Is Shakespeare Relevant?

Is Shakespeare relevant?  There are a few possible perspectives on this question, but for now I will explain why the life of one William Shakespeare is incredibly relevant to Rocklin Shakespeare’s current situation.

 

The Bard is known by many labels and titles but one that everyone seems to agree upon is the fact that Shakespeare was a populist.  In order to draw the big crowds day after day, Shakespeare had to write plays that included elements to appeal to a broad local audience.  Including elements that appealed to the masses as well as to royalty, Shakespeare ensured that everyone would like something about his latest play.  Many critique Shakespeare for borrowing most of his plots, but others argue that he chose his plots strategically: he appealed to what was popular and what was important to his audience at that moment in time.  Shakespeare always wrote what was relevant.

If we are to succeed in reaching our community with theater, I hypothesize that we too must know our audience and produce what is interesting and appealing to them.  When choosing our plays we have to ask ourselves what the current issues are in our community, what people are thinking about and what they’re talking about.  We must consider all age groups, races, ethnicities, religious groups and political groups that compose our audience, and we must figure out a way to appeal to them all.  Shakespeare’s job (and sometimes his life) depended on these skills.

Hypothesis: If we are to succeed, then we have to learn from Shakespeare.

“Is [insert title] by William Shakespeare relevant to our community?”  This is the question to ask ourselves and we will have to be specific about what is relevant by addressing current issues.  For example, will this play help us better understand the turmoil in the Middle East?  What about our current unemployment problems?  Will this play provide a perspective on hot topics like unions or the income disparity between the middle class and the super rich?   In order to ask these questions, we will have to be like Shakespeare and stay on top of the issues of the day.  We’ll also have to be strategic to address issues that will still be noteworthy by the time our rehearsals are over and we’re ready to perform.  Staying relevant takes work.

Sometimes (maybe even often) none of Shakespeare’s plays will be relevant to the issues we believe to be the most important for us to address in our community.  That is why I believe we’ll need to evolve as playwrights as well as performers.  We will have to become Rocklin’s own type of Shakespeare to produce new and relevant work that appeals to everyone.  In this case, even if the content we produce is modern, the name “Rocklin Shakespeare” still applies.

On a broader scale, I'm very interested in what defines a play as "relevant."  I also feel I need to outline what I mean by "succeeding" as a theater.  I'll leave these topics for future posts, but thoughts, opinions and reflections are always welcome.

Image of Shakespeare courtesy of www.vanishingshakespeare.org.