Othello: Why Production Teams Should Modernise Old Texts

In this essay I am going to discuss whether or not production teams should modernise old texts. It is vital to learn from these classic texts as they are written in context with their time. However, would it be better to adapt to a 21st century audience?

When Shakespeare originally wrote, “Othello,” he lived in a time of white superiority. As he wrote, “…an old black ram Is tupping your white ewe…” this was meant to symbolise Othello as an aggressive animal due to his skin colour: harming innocent Desdemona, (a helpless sheep). It also brings a theme of good versus evil due to their interracial marriage. However, these notions are outdated as white supremacy is basically non-existent because people are aware of racism and equal rights. Interracial

For example, Aristophanes, (a famous Greek comedian playwright), had, “a precise, poetic vision articulated in pin-sharp images, his works being some of the most revealing about the society for which he wrote.” Although it was written in 435BC; he still writes about basic ideologies of society. Although there are recognised themes within the play, the audience still learn something new from the writing style and events. The dream of Utopia, a well-recognised ideology, is shown in his play Archarnians. The main character said, “I’m free of war. I’ve got my peace.” This, however, represents an historic event as it is set during the war between the Spartans and Athens. If modernised; the audience would lose the story of which the playwright intended as well as the history of that particular

Box Clever Theatre have seen the need for modernisation of these plays and have actually produced a play which is an, “Imaginative and sensitive reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy – the ultimate teenage love story. It is supported by a resource pack for teachers with ideas for follow up work in the classroom.” It was found that, “90% of students said that it helped them understand the play, the characters and the language better.” This shows a need for modernisation within education as companies as well as teachers have recognised the necessity.

Despite this, there are many educational bodies such as Royal Scottish Conservatoire’s artistic director Gregory Doran that believes, the earlier Shakespeare is introduced with its original writing, the better the education: “You have to let the bug bite before kids get cynical. Letting them get involved when they are 13 is much harder than getting to kids earlier, without all the prejudices and stresses and strains of the idea that Shakespeare is somehow difficult or boring or academic.” Reading classical plays has its benefits as it enriches your experience of literature. This is because in today’s society we are subjected to a wide range of slang terms as well as technological advances such as Facebook where people