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EuroPe FourHundredYeorsof ,Shokespgore,in Press,2003 Forewordby Stonleywells, Nework:universityof Delowore
History Playsin Belgium: Shakespeare's as TakenAPartandReconstructed "GrandNarrative" lozPf& Vos
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relefor contemporary 6"-*rt of gutop",war-na*a by a denand fashto fordirecbrs practice Ar "tr"[ft itbecanecourmon ;;: or ptayJ."""t6"g.to a particularinterp-retation Sh;krtf;Jr # producthe o9 of gtay.upgn ;;;b inio." tne'"Etivant"reaEiug wifr a lvlarxistCoriolanus,an &ur o,erepresentcd d;": I*G;A iar'flofer lnwer'tutlfr.hYAhl ;fi;iliJt;i, '-if,",i*iii, in yhicb *itoor"a aneienmonera&calapproach, FlemThe best of_deconstruction. ;;; process pravs-wdiJuujected DeJan directedty King.Lear oi tir t"oa"T"Vwas tn?"iiifi This (1983). Paard Tr6jaanse Hct ffi'fi"'tir*r''|"-d"y ;; t^t"d fbr six hours,trudeuseof a nearly.com;;"dfid",hi;[ pla]4ng tit *t tanslation..Bydeliberarely ;ffi-*;1";-.ho'| ti-.i*t gre sometimes therefore and litcral il-t"*t -a *iog the and play's.emotional the undercut u" cohpaoy A;;-;;thd"q amosphere i9f th9 na*eil atil .,6sutnes ffiA;*"rt"l3rtr"t Ooit g", feelingsof fearandpity were'abso#H;;ft*df,; most il"il ;;;id"d. Th;-nrndafoentatlyironic to-neappeared trans.A emotion. with Lnargea "i*ii" i" 6.o5"sc"notraditionally wherethe cospicdiin the stoimscEne, ;ffi;i of scantvmeans
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oroducinsit-as rJU .t ri ah6st cart6on[fe treamâ‚Źnt of the ;ffi;;1|t:, ufriooitir-"t"4 to the overall deseoating,antiheroic tenor -_ of theproduction h th; tt! of JanDecorte,manymainly small-scaleproductions to Jotti"at" the ironi'cmode.ofpresentingthe followedtnatseemeO AI ttl'rc tn"t at"a at dâ‚Źconstnrcting-cbaracter' Lii."o--acting Oortbgof.Ten fintolafilel' tnJ -o* t,nptirfig [l* th;production in Flandersand The Nether;hi"h ir i$Z-gg-Uaffl"d ajudiences
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ellike, and that was recently also translated into German as Schlachtenl [Massacref.t Ten Oorl.og, produced by Blauwe Maarrdag Compagnie (Ghent) and later by Het Toneelhuis (Antwerp), was a grand-scale,perhaps even megalomaniac project, the driving forces of which were the director, Luk Perceval, and the translatorT adaptor, Tom Lanoye.2 They took the bold initiative of staging Shakespeare'stwo tetralogies of history plays in a single production lasting a full day. In the event, they restuctured the eight plays into a trilogy so that spectatorscould see the whole work on three "maraconsecutive nights, or, alternatively, into a single so-called thon" performance. Becauseof the production's organic unity and the effect of actors being reincarnated in later roles of the cycle, it "maratlon" performance that Ten Oorlog could was only in the fully be experienced and appreciated. In interviews, Perceval explained that the project developed out of the idea of stagingRiclnrd III.In order to graspfully the action and the significanceof characters such as Queen Margaret, he became convinced that he had to stage the entire cycle. It is obvious that, working through the history plays, Perceval and Lanoye becameincreasingly fascinatedby the material, not only for the light it shed on Richard I//, but far more for the possibilities it offered to construct a mythical story of their own. The mythical dimension is already suggestedby the structure and the religiously tinged titles of the three parts of Ten Oorlog. The division and the titles intoduced by the adaptorsare as follows:
Part I: In de naamvande va.deren de zoon[In the nameof the Fatherand the Sonl. Consistsof: Richaar Deuzibrne[Riclnrd IIl, HendrikVier fHenryM, Hen"drikde Vijfden[HenryVf.ln the publishedversion,Henry V is the openingplay of the second part of the tilogy. Part II: Zie de dienstnuagddesHeren [Behold the handmaid of theLordl. Consistsof: Margaretlu di Napoli [/ and2 Henry VI,3 HenryV/, Act l]. Part III: En verlosons van het kwade [And deliverus from evill. Consistsof.EdwaartheKinp 13Henrv VI, Acts2-51" ftriion".,'t"rd+r'
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Clearlythe a'uthorswerelooking for anddiscovereda greatdealof coherencein the two tefralogies,which inspiredthemto distill their own grandnarrative.This is all the moreremarkableat a time when thetaditional readingof the playsasminoring the operationof Divine Providencein English history and celebratingthe establishment of the Tirdorregime seemsto havehad its day. Parallelwith
