When it comes to Shakespeare adaptations, striking the right balance between preserving the original text and making it relatable for contemporary audiences can be challenging. Numerous filmmakers, theatre directors and budding authors have approached this task in varied ways, shaping our perception of these classic stories. So, what truly makes a Shakespeare adaptation shine?
Adaptation or not?
If you are writing or screenwriting or screenplaying and your story is set in Shakespeare's time and you're using Shakespeare's language, you're not creating an 'adaptation'... you're doing Shakespeare. And by all means, do that. Shakespeare deserves to be seen the way Shakespeare wrote it. He doesn't deserve a million adaptations and no one doing it the way he wanted it. But if you do do it his way, don't call it an adaptation. It's not.
So, what is an Adaptation?
Frankly, you need to adapt it. Something has to change.
The language, the setting, the time period, whatever.
You have three primary options to choose from when considering what sort of adaptation you want to write:
0) You set it in the original time and location and use Shakespeare's words (not an adaptation)
1) You set it in the original time and location but DON'T use Shakespeare's words (instead use contemporary language)
2) You DON'T set it in the original time and location but do use Shakespeare's words (like Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet)
3) You DON'T set it in the original time and location and DON'T use Shakespeare's words (like Gil Lunger's 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You)
Whichever type of adaptation you want to write, it needs to be a genuinely fresh take, or you're just rehashing what someone else has already done. And a slight alteration that no one's done is still not worth your effort: it's not worth your audience's time.
What should I focus on with each type?
Original setting, different language?
Make sure it suits your target audience. Don't have a target audience? Not aiming for anyone in particular, just something everyone would like? Here's the disappointing news on that one: try to please everyone and you please no one. Pick a country's language style, a state's language style, a county's language. Pick the language and mannerisms and culture and traditions of the people you most want to read your work. Then throw those people into 16th Century England.
Different setting, Shakespeare's language?
Shakespeare's words do not easily translate in people's heads. They're confusing. They're studyable. They're words that audiences have to go back over and over again just to understand what on earth is going on.
Where your contemporary adaptation must shine then is in the character's actions. They must charade or point or act or react or play with props...
Whenever they say anything the audience won't understand in the second it takes to say it, the character's actions have to translate their words physically.
What's a 'raiment': have the character tug on their clothes.
What's a 'noddle': have the character point out the back of their head.
What's a 'pound of flesh': No, it's not $2 worth of meat. Have the character hold up a 500g flour and throw out a sprinkle to get the measurement right.
Raiment, noddle, pound... such ancient words 😄
Different setting, different language?
This is where your adaptation should stand out above or beside all the rest. A genuinely fresh adaptation is one that retells Shakespeare's story without the audience noticing it's Shakespeare at all: anything less than unrecognisable isn't fresh, it's re-hash. It's been done before. It's a waste of your time even starting to put pen to paper.
10 Things I Hate About You is the perfect example of retelling without rehashing. It is unrecognisable as Shakespeare and yet the gist of Shakespeare's story and characters and themes are all therein... minus the abduction, the dungeon, the assault and the Stockholm Syndrome portrayed as love 😵💫
And here's one I prepared earlier...
Beth Mac (Elizabeth Mackenzie) is - obviously - an adaptation of Macbeth. This time, Macbeth's a she, and Lady Macbeth's a he. Playing Australian footy in the US in the present day while she goes round killing anybody who gets in her way of becoming and keeping the captaincy. This one's a fun, funny, scary, slaughtery, drama-ery, horrory-ery epic adventure!
While it is so far beyond the original language and setting, 90% of the original dialogue is still in the book, only altered to a present way of saying it and, in doing so, has made sure that the comedy that Shakespeare did write into his serious play is evident, is louder, is understandable. Poor Porter's Knock-Knock jokes are always lost in translation, and he regularly comes across as a bumbling, non-sensical drunk... but Beth Mac gives him a microphone.
Finding Your Own Voice
Ultimately, what makes a great Shakespeare adaptation isn't merely a formula but rather a unique vision. A successful adaptation allows audiences to experience Shakespeare’s world from fresh perspectives, be it through changes in language or changes in setting or changes in both language and setting.
The important thing about adaptations is not to do WHAT EVERYONE ELSE HAS ALREADY DONE.
A 'fresh' adaptation is not one that barely changes. It must be unrecognisable as Shakespeare... and yet hold everything about his themes, his characters, his plot... AND elevate his drama, his horror, his romance and his comedy.
That's the secret sauce to writing a Shakespeare adaptation. No one should recognise him on first reading / viewing, but everyone should recognise him on their second go.
Happy reading!
You can pick up a copy of Beth Mac: Part One and Beth Mac: Part Two in-store (68 Main Street, Lobethal, SA, Australia) or online.
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