We are familiar with classics
like Shakespeare and the Greeks, among others, of resetting their stories in
place and time. It seems almost incumbent upon directors and producers to
re-imagine how a story-of-old can be framed to connect with a contemporary
audience. There is also the daunting challenge of re-interpreting a play such
as Hamlet so that audiences sit up, alert
and clear-thinking/hearing. The concepts executed are tested against the texts
themselves and, in the process, we are able to see and learn whether the
retrofit holds together or devolves into window-dressing and little more. The Williamstown Theatre Festival is currently featuring a
conceptual approach to Oscar Wilde’s masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest, and both during its three acts
and afterward I was forced to wonder how even one of the many talented hands at
work didn’t seem to stop long enough to say, “Let’s take a moment to rethink
this thing.”
So misguided and misdirected is
this production, that I think it best to say that the play will close, the
actors will find other more well-fitting roles, that the creative team will go
their separate ways and that the Williamstown
Theatre Festival
will take a long breath before they again decide to re-imagine what needs no
re-imagining. I am no purist, but I find the waste of talent, money and
imagination on display a very dispiriting affair, indeed.