Thank you for sharing this! It's great to hear about another Margaret adaptation and I would definitely love to know more about the development and future of this piece.
Have you done an adaptation? If so, it available to read? When I first had the idea, I was crazy enough to believe I was the only person who did. I've since learned otherwise, putting it mildly.
I haven't written my own adaptation, but I've studied as many of them as I've been able to, and even seen a few of them. I started researching this trend over ten years ago, and my primary essay about them is in the Palgrave Handbook of Shakespeare's Queens. I'm so fascinated by the fact that some of the least performed of his plays are actually the most adapted, so I'm always excited each time someone creates one.
Found the Palgrave book via an online library subscription service. Fascinating essay -- and helpful perspective for me, thanks for letting me know about it. I think what I've done, as best I can, is not re-center and re-orient the tetralogy but demolish it in favor of something else. Though that's not what I thought I was doing when I started out. Anyway--all very interesting!
Thank you for taking the time to read the essay - I'm glad you found it helpful! I love the way you describe your adaptive goals in this comment - I do think the ones that have been the most successful are the ones that are most able to let go of Shakespeare, as it were. I hope yours sees a future production - I will certainly try to see it, if I can.
Shakespeare's version of Joan of Arc was deliberate propaganda that bears no resemblance to history; although I've read that his initial version was much closer to the real Joan of Arc until the outraged English public forced him to rewrite it to their liking.
This is great, Bill! You absolutely should do it. I honestly think you should use this as your pitch, and shop it around to Shakespeare companies. Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn leaps to mind. They seem to be aching for new ways to approach the material and are currently doing an ambitious edited version of Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 into one play. Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey at Drew University is another full-resourced theatre that comes to mind that also seems to be aching for new avenues of presentation. Your project could be quite appealing to them. And my hope is that if they get some grant money, and make a kind-of promise to perform it if it they like the final result, it'll get you to do it. Because I'd love to read the whole thing.
I saw a production of Richard III at Classical Stage Company in 2007 starring Michael Cumpsty as Richard III and Roberta Maxwell as Margaret. And she was such a central, organizing presence that it changed the meaning of the play. I wrote her an email afterwards that they should have changed the name of the play to Margaret's Curse.
BTW I especially like your editing of the Joan of Arc stuff. I'm a huge histories fan, but the extreme propagandistic stuff written for her by Shakespeare (or more likely, his co-author) is some of the weakest in his entire oeuvre. But when you get done with it, you've preserved the Brit propaganda perspective, but made them look savage for it, and made her jump out of the page like the heroine she is. Bravo. And cutting and pasting has a long and noble heritage in Shakespeare performance.
Thanks, Michael -- I saw the Henry IV at TFNA and thought the directing was amazing (lame Times review totally didn't get it). Sounds like The R III you saw made the same discovery I did: Margaret literally drives the action. (A lot of Richards from Olivier to Ian McKellan have cut her out.) I do have a complete script, with a strong action and through lines and have taken it as far as I can on the page. Before COVID I thought I had a director, but lockdown and life changes knocked that around, and then so did The Hamilton Scheme. Back on it now, appreciate these thoughts!
You can now also check out the first two scenes of Act Two and some notes: https://williamhogeland.substack.com/p/a-few-notes-on-the-revenge-of-queen
Thank you for sharing this! It's great to hear about another Margaret adaptation and I would definitely love to know more about the development and future of this piece.
Have you done an adaptation? If so, it available to read? When I first had the idea, I was crazy enough to believe I was the only person who did. I've since learned otherwise, putting it mildly.
I haven't written my own adaptation, but I've studied as many of them as I've been able to, and even seen a few of them. I started researching this trend over ten years ago, and my primary essay about them is in the Palgrave Handbook of Shakespeare's Queens. I'm so fascinated by the fact that some of the least performed of his plays are actually the most adapted, so I'm always excited each time someone creates one.
Found the Palgrave book via an online library subscription service. Fascinating essay -- and helpful perspective for me, thanks for letting me know about it. I think what I've done, as best I can, is not re-center and re-orient the tetralogy but demolish it in favor of something else. Though that's not what I thought I was doing when I started out. Anyway--all very interesting!
Thank you for taking the time to read the essay - I'm glad you found it helpful! I love the way you describe your adaptive goals in this comment - I do think the ones that have been the most successful are the ones that are most able to let go of Shakespeare, as it were. I hope yours sees a future production - I will certainly try to see it, if I can.
Shakespeare's version of Joan of Arc was deliberate propaganda that bears no resemblance to history; although I've read that his initial version was much closer to the real Joan of Arc until the outraged English public forced him to rewrite it to their liking.
This is great, Bill! You absolutely should do it. I honestly think you should use this as your pitch, and shop it around to Shakespeare companies. Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn leaps to mind. They seem to be aching for new ways to approach the material and are currently doing an ambitious edited version of Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 into one play. Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey at Drew University is another full-resourced theatre that comes to mind that also seems to be aching for new avenues of presentation. Your project could be quite appealing to them. And my hope is that if they get some grant money, and make a kind-of promise to perform it if it they like the final result, it'll get you to do it. Because I'd love to read the whole thing.
I saw a production of Richard III at Classical Stage Company in 2007 starring Michael Cumpsty as Richard III and Roberta Maxwell as Margaret. And she was such a central, organizing presence that it changed the meaning of the play. I wrote her an email afterwards that they should have changed the name of the play to Margaret's Curse.
BTW I especially like your editing of the Joan of Arc stuff. I'm a huge histories fan, but the extreme propagandistic stuff written for her by Shakespeare (or more likely, his co-author) is some of the weakest in his entire oeuvre. But when you get done with it, you've preserved the Brit propaganda perspective, but made them look savage for it, and made her jump out of the page like the heroine she is. Bravo. And cutting and pasting has a long and noble heritage in Shakespeare performance.
Thanks, Michael -- I saw the Henry IV at TFNA and thought the directing was amazing (lame Times review totally didn't get it). Sounds like The R III you saw made the same discovery I did: Margaret literally drives the action. (A lot of Richards from Olivier to Ian McKellan have cut her out.) I do have a complete script, with a strong action and through lines and have taken it as far as I can on the page. Before COVID I thought I had a director, but lockdown and life changes knocked that around, and then so did The Hamilton Scheme. Back on it now, appreciate these thoughts!
this is my dream project. beyond dream project. i love this.