“Europe Speaks Shakespeare”: Karin Beier’s 1996 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Multilingual Performance and the Myth of Shakespeare’s Linguistic Transcendence

Boecker, Bettina

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-89851-3_2

Cited by 1 publication

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“…Perhaps the best way to conclude this section is to turn again to a theatrical example. In 1996, Karin Beier directed A Midsummer Night ' s Dream at Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf, with “14 actors speaking nine different languages (German, English, Italian, Polish, Russian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Hebrew, French),” whom she “had personally hand‐picked from theatres around Europe” (Boecker 5). Subtitled “ein europäischer Shakespeare [a European Shakespeare],” the staging was aptly described by Bettina Boecker, as an attempt at “theatrical identity constitution” (4).…”

Section: European Shakespeare Traditionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performing Shakespeare in Europe

Mancewicz

2016

Literature Compass

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The history of performing Shakespeare in Europe and the establishment of European Shakespeare Studies have been closely connected with European culture and politics. The emergence of the European Shakespeare Research Association, ESRA, has coincided with the fall of Communism and the political transformations in Europe after 1989, as well as the growing professionalisation and internationalisation of Shakespeare criticism. In the twenty‐first century, European studies of Shakespeare continue to flourish, with vibrant research centres extending from Murcia in Spain to Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine, and with a dynamic European Shakespeare Festivals Network. At the heart of European Shakespeare Studies has been the examination of Shakespeare's reception in different national traditions across Europe. Performance criticism has played a crucial role in this process, given that theatre as a medium transcends linguistic barriers, while encouraging local traditions of translation and staging. Productions of Shakespeare have also provided a forum for articulating current political and social concerns, particularly in times of censorship, which has made them exceptionally appealing to scholars interested in national cultures and histories. This article outlines four aspects that represent Shakespeare's relationship with European performance: theatrical exchanges between England and the Continent as the beginning of the European Shakespeare tradition, translation as an integral part of stage practice, the significance of performance criticism in European Shakespeare Studies and the notion of a shared European theatre tradition. Their discussion combines elements of a historical narrative with a critical overview. The article concludes with new perspectives in the twenty‐first century Shakespeare productions, as the Eurozone debt crisis and immigration crisis pose new challenges and responsibilities for artists and academics.

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Section: European Shakespeare Traditionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performing Shakespeare in Europe

Mancewicz

2016

Literature Compass

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“Europe Speaks Shakespeare”: Karin Beier’s 1996 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Multilingual Performance and the Myth of Shakespeare’s Linguistic Transcendence

Cited by 1 publication

References 6 publications

Performing Shakespeare in Europe

Performing Shakespeare in Europe

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