Theater nonsense
Jun. 25th, 2004 12:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kukla_tkoAnd if you're going to talk about theater nonsense, might as well discuss the Bard.
I am currently still taking a machete to the script for A Midsummer Night's Dream.
I am also having some fun working with what I have left.
And I am most likely going to fill the hole in our cast with a guy who I might not have otherwise considered... because there was a hole in my cast.
He comes highly recommended. He probably has more experience than everyone except the fellow who recommended him.
But here's the thing; I need a Demetrius or a Lysander... and I was hoping that they would be of similar apparent age to Hermia and Helena.
Instead, I think I am going to twist it up a bit.
Here's a brief explanation for those who aren't familiar with the play.
Demetrius has an unhealthy obsession with Hermia. No one has the faintest idea why, least of all Hermia. She cannot stand him, even if her father thinks he is the greatest guy ever. In fact, she's pretty pissed off that her father has demanded that she marry Demetrius, and can't believe that the Duke of Athens is backing up her father on this. She's given a choice; Marry Demetrius, or join a nunnery, or be killed.
Ugh.
To make things worse, she is deeply and passionately in love with Lysander, who adores her. The two of them only want to live happily together. Lysander comes up with a "Plan."
He points out that to defy the law is to become a fugitive; but he has an escape plan. He's got family in another city-state and wants to elope there and start a new life together.
Hermia eagerly consents and they plan to go, traveling by night through the woods.
But wait, it gets more interesting; Hermia's stalker, Demetrius, has a stalker of his own. There's another girl that he wooed and then abandoned. Her name is Helena and she is crazy about him. In fact, she has been exhibiting wild and very unladylike behavior around him and in public, chasing him through the streets. It is, in fact, the latest local scandal that Helena is chasing a man.
Hermia and Helena both make reference to the fact that they grew up together and are best friends.
Helena--> Demetrius-->Hermia<--> Lysander.
I had intended, as I said, to make them all of the same age. Then a new idea came to me. Here's the backstory for what I will be presenting;
Demetrius has a very good friend, with a very young daughter. He spends a lot of time with his friend, and his friend's family, over the years. He often sees his friend's Daughter, and her 'slightly older' friend (or possibly her nurse) all the time and watches them grow into beautiful young ladies. He and Helena have a brief affair, as soon as she blossoms into womanhood (a few years ahead of Hermia.) However, once Hermia comes of age, he decides that it is Hermia whom he desires, and casts Helena aside.
He was Helena's first love, and she is really pissed off at being cast aside. (Singing "You oughta know" under her breath all the time.) But she is still in love with him, and pursues him.
Hermia, having seen all of this is genuinely horrified that this guy has tossed her friend to the wayside to pursue her.
Particularly since she has found love and happiness with Lysander, who is more her own age anyway.
There are clues to this backstory all over the script. Demetrius *is* very good friends with Hermia's father. (And if he were Hermia's age, why would that be so?)
When the two girls begin to fight, Helena calls Hermia "Little" and "Small" and such. There are references to Helena being bigger than Hermia elsewhere, too. So, why not make her older as well?
This makes Demetrius very unsympethetic. Then again, I never really liked him much to begin with. Much like Oberon or Bottom the Weaver, he is something of an Ass.
See, Bottom isn't the only Ass in this story.
(There's a subtle gag in here that I want desperately to exploit; the Faerie Queen falls in love with the Ass-headed Bottom due to a spell, but it is not so hard to see, since her husband Oberon is something of an ass himself....)
I am currently still taking a machete to the script for A Midsummer Night's Dream.
I am also having some fun working with what I have left.
And I am most likely going to fill the hole in our cast with a guy who I might not have otherwise considered... because there was a hole in my cast.
He comes highly recommended. He probably has more experience than everyone except the fellow who recommended him.
But here's the thing; I need a Demetrius or a Lysander... and I was hoping that they would be of similar apparent age to Hermia and Helena.
Instead, I think I am going to twist it up a bit.
Here's a brief explanation for those who aren't familiar with the play.
Demetrius has an unhealthy obsession with Hermia. No one has the faintest idea why, least of all Hermia. She cannot stand him, even if her father thinks he is the greatest guy ever. In fact, she's pretty pissed off that her father has demanded that she marry Demetrius, and can't believe that the Duke of Athens is backing up her father on this. She's given a choice; Marry Demetrius, or join a nunnery, or be killed.
Ugh.
To make things worse, she is deeply and passionately in love with Lysander, who adores her. The two of them only want to live happily together. Lysander comes up with a "Plan."
He points out that to defy the law is to become a fugitive; but he has an escape plan. He's got family in another city-state and wants to elope there and start a new life together.
Hermia eagerly consents and they plan to go, traveling by night through the woods.
