For this assignment, you are asked to select one of the following two productions of “Hamlet” (both of which are available on the MIT Global Shakespeare website), and write an analysis of the production. A production analysis means that you are analyzing the artistic choices made by the director and explaininghowthese choices relate or feed into the overall concept or idea that the director wants to communicate. Here are your two choices:
1) Search: Hamlet (dir. Ong Keng Sen, 2002)
2) Hamlet (dir. Jung-ung Yang, 2010)
MIT Global Shakespeare website:MIT
In your analysis, you should include the following:
1)Basic production information(date, location, director, production company, cast, touring information). This information will ideally be placed in your introduction, in addition to a link to the performance you are analyzing. Not all items of information will be available or relevant for all productions (for instance, not every production will have toured), but you are expected to provide complete and accurate production information.
2) Brief description of theproduction concept. What was the director’s approach to the production, what is his/her interpretation of the play? Explain. What idea(s) was the production meant to convey to the audience? What does the production want to accomplish? Explain.
3) Description of and credit for the text used for the production (language, translator[s], nature of the adaptation, description of cuts/additions, where relevant). How does the performance text relate to the director’s production concept?
4) Description of theartistic design(set, costume, staging, lighting and sound, casting, etc.)and how it supports the production concept.
5) Evaluation of theeffectiveness of the overall production. What is your assessment of the production--is it a successful adaption of Shakespeare's play or not? In order to answer this question, you will first need to establish a set of criteria for what you think constitutes success (for instance, does a successful production mean that the director stays "true" to the play's themes, characters, or structure? Does it mean adapting the play to suit a certain context, time period, or situation?). Identify your criteria (for yourself) before deciding whether or not the production is successful. Refer back to these criteria in your analysis. If you like, you can compare the production you have selected with the production of theAl-Hamlet Summit. This may help you draw out strengths and weaknesses in the production you are analyzing, as well as help you to clarify what you think makes a good adaptation.
500-750