A New Shakesperience?

Shakespeare, it seems, is even more unreliable than my local bus service. First, he makes us wait hundreds of years and even then there’s only one new play. Lazy sod.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Double Falsehood is 100% Shakespeare, given its hype. But, it’s not. It was actually written by Lewis Theobald and based upon several copies of Shakespeare’s lost Cardenio. Arden has given the go-ahead for its publication, certifying its authenticity, and the RSC are lined up to perform it, which combines to make this discovery quite a big deal. Or, so I hear? Why, then do I feel so distinctly underwhelmed by it all?

Firstly, I feel I need to confirm something: I am not a Shakespeare hater, who was left with some personal vendetta against the bard after enduring years in GCSE and A-level classrooms studying interpretations of ‘to be or not to be’ ad infinitum. I do like his plays. I just like them in moderation. To be honest, I’d be a bit more excited if this were news of the latest Polly Stenham offering rather than Will’s most recently unearthed soliloquy collection.

Granted, Shakespeare is the country’s most loved and most lauded playwright. But why? Well, pipe up the fan club at the back, his plays are still relevant centuries after they were written: they speak to us. His command of language is beautiful, his catalogue of plays is an incredible achievement and the depth of meaning in his works betrays true genius. Right?

Now, I’m not here to diminish Shakespeare’s achievements, but to put them into perspective. Firstly, it’s not a great task – now more than ever – to be relevant. Nowadays, it seems that most works of art tick this box. Only recently, at an installation in the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, I heard people ponder over the intentions and meaning behind some stains and streaks on a small number of white boxes: ‘Oh, it must represent repressed memories of abuse,’ one lady explained. Such fantastic explanations were, unfortunately, soon shot down upon discovering the cause of these streaks to be a leak in the ceiling. This was a classic case of a culture accustomed to finding artistic meaning everywhere, and so it’s no surprise that we find Shakespeare’s work so relevant and so deep. So if you’ve been thinking Prospero’s ill-advised attempt to control nature in The Tempest was Shakespeare being incredibly insightful on the subject of global warming, stop it. It’s all in your head.

‘But, Shakespeare speaks to us all, he deals with universal issues,’ you protest. ‘Impressive,’ I, being a great fan of sarcasm, reply. But, dealing with ‘universal issues’ wasn’t new in Shakespeare’s time – Greek tragedy has a huge head start on him there. Double Falsehood will, no doubt, have the holy trinity of issues – life, love, and lies – featured within, but if we put Shakespeare on a pedestal for this we better start building them for almost every playwright imaginable.

People’s obsession with Shakespeare often leads them to overlook brilliant contemporary writers. Those satisfied with the undoubted beauty of Shakey’s words will rarely bother to venture into Berkoff and beyond. And, yes: I know Berkoff incorporates Shakespeare in his work, but the excellence lies in his own command of language, not the bard’s. It’s not that Shakespeare isn’t good; it’s just that lots of other playwrights are good too.

Nor does Double Falsehood look like it’s going to give us anything we’ve not seen before. While you’re not meant to judge a book by its cover, maybe plays provide an exception to the rule. I mean, no one would have guessed that The Merchant of Venice’ was about a merchant who lived in Venice, would they? So, we’re talking duality – twins a la Comedy of Errors or Twelfth Night? Duplicate characters like Hippolyta and Titania or Theseus and Oberon? Lies, just as in Hamlet or Othello? This is all looking just about as original as Varsity’s website layout.

Though, there is a reason why we put Shakespeare on a pedestal. Some of you might remember a Renault Clio advert from a few years back. During a Franco-English competition, the French woman lists many writers, but is silenced just by our representative whispering ‘Shhhakespeare’. Job done. We perpetuate Shakespeare’s disproportionate popularity to further the image of England as some literary Mecca. While there’s nothing wrong with being proud of our heritage, isn’t Shakespeare’s time to take a backseat way overdue? He’s become overused, a default for directors looking for a sure-fire crowd-puller and a fallback for those trying to promote English culture, who criminally overlook what underrated talent we currently have.

So, I won’t be rushing to buy this or see the latest production. Shakespeare plays are a bit like sheep: going through them, you notice that even if they are interesting and beautiful to some extent, they all look pretty similar and begin to send you to sleep. I’m setting my alarm for when people get excited about new talent.