more significant similarities. The motivations in West Side Story are pretty much the same as those in Romeo and Juliet. Forbidden Planet, definitely not so much. Here’s one that nobody ever mentions – Disney’s **The Lion King** has been compared to _Hamlet_ for reasons that are obvious, but people rarely mention that Simba’s friendship with Timon and Pumbaa has a very Prince Hal/Falstaff/Bardolph feel to it (from _Henry IV, parts 1 and 2_), with Pumbaa definitely being Falstaff. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddball-shakespeare-adaptations/836711/26 "2019-07-09T14:30:12Z")
Sure, in motivations specifically _West Side Story_ is closer to its Shakespearean equivalent. But motivations are not the only thing that makes a story, and in every other regard, I’d argue that _Forbidden Planet_ is closer. And _West Side Story_ also adds a clear gender divide in the characters’ attitudes that isn’t present in the Bard’s: All of the Puerto Rican women seem to regard Tony as a perfectly appropriate match for Maria, and it’s just the men who are pushing back against him. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddball-shakespeare-adaptations/836711/27 "2019-07-09T14:38:31Z")
Years ago, I saw a _Hamlet_ where the “To be or not to be” speech was played as a comic monologue (without altering the original). It worked beautifully. It was based on two conceits: Hamlet is only pretending to be mad, and just before the speech, he sees Polonius is watching. So the entire thing is designed to convince Polonius that he is mad, which Hamlet plays to the hilt. It got more laughs than any Shakespeare comedies I’ve seen. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddball-shakespeare-adaptations/836711/28 "2019-07-09T14:39:41Z")
The John Tuturro movie Men of Respect was a Mafia version of Macbeth. I always felt that naming Dennis Farina’s character Bankie Como was a bit of a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddball-shakespeare-adaptations/836711/29 "2019-07-09T15:10:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Sure, in motivations specifically _West Side Story_ is closer to its Shakespearean equivalent. But motivations are not the only thing that makes a story, and in every other regard, I’d argue that _Forbidden Planet_ is closer. > > . Motivations are a HUGE part of the story. I don’t know of any other supposed Shakespeare adaptation where they changed those as much as in Forbidden Planet. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddball-shakespeare-adaptations/836711/30 "2019-07-09T16:01:04Z")
I saw a version of Hamlet in Charlotte NC in a converted office building. It had the old checker pattern floors, and the seats were relocated from an old movie theater. The setting was made to look post-apocalyptic, with sandbags for bunkers and parachute awning lining the ceiling. It was like these people were survivalists, establishing a pecking order. My friend Tom played Horatio and had kind of a punk hairdo. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were portrayed by two women wearing tight leather. During their scene with Hamlet, they tried to seduce him into telling them his true intentions, but he kept playing them off. Completely different from the usual version where R & G are portrayed as baffled and clueless. I had seen past version of Hamlet where Claudius’s talk with God was usually done with remorse and guilt, but in this case, Claudius didn’t show any remorse whatsoever. He talked with God like he was making a deal: spare me eternal punishment and I’ll be a better king. I talked to the actor after the play and congratulated him on a job well done, and that I had never considered that Claudius could be portrayed that way. The actor said he thought if Claudius was willing to murder his brother to be king, he wasn’t going to do any looking back. He’d want to stay king. Hamlet’s duel with Laertes was fought with axes, not foils. They used heavy metal artists in their soundtrack. That just goes to show you how Shakespeare can resonate with any culture and any time period. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddball-shakespeare-adaptations/836711/31 "2019-07-09T17:20:22Z")
I’ve seen several adaptations of Shakespeare’s _The Tempest_ (there are lots, beyond Forbidden Planet’s possibilities), but one of the most interesting was the one staged by Teller (of Penn and Teller), who took the idea of Prospero as a Magician very literally. > **[Chicago Theater Review: ‘The Tempest,’ with Magic by Teller](https://variety.com/2015/legit/reviews/the-tempest-review-teller-chicago-shakespeare-theater-1201606168/)** > > Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s spectacle-oriented production of “The Tempest,” seen in prior versions at American Repertory Theater and a couple of other regionals, achieves what many stagings of Sh… [https://americanrepertorytheater.org/shows-events/the-tempest-2014/](https://americanrepertorytheater.org/shows-events/the-tempest-2014/) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddball-shakespeare-adaptations/836711/32 "2019-07-09T17:36:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’ve seen several adaptations of Shakespeare’s _The Tempest_ (there are lots, beyond Forbidden Planet’s possibilities), but one of the most interesting was the one staged by Teller (of Penn and Teller), who took the idea of Prospero as a Magician very literally. > > ['The Tempest' Review: Teller's Magic at Chicago Shakespeare Theater](https://variety.com/2015/legit/reviews/the-tempest-review-teller-chicago-shakespeare-theater-1201606168/) > > [The Tempest | A.R.T.](https://americanrepertorytheater.org/shows-events/the-tempest-2014/) I misread you a bit here, and thought you were saying Teller actually _played_ Prospero. Which would be a hell of a thing to see. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddball-shakespeare-adaptations/836711/33 "2019-07-10T01:08:03Z")
The East Hollywood High School (in Utah) version of Macbeth: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/dDoackXKmnE/maxresdefault.jpg "MACBETH // FULL MOVIE") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDoackXKmnE) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddball-shakespeare-adaptations/836711/34 "2019-07-10T01:25:35Z")
I just typed “shakespeare comedies” into google, and got, first up, a row of movies like “She’s the man” (Twelfth Night) and “Were the World Mine” (Midsummer Night Dream). Google obviously thinks the re-interpretations are more interesting than the originals. Anyway, I was thinking of “My Own Private Idaho”, (Henry V, 1, 2) The only one I’ve seen live is the Taming of the Shrew, (Kiss me, Kate) played straight with a reversed-gender cast. Shakespeare originally had boys playing the female parts: the gender of the actors doesn’t actually matter. I think that the producers just felt that having a reversed-gender cast gave them licence to produce a play they wouldn’t otherwise have felt comfortable doing. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddball-shakespeare-adaptations/836711/35 "2019-07-10T02:57:11Z")
Terminator 2 done with Shakespeare’s dialog “William Shakespeare’s Terminator the Second”. I thought it worked very well. The video is on YouTube. It used to be for sale at this web site, but it looks like only the soundtrack is available. [http://watch.terminatorthesecond.com](http://watch.terminatorthesecond.com) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddball-shakespeare-adaptations/836711.md?page=1)