Radical fealty

It has long been commonplace for ambitious directors to restage Shakespeare in modern dress, adapting the setting to "breathe life" into aging works that are thought to be inaccessible or impractical to produce as originally written. As a result, it's difficult to find productions of Shakespeare plays that haven't been meddled with in some way.

One effect this trend has had on the theatrical world is that strictly traditional productions are now thought of as radical in their resistance to the temptations of adaptation. The British Shakespeare Company (BSC), which is in town this weekend for three performances in the Summer Shakespeare Festival at Prague Castle, has been pursing such radical aims for 16 years.

Open-air productions have come back into fashion of late with the construction of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, but BSC has been taking the show on the road with open-air performances since the days when the practice was frowned upon as "picnic party Shakespeare," as actor/director R. J. Williamson puts it. Williamson, the company's founder and original namesake (it adopted the current moniker in 2005), explains the rationale behind his approach as straightforward fealty to the playwright.

"These plays were all written for production in the open air," he says. According to Williamson, BSC's mission is to perform the playwright's work "as it was written," with full-cast productions featuring "genuine characters in genuine settings." BSC has had considerable success with this approach. The group originated in Leeds and has blossomed outward, establishing open-air festivals all over England and performing everywhere from the West End to the duke of Norfolk's castle, as well as abroad.    

Prague will get its first glimpse of the company with the well-loved romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing (Aug. 21 and 23). The group will also perform A Midsummer Night's Dream (Aug. 22), a play the director describes as encouraging audiences to "look back to nature" so as to "connect with things that make us better human beings." Both productions feature a cast made up of British television, film and stage actors.

"We don't just want middle-class stage actors," Williamson explains when asked about his approach to casting, going on to emphasize the ensemble nature of the work as essential to an evolving understanding of the texts. Mark Arden, Steven Blakeley, Daniela Lavender, Louise Lytton, Gabriel Thomson and Williamson are featured in starring roles.

Williamson, who calls Prague "the most beautiful city in Europe," says he is looking forward to a longer run at next year's festival. But his troupe will have plenty of work to keep them busy in the meantime. The company has recently come into possession of a replica of the original Rose Theatre where Shakespeare got his start (a leftover set from 1998's Shakespeare in Love, generously donated by Dame Judi Dench), which they hope to employ to establish a home base in Yorkshire. "The north of England has been neglected," says Williamson, pointing to replica sites in London and elsewhere.

English-speaking audiences in Prague have been neglected as well. The Shakespeare Festival makes amends every year with several English-language productions at the end of the season - this time, offering the Bard without updating or cultural overlay. For purists, it should be a rare treat.

James Walling can be reached at
jwalling@praguepost.com