Canadian
theatre 
Shakedown Shakespeare: An Interview with Yvette Nolan
 |
| Yvette Nolan |
In November 2003, CASP Research Associate Gordon Lester conducted an email interview with Yvette Nolan concerning Shakespeare, adaptation, and Canadiana in Shakedown Shakespeare.
How did Shakedown Shakespeare originate? What was the co-writing process like with Philip Adams?
Philip was the artistic director of Nakai Theatre and was interested in a TYA show about Shakespeare. I was spending a lot of time in Whitehorse, doing play creation projects in the schools and kids were telling me how boring they found Shakespeare. Not true, I said, everything is in Shakespeare! So we decided to write a piece as a primer for young audiences. I did most of the actual physical act of writing, Philip did most of the dramaturgy. The co-writing process actually all happened in the air, in the talking, in the talking out, of the play. And then of course Philip directed the show, which was produced at the Guild and then toured.
Shakedown Shakespeare is a comedy adapted from Shakespeare's four biggest tragedies: Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Macbeth and Hamlet. Could you comment on the process of adapting tragedies into comedies?
Ah, tragedy plus time. Well, it's easier to catch flies with honey, or whatever that adage is, so it was important that it be a comedy. But comedy is just ordinary people in extraordinary situations, or vice-versa. So these situations are already extraordinary. Pushing them that wee bit further is not that tough. But these tragedies deal with the big themes - love, pride, ambition and the struggle to be true to yourself - and they are what young people are struggling with on a daily basis. Or so I think.
Many of the other adaptations we have collected also make light of Shakespeare's tragedies. Do you think the ability to turn tragedy into comedy is a 'Canadian' trait?
See below - Cordelias, Lears, Macbeths or Fools. More, I think, it's a straddling of tragedy and comedy. Because Shakedown Shakespeare ends badly. Not with a wedding, and with characters essentially unchanged, but with deaths all around, and characters transformed. Hamlet knows himself, knows the truth and so must act in order to be true to himself.
In the play, Hamlet says: "Everybody in these stories is so clear, so decisive. Why can't I be like that? Everybody always knows exactly what to do, and they do it." But the irony is that decisive action gets everybody killed, including Hamlet. Do you see this ethos of caution as a part of our national identity?
Yes and no. We are cautious, but when we are sure we are right, we are tenacious. The war on Iraq. Gay rights. I think the part of the national identity that Hamlet manifests is that indecision about who we are. And who we are not. And that observer status we have, not quite part of, but not outside either. Not soldiers, but peacekeepers. Not Americans. Not aggressive, polite.
The ending is particularly cynical where the Fool convinces Hamlet to take action, which leads to Hamlet's death. Would you want to comment on the adaptive decisions that led to this ending?
Fool is a truthteller. The truth is the truth. Where it leads is almost incidental. The important thing for Hamlet is finally being sure of something, finally validating his instinct. And better to die in action than due to inaction, which is where he was headed anyway, with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The bigger picture in Hamlet is particularly Greek anyway, something we don't look at in Shakedown Shakespeare, in that with the death of everyone, Fortinbras will arrive and order will be restored.
It has been said that Germany has an obsession with Hamlet. Do you see Canada as a country of Hamlets, Macbeths, Cordelias, or Fools?
Fools. Rick Mercer, Codco, Michael Hollingsworth, Air Farce, Cathy Jones, Mary Walsh, George Walker. We are a nation of observers and commenters-upon. The fool is the truth-teller, but his truth is cloaked in wit and humour.
Are there aspects of Shakespeare's storytelling that relate to aspects of Aboriginal storytelling? Do you see this play as an Aboriginal adaptation of Shakespeare?
What makes Shakespeare so perfect is that he transcends all boundaries. Everything is in Shakespeare. So, yes, the values he sells - to thine own self be true, true love, bravery, honour, generosity, wisdom, humour - those are all values championed in Aboriginal storytelling.
The play was written for young audiences and it has often been performed in schools. What are the pedagogical and political merits of teaching Shakespeare in the classroom?
Everything is in Shakespeare. I don't know if that's because he was touched by the Creator, but everything is there. Shakespeare gives us a common language. Shakespeare examines the human heart and all its secrets - love, ambition, pride, courage, humility - and attempts to show the way to grapple with those challenges. We examine our motivations through our art.
The fact that our project has found close to 500 adaptations of Shakespeare (not including countless productions) seems to indicate that adaptation of Shakespeare in Canada serves some sort of function--theatrical, political, national, regional. Do you have any thoughts on this cultural preoccupation of ours, especially in relation to aboriginal culture?
I don't know if it's an especially Canadian preoccupation, more one of the English speaking world. As to its relation to aboriginal culture, well, such a shared language would be a way for cultures to talk to each other. Witness the Native/non-Native Romeo & Juliet in Saskatchewan those years ago.
Gordon Lester
