Intersections between Shakespeare and Beckett on stage, screen and page

Da Silva Gregório, Paulo Henrique (2017). Intersections between Shakespeare and Beckett on stage, screen and page. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This thesis comparatively and critically examines the connections between Shakespeare and the drama of Samuel Beckett that have been established in British adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays for the stage, screen and page. Beckett’s distinct dramatic style has become an alternative method for the interpretation of such Shakespeare plays as King Lear and Timon of Athens for stage and screen. The first part of this thesis focuses on the assimilation of dramatic elements characteristic of Beckett’s theatre into four productions of King Lear and Timon by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The affinities between Shakespeare and Beckett’s theatre established at the RSC gained significance in relation to wider theatrical contexts. Chapters Three and Four form the second part of this thesis. These chapters examine the various ways in which the Beckettian method employed at the RSC was further explored and used in different media. The Beckettian overtones in Brook’s film of Lear (1971), and Jonathan Miller’s television adaptation of Timon (1981) indicate a strong affiliation between these adaptations and stage traditions associated with the RSC and Beckett’s absurdist theatre. Chapter Four investigates the Beckettian influence in two Hamlet offshoots produced in the 1960s: Charles Marowitz’s Hamlet, and Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. The intermingling of Beckett’s theatre with Shakespeare’s plays across different media not only reveals distinct modes of engagement with the Shakespearean plays, but also provides a broader understanding of how audiences respond to and interpret diverse methods of adapting Shakespeare.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):