SHAKESPEARE’S GREATEST HITS II
Gaines is dead wrong about reading Shakespeare; he’s as rewarding to the literate as he is to the merely hearing. But if Gaines’s colossal misreading of Shakespeare’s powers is what allows her to pump up the volume so high that new and younger audiences are sold on Shakespeare, if it inspires her to produce a Cymbeline like her 1989 stunner or Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits II, which is sure to engage young and youthful audiences–well, let the lie be.
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Like its rock ‘n’ roll Royal George predecessor, Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits II subscribes to the MTV school of pounding passion–minus the frenetic camera angles and jump cuts. These nine scenes are bridged by pop classics like Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” and clever segues (written by Kate Buckley). Of course what works best for a theater full of restless teens is to make sure the emotions erupt strongly enough to pull the words along. At the performance I saw, the kids barely uttered a peep. (They didn’t laugh much either–maybe their teachers did a number on them.)
Some of these episodes are definitely for all markets, not just teenagers. The ghost scene in Hamlet is appropriately Halloweenlike, with flashlights cutting through the dark and giant puppets portraying the quick-moving ghost; its musical signature is the theme from Ghostbusters. In the Titus Andronicus section a ferocious sword fight leads to Aaron’s rescue of his bastard baby brother (Torrey feelingly portrays Aaron’s loyalty).
