AHDS Collections

Designing Shakespeare Collection - Video Interview Clip

- Modern Dress Shakespeare

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Designing Shakespeare Collection - Modern Dress Shakespeare
Filename	:	DS_SK_vi11.mov
Short Desc	:	Eleventh video interview clip with Theatre Designer Shelagh Keegan
Description	:	Question: A number of your productions you use modern dress. Do you think that contemporary productions of Shakespeare should use metaphor to speak to the audience, do they need to? Answer: David always did, yeah, I mean, who did the modern day film Romeo and Juliet? .(Baz Lehman) .Baz Lehman. I thought it was fantastic. Worked brilliantly. My daughters are totally into Romeo and Juliet, that film, you know and if that's and I know from my own understanding of Shakespeare, if I hadn't done the productions in the way in which he did which was to bring them up to date, which was to use modern design whatever, it wouldn't have worked for the same way for the audiences, you know. You've got to get the kids attention, and setting it always in heavy period dress can be very alienating I think in contemporary period, so if it works and if you've got, I think the thing that David always did and I know Fran did it more with him 'cos she's far more of an intellectual than I am, and much more academic, she would come up with very very strong academic arguments as to why certain a period would work with a play very well. And I think her plays are often very very successful and David I think really works very well with her on those more political productions and I think if the Director's got a clear idea of why he wants to do that then yeah, go for it. Sometimes you get a very woolly sort of half-hearted half in and half out ones and they don't work at all and then you get the kind of over-the-top window dressing ones as well which don't work either. You know, I think you've got to have a real bit of history knowledge and political clout to kind of make it come off but it often does, you know, Fascist states.
Source	:	DS_18_06_02 INT-06 (mini DV tape)
Format	:	Quicktime Progressive (video)
Type	:	Resource Movie
Rights	:	This clip may be used for educational purposes only, any commercial use of this material requires permission from the copyright holders. Misuse or misrepresentation may result in legal action. Copyright holder: Christie Carson, COMPH, Royal Holloway University of London.
Length	:	1 minute 42.10 seconds