Letter to the Editor: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Issue date: 11/17/09 Section: Commentary
Dear Editor,
Perhaps there has always been a temptation for the director of a great play to try to put his mark upon it. Lately, added to that is the belief that the theater ought to transform classical works into something trendy, preferably with an edgy political message. The director of the current production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" has succumbed in full to both the temptation and the belief, resulting in a betrayal of the deepest guiding principles of the University of Dallas.
Shakespeare opens his play with Theseus, ruler and founder of Athens, the city that gave the world Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Greek theater. The Athenian king, having just conquered the barbarian queen, appears to rule over Christian England, the juxtaposition of which places before us the pillars of Western civilization. At the same time, the play addresses the meaning of erotic love with all its sorrow and glory, and finally we are invited to believe in the fairies, i.e., in the presence of a magic power that can turn the whims of nature to the good of men.
Such questions disappear in this heavy-handed production of Shakespeare's play. The great King Theseus appears dressed as a Chinese communist. The graceful English fairies become gyrating Indian dancers accompanied by ear-splitting Bollywood music. Lesbians take center stage and virgins turn into bawds. The important distinctions are all collapsed, the ultimate sign of barbarity. In this production, Shakespeare's intention is turned on its head and barbarity defeats civilization.
UD was founded with the express purpose of preserving an understanding of the greatest books of a great civilization. To quote John Ruskin, "Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts, the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art. Not one of these books can be understood unless we read the two others, but of the three the only trustworthy one is the last." Let us fervently hope that we at this University will not forget to trust the greatest works.
Jill Jeffrey
B.A.
Class of 1979
Perhaps there has always been a temptation for the director of a great play to try to put his mark upon it. Lately, added to that is the belief that the theater ought to transform classical works into something trendy, preferably with an edgy political message. The director of the current production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" has succumbed in full to both the temptation and the belief, resulting in a betrayal of the deepest guiding principles of the University of Dallas.
Shakespeare opens his play with Theseus, ruler and founder of Athens, the city that gave the world Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Greek theater. The Athenian king, having just conquered the barbarian queen, appears to rule over Christian England, the juxtaposition of which places before us the pillars of Western civilization. At the same time, the play addresses the meaning of erotic love with all its sorrow and glory, and finally we are invited to believe in the fairies, i.e., in the presence of a magic power that can turn the whims of nature to the good of men.
Such questions disappear in this heavy-handed production of Shakespeare's play. The great King Theseus appears dressed as a Chinese communist. The graceful English fairies become gyrating Indian dancers accompanied by ear-splitting Bollywood music. Lesbians take center stage and virgins turn into bawds. The important distinctions are all collapsed, the ultimate sign of barbarity. In this production, Shakespeare's intention is turned on its head and barbarity defeats civilization.
UD was founded with the express purpose of preserving an understanding of the greatest books of a great civilization. To quote John Ruskin, "Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts, the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art. Not one of these books can be understood unless we read the two others, but of the three the only trustworthy one is the last." Let us fervently hope that we at this University will not forget to trust the greatest works.
Jill Jeffrey
B.A.
Class of 1979
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