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Pyramus and Thisbe 4 You or a "Wondrous Strange" Tale of Contemporary Romanian Theatre

Cinpoes, Nicoleta (2012) Pyramus and Thisbe 4 You or a "Wondrous Strange" Tale of Contemporary Romanian Theatre. Arrêt sur scène / Scene Focus, 1. pp. 117-125. ISSN 2268-977X

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Abstract

Like its title, Pyramus and Thisbe 4 You, Alexandru Dabija’s production at the Odeon Theatre, Bucharest, was a tongue-in-cheek invitation to the audience that at once aimed to tease past and recent Romanian endeavours and to tease out the stage potential a Shakespeare play holds today. My examination of the production re-constructs the local cultural contexts the production plays with and against, referring to the Romanian ways of making Shakespeare this production enters into dialogue with. Take 1, an all-female version casting the mature stars of the Odeon, I read against both Elizabethan all-male stage practice and Andrei Serban’s all-female Lear at the Bulandra (2008). Take 2, “an old device” (V.1.50): a teacher-student “devising” session at the Academy of Theatre and Cinema, I read against critics’ “more strange than true” (V.1.2) parlance on “theories of perception and reception” and against hi-tech Shakespeare dominating the Romanian stages in the first decade of the third millennium. Take 3, local political banter on ethnic discrimination, I read as “satire keen and critical” (V.1.54) on both communist censorship and the recent rise of nationalism in Romania. Take 4, a “cold” reading-cum-improvisation performed by the technical crew – this production’s mechanicals – I read as “palpable-gross play” (V.1.376) on both acting and spectating practices. What I argue in this article is that Dabija’s production goes beyond its local context and mores, and proposes a re-assessment of Shakespeare’s cultural currency in (European) Romania and Europe at large by exposing current tyrannies in Shakespeare studies: from translation and adaptation, through directing and acting, to viewing and reviewing.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information:

Arrêt sur scène / Scene Focus is a bilingual online journal published by the IRCL, France.
The full-text can be accessed via the Official URL.

Uncontrolled Discrete Keywords: Shakespeare, Romanian theatre
Subjects: P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Divisions: College of Arts, Humanities and Education > School of Humanities
Related URLs:
Depositing User: Nicoleta Cinpoes
Date Deposited: 07 Jul 2016 14:17
Last Modified: 17 Jun 2020 17:11
URI: https://eprints.worc.ac.uk/id/eprint/4598

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