Activity: Companion Piece

There have been many productions of Shakespeare’s work. There have also been many adaptations, as writers build on the themes according to what is happening in the world and people’s lives. Explore these examples of companion pieces to Shakespeare plays:

Queen Goneril

Written by Erin Shields, produced by Soulpepper Theatre Company

https://www.soulpepper.ca/uploads/Shows/Playbills/2022/22-Goneril-Playbill.pdf

A companion play to King Lear

The playwright, Erin Shields, describes her inspiration for the play: "What if Goneril had a storm? What if she got to vent her frustration with her father; grapple with the unexpected circumstances she finds herself in; confront her fears, doubts and desires in the elements? What would we come to understand about Goneril’s circumstances, her actions, her humanity? What could that storm reveal about us right now?" (Source: playbill)

In the Soulpepper Theatre Company production of King Lear, all three of King Lear's daughters are Black women. It is a retelling of King Lear with a heightened awareness of what it’s like to be a Black woman in a position of power. As Goneril is lesbian, the play also looks at homosexual identity within the construct of a heteronormative narrative.

Pawâkan Macbeth

Written by Reneltta Arluk http://akpiktheatre.com/pawakan-macbeth

A Cree version of Macbeth

Pawâkan Macbeth is set during pre-colonization, when Plains Cree were allied with Stoney Nakoda, and at war with Blackfoot over territory, food, supplies and trade. It's a time when true autonomy existed among Indigenous Peoples and with that their spirits, their wisdom, practices, makers, tricksters, shifters, their darkness and light. A time when the Canadian Government were making their way west with Sir John A. MacDonald as its leader. Harsh environments brought immense fear, starvation, and uncertainty together to awaken the darkest of Cree spirits, the Wihtiko – a being with insatiable greed. Through the exploration of Plains Cree language, history, stories and cosmology Arluk asks, What is it to be human? What makes a human vulnerable to the Wihtiko? Inspired by working with the youth of Frog Lake First Nation, and shared stories from Elders in the Treaty 6 region, Arluk has created a terrifying journey through love, greed, honour and betrayal, with coyote howlers teaching us that resurgence requires balance. (Source: Akpik Theatre)

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Written by Tom Stoppard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosencrantz_and_Guildenstern_Are_Dead A companion

play

to

Hamlet

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is an absurdist, existential tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard, first staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1966. The play expands upon the exploits of two minor characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet, the courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and the main setting is Denmark.

The action of Stoppard's play takes place mainly "in the wings" of Shakespeare's Hamlet, with brief appearances of major characters from Hamlet who enact fragments of the original's scenes. Between these episodes, the two protagonists voice their confusion at the progress of events occurring onstage without them in Hamlet, of which they have no direct knowledge. (Source: Wikipedia)

The Creative Challenge

Dive deeper into one of the characters or situations in Hamlet that you find compelling.

Create a companion piece to Hamlet that:

• Is based around or inspired by one character or situation from Hamlet

• Changes the outcome of the play

• Incorporates elements of your own culture and identity into the plot

Your piece can be:

• Short or long

• Point-form rough draft, or a more final version

• Presented as a song, poem, poster, video, monologue, scene, play, dance, etc.

• Involving one character or many

Ideas:

• Show a day in the life of the character

• Have the character respond to a situation in Hamlet from their own perspective – perhaps asking questions, challenging a topic, or changing the action, etc.

• Put a totally different spin on the character and have them intervene in Hamlet in a way that drastically changes the plot.

• Introduce a conflict or problem the character has to solve, show how they solve it and the result

• Insert yourself into the play, in real time. What would you do, and how would your actions change the story?