Shakespeare and Media: An Interview with Peter Cockett

Peter Cockett during his 2006 intreview with CASP

Link to trailer advertising Cockett's Henry V

Peter Cockett, a theatre professor at McMaster University, is ever-mindful of the power of Shakespeare's language and its adaptation in modern media, using a headline from the Toronto Star (2004) as inspiration for his adaptation of William Shakespeare's Henry V.

The headline read “Band of Brothers: Kilo Company, U.S. Marine Patrol Falluja’s Ruins” and directly quotes a speech delivered by King Henry V to his troops as the Battle of Agincourt, as written by Shakespeare in 1599. Although the language conjures images of camaraderie and the bravery of battle, Peter Cockett was skeptical that the author of an article in a relatively liberal newspaper like the Toronto Star would be quoting Shakespeare to glorify the war in Iraq.

Whatever the intentions were behind the use of that powerful phrase, Cockett is aware that: “The power of [Shakespeare’s] language works by association but, if you change the context in which the words are said, the associations proliferate in different directions. So, we can use Shakespeare to engage our culture in different ways.” It was this thought, in conjunction with the headline from Canada's largest, most read newspaper, that began Cockett's creative process in adapting Henry V.

Production poster from McMaster University's 2005 adaptation of Henry V

Production poster from Peter Cockett's 2005 adaptation of Henry V at McMaster University

I see [Shakespeare’s appearance] as a result of the evocative power of his language and his pervasive influence in Western culture. I don’t know if the editor [of the Toronto Star] was aware that the headline was a line from Shakespeare’s play but it made me wonder why Shakespeare’s words should appear in this manner on the front page of a newspaper. What power did they hold? What were they being made to say? They seemed to be supporting the US war in Iraq. Would Shakespeare have minded? Would Henry? The line comes from Henry’s famous speech on the field of Agincourt as he persuades his men to fight for him against overwhelming odds. He says all men that fight with him will be his brothers. Are the US marines his brothers too, are the Iraqi insurgents? … This was the germ from which our show has grown.

The "Band of brothers" speech is one of Shakespeare’s most famous speeches and has made countless appearances in the modern lexicon. Most notable perhaps was its appearance as the title of the 2003 World War II miniseries, Band of Brothers, directed by Tom Hanks, that follows the lives and fate of a platoon of American soldiers. This title and usage more directly addresses the traditional context of the phrase, glorifying war and praising the loyalty and companionship of the soldiers. The headline from the Toronto Star also used the Shakespearean phrase but adapted it in yet another way related to constructing notions of how Shakespearean discourse relates to discourses of war.

It is possible that the author of the Toronto Star article tried to engage a voice of colonial authority that Canadians could relate to by using a Shakespearean phrase to address American issues of foreign policy and defense that were having global consequences. Whatever the reasons were for the use of the phrase, Cockett became fascinated with the use of Shakespeare's language in association with the rhetoric of war and based his adaptation of Henry V on the already adapted line from the Toronto Star. One of the points that the adaptation scores is the degree to which the popular and mass media are complicit with the construction and sustenance of the rhetoric of war. Moreover, Cockett's adaptation points to ways in which Shakespeare, as a bona fide media star, is used to support intermingled pro-war, jingoistic, and nationalist rhetorics. Thus, Cockett's adaptation makes explicit the connections among pro-war propaganda, the use of the media to create and propagate that propaganda, and Shakespeare's place in relation to the mutually reinforcing relationship between war and the public media.

Below is a video of the flash file created by Peter Cockett to illustrate how the Toronto Star article inpsired him to explore the relationship between Shakespeare and the media.

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visit www.apple.com/quicktime to download the Player for free.

Shakespeare’s citation in the mainstream media (a common enough occurrence) provided inspired Cockett to make use of multiple media within his production as a way to engage other issues related to how war is waged in multiple environments beyond just the battlefields. Still and moving images from various military conflicts were projected on a series of screens behind the stage as a way to engage other issues like gender, hypermasculinity, and the traditional status of the Shakepearean hero. To further accentuate these issues the role of King Henry was played by five individuals ranging in gender, age, and race.

Since Elizabeth avoided war if at all possible, the aristocratic men who had traditionally defined themselves through honour won on the battlefield had few wars to fight and this resulted in what has been termed a crisis of the aristocracy. This crisis is also viewed as a crisis of gender identity, since war was defined as a masculine activity and the new means of political advancement, the arts, was deemed feminine. Shakespeare’s play can thus be read as a definition of manhood for his times.

Cockett's interpretation of the play in relation to an ongoing, contemporary war (in Iraq), replays another famous version of the play, released in 1946 and directed by Laurence Olivier (with its reflections on jingoism and patriotism in relation to the English and WWII), The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France. Where the 38-year old Olivier's version is less than reflexively critical of patriotism, standing as more than an incitement to it, Cockett's adaptation stages multiple crises in the relationship between Shakespearean discourses and war as mediated by the media, issues of gender, and technology. And, it should be remembered, Shakespeare's association with discourses of war is significant: as French Canadian director (whose highly lauded Cycle des Rois [Cycle of Kings] restaged a trilogy of history plays) Jean Asselin reminds: "[Shakespeare] a tellement influencé l'Angleterre que Winston Churchill lisait un discours de sa pièce Henry V à la radio pour encourager ses troupes au combat pendant la dernière guerre" [Shakespeare so influenced England that Winston Churchill read a speech from Henry V to encourage his troops to combat during the last war] (La Presse interview, March 12, 1988).

Cockett’s multi-dimensional exploration of Henry V as a re-staging of the discourses and representations of war in the media is unique, then, within a Canadian context but does not stand alone in the field of Canadian or global adaptations. A significant number of adaptations already archived in the CASP database are adaptations heavily influenced by and infused with media and multimedia, often using the media as a means for addressing other issues.

Robert Lepage - Elsinore, Elseneur

An intriguing adaptation of Hamlet that make use of a mechanical, moving stage as well as projected stil and moving images and fantastical light and sound effects . Lepage created both a French and an English version.

MacFadzean, Matthew and Amy Price-Francis – Danespotting

“The characters of Hamlet and Ophelia are explored through a juxtaposition of Shakepeare, TV and movie references, choreography and music.” (Taylor, David Gobeil. "The good, the buzz and the ugly: Hits and misses from the Fringe." Montreal Mirror 19 June 1997. 14 Jan. 2002. )

McCutcheon, Mark – Dr. Teeth’s Public Address System
Müller, Heiner and Haentjens, Brigitte - Hamlet-machine
- Hamlet-machine focuses on the fragmentation and deconstruction of its characters by the cunning use of multiple actors and multimedia projections. Two French Canadian performances have been archived in the CASP database.
Brassard, Marie – Le Polygraphe

Referred to as “a play disguised as a film” this production is another one of Lepage’s fantastical creations that combines everything from film credits to film-style titles, not to mention a polygraph machine.

Miller, Rick – MacHomer

Rick Miller's adaptation of MacBeth features over 50 voices from the popular TV show The Simpsons as well as making use of well over 300 projected images.

Grant, Debora - Denmark & Elsinore
Munro, Neil - Hamlet’s Room

Maxwell Summerlee (with Daniel Fischlin)

Link to Database

Link to Interview with Peter Cockett

Link to trailer advertising Cockett's Henry V

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