There is a discussion going at the moment at Blogcatalog which may seem like heresy to some writers out there. Appleman asked the question: Is Shakespeare Outdated? I’ll be honest, there was a time when I would have most definitely answered yes.

I spent the first 15 or so years of my life firmly convinced Shakespeare was irrelevant, long winded and downright dull – and I grew up in Stratford on Avon*, so had more access to him than most**. However, I studied MacBeth for O’level, and was fortunate enough to have a wonderful English teacher who turned those dry, dusty words, and weird, outlandish characters into real stories about real people. She did this partly because had an enormous enthusiasm for, and understanding of, her subject, and partly because she understood that there is little point in expecting teenagers to implicitly understand something written so many centuries ago.

Unfortunately, there is a degree of snobbery about how Shakespeare should be ‘done’ properly. Some believe his plays should only ever be performed on stage, by actors whose booming, rhythmic interpretations make it almost impossible to distinguish individual words. These people also believe that Shakespeare should never be made accessible. The people should come to Shakespeare, he should never go to them. The same people believe children should study his plays by reading aloud in hot, stuffy classrooms, having been given little chance to understand precisely what it is they are reading.

On the other hand, there are people who know that making Shakespeare accessible is a good thing. Like my former English teacher, they know that by helping a reader to interpret the language, by providing modern parallels, Shakespeare comes to life. He did not write his plays with the intention that they should remain tucked away on dark, rarely visited shelves in university libraries. They were the romantic comedies, horror films and action movies of their day. They were meant to be enjoyed by a mass audience, not a small group of elitists.

My dearly beloved, Mr Blogs***, only began to like and enjoy Shakespeare after he watched the film, Looking for Richard. All of a sudden he ‘got’ it. And that brings me to my point. In Looking for Richard, Al Pacino, made a film that was enjoyable for anyone familiar with the play, but which was also accessible to anyone who wasn’t. That is how Shakespeare should be taught in schools. It shouldn’t be pretentious, serious or remote. His plays should, and could, be vibrant, dramatic, funny, passionate . . . well, you know, all the qualities one would find in romantic comedies, horror films and action movies.

First published on December 4th, 2007

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