But wait, it gets more interesting; Hermia's stalker, Demetrius, has a stalker of his own. There's another girl that he wooed and then abandoned. Her name is Helena and she is crazy about him. In fact, she has been exhibiting wild and very unladylike behavior around him and in public, chasing him through the streets. It is, in fact, the latest local scandal that Helena is chasing a man.
Hermia and Helena both make reference to the fact that they grew up together and are best friends.
Helena--> Demetrius-->Hermia<--> Lysander.
I had intended, as I said, to make them all of the same age. Then a new idea came to me. Here's the backstory for what I will be presenting;
Demetrius has a very good friend, with a very young daughter. He spends a lot of time with his friend, and his friend's family, over the years. He often sees his friend's Daughter, and her 'slightly older' friend (or possibly her nurse) all the time and watches them grow into beautiful young ladies. He and Helena have a brief affair, as soon as she blossoms into womanhood (a few years ahead of Hermia.) However, once Hermia comes of age, he decides that it is Hermia whom he desires, and casts Helena aside.
He was Helena's first love, and she is really pissed off at being cast aside. (Singing "You oughta know" under her breath all the time.) But she is still in love with him, and pursues him.
Hermia, having seen all of this is genuinely horrified that this guy has tossed her friend to the wayside to pursue her.
Particularly since she has found love and happiness with Lysander, who is more her own age anyway.
There are clues to this backstory all over the script. Demetrius *is* very good friends with Hermia's father. (And if he were Hermia's age, why would that be so?)
When the two girls begin to fight, Helena calls Hermia "Little" and "Small" and such. There are references to Helena being bigger than Hermia elsewhere, too. So, why not make her older as well?
This makes Demetrius very unsympethetic. Then again, I never really liked him much to begin with. Much like Oberon or Bottom the Weaver, he is something of an Ass.
See, Bottom isn't the only Ass in this story.
(There's a subtle gag in here that I want desperately to exploit; the Faerie Queen falls in love with the Ass-headed Bottom due to a spell, but it is not so hard to see, since her husband Oberon is something of an ass himself....)
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no subject
Date: 2004-06-25 05:42 pm (UTC)Now, casting Helena as his ex, that's brilliant in a warped kind of way. It feels a little like a stretch if she's near Hermia's age, unless she's something of a gold-digger. Then it would make perfect sense. I don't have time to reread the script, not when you've already got me thinking about this pirate-day lesson plan, but is there anything in the Bard's original script that suggests that what Helena really wants Demetrius for his money?
(I need to finish waking up before I write another word, because I had to resubmit this comment twice to edit out glaring typos.)
Notes on the Bard
Date: 2004-06-26 09:05 am (UTC)This is a good on-line edition of the text; it's annotated.
This is also where I have pulled my script from, after I sliced it to ribbons. Helena is crazy-obsessed with Demetrius. She loves him, is obsessed with him, and is his own personal stalker. I don't get the faintest whiff of "gold digger" off of her; this seems more like a young girl's first "love", and she (having never felt this way before) believes that he's the only one for her. Add a force of personality and a history of most likely getting what she wants... and bingo! Helena.
Here's a bit from the conversation about it in the Duke's chamber. (The duke, by the way, is Theseus, who is about to wed Hippolyta BTW.)
LYSANDER
I am, my lord, as well derived as he,
As well possess'd; my love is more than his;
My fortunes every way as fairly rank'd,
If not with vantage, as Demetrius';
And, which is more than all these boasts can be,
I am beloved of beauteous Hermia:
Why should not I then prosecute my right?
Demetrius, I'll avouch it to his head,
Made love to Nedar's daughter, Helena,
And won her soul; and she, sweet lady, dotes,
Devoutly dotes, dotes in idolatry,
Upon this spotted and inconstant man.
THESEUS
I must confess that I have heard so much,
And with Demetrius thought to have spoke thereof;
But, being over-full of self-affairs,
My mind did lose it. But, Demetrius, come;
And come, Egeus; you shall go with me,
I have some private schooling for you both.
This is why I came up with the idea that Helena is a few years older than Hermia, and though they grew up together, Helena reached womanhood much earlier... and was wooed by Demetrius. He tossed her aside the moment that Hermia reached an age where he could marry her. In fact, as the men are supposedly both wealthy... could it be that Demetrius is the gold-digger? He's been cosying up to Ageus (Hermia's Father) due to his wealth and prestige; Hermia may come with a larger dowry. And both Demetrius and Hermia's father refer to her as property, even to her face.
I have little doubt that Helena's love is sincere; it is Demetrius who seems to view people as objects, including both of the women.
Whereas the standard comic set-up is the older, uglier, wealthier man is the father's choice, the daughter prefers the younger, poorer, prettier man; in this version Demetrius and Lysander are supposed to be almost interchangeable. Puck mistakes the one for the other in the woods, for example.
Mostly, this is a situation where I must work with what I have, and wrap the story to suit the shape of the cast. It is going to turn out better than I could devise, though, and that makes me happy!