Vassar Today

Just How Precious Are Shakespeare’s Words?

By Patricia Duane Lichtenberg ’90
Associate Professor of Drama Denise Walen
Associate Professor of Drama Denise Walen

If you have ever had the pleasure of taking one of Vassar’s iconic Shakespeare classes, like this writer, or have read any of his work, you may have assumed that you were reading the Bard’s words as originally written. It may be that you were not.

“Shakespeare wrote his plays as performance scripts,” notes Denise Walen, associate professor of drama with a concentration in early modern drama and stage history. Walen is curator of the exhibition Here is a Play Fitted at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. It highlights the permutations in productions of the Bard’s plays over the centuries and the often-surprising changes to the texts.

Walen lays out her thesis in the introductory panel for the exhibition: “What constitutes a Shakespeare play? Is it the text in print or the performance on stage? And how does a stage performance differ from the printed text? The earliest texts—the quartos and folios—present multiple versions of many of Shakespeare’s works and result in unstable textual variants that offer significant alternatives.”

The majority of Walen’s material for the exhibition is derived from her careful study of promptbooks.

“A promptbook,” Walen explains, “is a copy of the script marked up with production notes. Some can be as simple as noting entrances and exits, while others can be quite elaborately embellished with annotations and illustrations.”

The Folger collection boasts more than 1,800 promptbooks—approximately half are Shakespeare productions.

Promptbook from 1854 noting blocking for Charles Kean’s production of King Richard the Third as adapted by Colley Cibber
Promptbook from 1854 noting blocking for Charles Kean’s production of King Richard the Third as adapted by Colley Cibber
Embroidered costume worn by Edwin Booth in the role of Richard III, late-19th/early 20th century
Embroidered costume worn by Edwin Booth in the role of Richard III, late-19th/early 20th century
costume sketch by Robert Edmond Jones for Paul Robeson in 1943
costume sketch by Robert Edmond Jones for Paul Robeson in 1943
A graphic depicting a scene from Herbert Beerbohm Tree’s Midsummer Night’s Dream of 1911
A graphic depicting a scene from Herbert Beerbohm Tree’s Midsummer Night’s Dream of 1911
A watercolor study of scenery used by actor-manager Charles Kean in his Shakespearian productions
A watercolor study of scenery used by actor-manager Charles Kean in his Shakespearian productions
A playbill for producer David Garrick’s revival of Romeo and Juliet, 1754.
A playbill for producer David Garrick’s revival of Romeo and Juliet, 1754.
Depiction of actor John Philip Kemble (1757-1823) as Richard III
Depiction of actor John Philip Kemble (1757-1823) as Richard III
A promptbook for William Charles Macready’s Othello, showing the stage diagram for the senate scene, 1840s
A promptbook for William Charles Macready’s Othello, showing the stage diagram for the senate scene, 1840s
Graphic depicting David Garrick and George Anne Bellamy as “Romeo” and “Juliet,” by Benjamin Wilson, 1753
Graphic depicting David Garrick and George Anne Bellamy as “Romeo” and “Juliet,” by Benjamin Wilson, 1753

Walen had been studying the promptbooks within the Folger’s vaults for a few years when she proposed an exhibition examining several centuries of scripts and promptbooks of Othello, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The exhibition, she suggested, would illustrate how the plays had been interpreted and amended to fit the time and often the strengths of the actors. The Folger accepted.

The exhibition, which will run through January 12, is the first shown in the newly renovated Folger Exhibition Hall, a space that had not been touched since the Folger Shakespeare Library opened in 1932. The museum was a gift to the nation from Henry Clay Folger and his wife, Emily Jordan Folger, Vassar Class of 1879. In July 2011, Michael Witmore ’89 became the library’s seventh director.

Walen’s exhibit is a fascinating reconstruction of Shakespearean theater production for four of the Bard’s masterpieces and a testament to the sometimes surprising sway many actors and actresses held over the text.

Costume illustrations for productions of Cymbeline, Midsummer Night's Dream, and Two Gentlemen of Verona are part of the Folger exhibition.
Costume illustrations for productions of Cymbeline, Midsummer Night's Dream, and Two Gentlemen of Verona are part of the Folger exhibition.

As an example, Walen cites the famous actor, writer, and international celebrity David Garrick (1717–1779), who rewrote Romeo and Juliet in order to purge the play of its “jingle and quibble.” In another notorious instance, actor-manager and playwright Colley Cibber (1671–1757) wrote and produced an adaptation of Richard III in 1770 that was considered the play of record for the next 150 years. Many actors considered Cibber’s version “a more effective stage-play than the original.”

Walen hopes that visitors to the exhibition find that “Shakespeare’s plays are not these old, outdated texts. They are always brought into the culture in a way that is significant and accessible to contemporary audiences. And when audiences view a production of a Shakespeare play, 90 percent of the time they are not seeing what was originally written. But that underscores the strength of these plays. They are open to interpretation by talented actors and directors who bring creative vitality to their work and are not afraid to get in there and grapple with the text.”

“Shakespeare’s works should never be considered so precious that they can’t be shaped,” she says.

Apt commentary about an exhibition titled Here is a Play Fitted.

Patricia Duane Lichtenberg ’90 is an English major and past recipient of the Helen Kate Furness Prize for an essay on a Shakespearean or Elizabethan subject. Her essay, titled “The Worst of Words,” examined the hidden subtext of Othello. You’ll find additional information on the Folger exhibition at www.folger.edu/playfitted.