Festival Shakespearecelebrating the plays on the stage

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on Shakespeare and theatre festivals, analysing how festivals affect the production, performance and reception of Shakespearean productions. The dissertation has three main aims: first, to provide a framework to define theatre festivals; second, to place Shakespeare inside this phenomenon, tracing a cultural history of the evolution of Shakespeare festivals from the Jubilee (1769) to our days; and, third, to examine Shakespeare's presence in regular theatre festivals in the cities of Edinburgh, Avignon and Almagro in order to articulate Festival and Fringe Shakespeare as critical concepts. The methodology combines an extensive literature review of the history of Shakespeare festivals, Shakespeare in performance and the specific festivals under study, with archival research about Shakespearean performance in the different festivals, recordings of the productions and the experience of the author as a festival-goer. The study is interdisciplinary, combining Shakespeare and Theatre studies, thus creating a dialogue between the two disciplines. Part 1, "Conceptualising Theatre Festivals," provides a theoretical framework to describe theatre festivals as cultural events, examining the meanings of the term 'theatre festival' and the main constituents of such events (space, time audiences and the gathering of theatrical events). Part 2, "Shakespeare Festivals," analyses the historical evolution of Shakespeare festivals from their inception to the present. Part 3, "Festival Shakespeare," defines Festival Shakespeare in connection to some of the main characteristics of the official festivals in Edinburgh, Avignon and Almagro - the EIF, the Avignon Festival and the Almagro Festival. Part 4, "Fringe Shakespeare," shifts the attention to alternative festivals and Fringe Shakespeare, focusing on the alternative festivals in the same cities (the Edinburgh Fringe, the Avignon Off and the Almagro Off). The dissertation reaches the conclusion that theatre festivals influence meaning of Shakespearean productions. The effect of theatre festivals in meaning making is related to the specific features of the festival context that differentiate it from regular theatrical events. In the active process of meaning making of festivals, Shakespeare's status as a local, national and global author has been, and still is, intensively discussed. In parallel to this negotiation, Shakespeare festivals have undergone an evolution from the celebration of Shakespeare the man, with celebrations that excluded the performance of the plays, to Shakespeare the playwright, celebrating plays and author together on the festival stage. In theatre festivals not exclusively devoted to Shakespeare, Shakespearean productions acquire different meanings depending on the characteristics of the festival itself. Festival Shakespeare is defined as the theatrical events in which Shakespearean productions interact with the festival context At the EIF, Festival Shakespeare encourages different notions of global theatre. At the Avignon Festival, the reception of the productions is influenced by the artistic mission and the specific aim of the seasons, the comparison with other productions in the programme or the Shakespeare festival memories of regular spectators. At the Almagro Festival, Shakespearean productions in the Corral evoke meanings of 16th and 17th-century theatre, foregrounding the similarities between Spanish corrales and Elizabethan playhouses. At alternative festivals, Festival Shakespeare turns into Fringe Shakespeare, including the theatrical events of Shakespearean productions in alternative festivals. At the Edinburgh Fringe and the Avignon Off, companies struggle for visibility in an over-crowded festival market and, while they attempt to call for attention with creative approaches to the plays, the festivals generate recurrent modalities of Shakespeare in performance. An innovative approach to the staging of classical plays is paramount to win the Almagro Off, and winning Shakespearean productions have done so with two main strategies: with productions about theatre itself or promoting national identities. Festival Shakespeare and Fringe Shakespeare, thus, are productive critical categories to analyse Shakespearean productions in festival contexts.