the."Tirdor m5rth"interpretation,the view that the plays must be understoodas part of a larger unit has increasingly cbme under pressure.For 9ne-thing,we know that Shakespeare did not compose the-+yeles-show sucha diversity of themesand dramatic structuresthat, as Michael Hattaway suggestsfor the Henry V/ plays,they slodd be regardedas "a setof complexessays" on the politics of the fifteenthcentury.3 It is at leasta remarkableand somewhatparadoxicalphenomenon, then, that this radical adaptationseems-totake apari the twofold cycle in order to constnrcta new even more comprehensive "gr.and narrative,"asif the authorswanted to counterth6 fragmentation of postmodernculture.In general,the numberof characters is reducedin such a way that the whole of the adaptationcan be performedby a dozenactors.It is alsostriking that in a versionthat clearlyintendsto highlight thepolitical layeror theplaysandwhich carriesthe title Tenoorlog-schlachtenl in the Gerinantranslation-all military.mattersare either left out or reducedto slapstick scenes. Thelow-life episodes werealsocut systematically. It frobably_neede4 two contineltal artists to approachthe histoiy plays in sucha radically ahistoricalmanner.Foi indeed,history in a reitrictive sense,anecdotalmatters,and nearly all minor charactershave disappeared-fromthis new version.The readeror spectatorno longelhag.the compellingsenseof witnessinga seridsof events from English history. The authorsdeliberatelyremainedat a distancefrom the concretehistorical materialso as to be able ro transcendit and recordnothing lessambitiousthan the evolutionof ryestep-socjety.The 1997-98 program leaflet of Ten Oorlog declared that insteadof a centuryof English history, the produition aimedq! creating"an impressionof ieven hundredyearsof humanity." diversifiedmaterialwasfashionedby Lanoyeand _ Shakespeare's Percevalinto a morecompactand coherenttrilogy. Here two lines of developmentseemto form the axis. First, thiy have projected onto the text a pseudo-historicaldevelopmentfrom trri Mioote Ages to the present.At the sametime, they haveincorporateda rangeof original,morepersonalthemes.Let irs first ftace&e historical line. . A s$king-fe-atu9of the stageversionby Percevaland Lanoyeis that,althoughtheyhaveproduceda highlyidiosyncraticandrairical inte-rpretation,they stick fairly closely to Shakespeare'stext in the
uy-erccy-cle's cycle's play. rur D rrr_sr first pray. fi1st ForRichard Richard rlr.crurre rr, II. (rtar II, that srongly sfronslv rihralistic sfrongly rroetiritiralistic and nrualtsttc andpoetl_ and
cal play, Lanoyeusesa shghtly archaic Duich, interspersedwith
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phrases.In the productionthe actors,mostof ttremsfipped to the waist and wearingskirts,adopteda slow andalmostceremonial acting style-In that way a vague,mythical pastassociated with the courtly aftnosphereof the Middle Ages was evoked.Richard. who openedthe show, solemnlyholding up the crown with the words "Au nom de Dieu . . . Du Roi . . . De la Patrie," is a Nerolike, effeminatefigure whosequeenis still a child. In the courseof theplay he will behumiliatedandeventuallybepoisoned.TenOorlog clearlyfollows the traditionalreadingof Shakespeare's cyclein seeingthe murderof RichardII as a curseon the royal houseand the country, an original sin. The ritual but alreadyratherdecadent world sunoundingRichardexplodesevenbeforethe first part of the trilogy is over. For indeed,whereasRichaarDeuzidmeis a ratherfaithful version play, Hendrik Vier and,Hendrik de Vffien only of Shakespeare's contain fragmentsof the original plays. Gone are all the low-lifb scenes,as well as the Glendowerepisode.The conflict between King Henry IV andthe rebelsis merelyone with the Percyfamily. Falstaffhasbeenmetamorphosed into La Falstaff,a burlesquemixtureof theLa Mamatype,bansvestite, anddiva.Thegrotesque elementsalreadynoticeablein the Flemishrenderingof RichardII increasinglydominatein the adaptationof the two subsequent plays.EspeciallyHenry I{ which wasreducedto a hilariouspuppet show. In the secondpart of the trilogy, characteristicallyentttledMargarethadi Napoli, most of the characterswore dark costumeswith white ruffs. Their attire as well as the terrestrialglobe in the setting's backgroundvaguelysuggested the Renaissance. Lanoye's diction in this part shifted into a fairly modern one. Whereas womenwere as good as absentin the patriarchalsocietythat was establishedin PartI of the adaptation,they weregivencentralroles in PartfI. Margaretlwdi Napoli wasthe mostradicallyadaptedpart of TenOorlog. The first part of Henry V/ wasseverelycut fully to shedlight uponMargaret.Not only the eponymousqueen,but also Joanla Pucelle,andto a certainextentalsoEleanor,canbe seenas subvertersof history.aAs thesewomentaketheir placein the political arena,a battleof the sexeserupls.Clearly this wasLanoye's centralthemehere. The third part took the spectatorsright into a contemporarysociety, markedby violenceand cynicism. The York brotherswere mobsterswho could havewalkedright out of a QuentinThrantino movie. The archaiclanguageof the openingplay heregaveway to a mixture of contemporaryDutch and Americanhip-hop.Some
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in this part of the nilogy as well as the acting styleof Edward,for instance,who at timespresentedhimself as a connectionbetweenthe degeneratenature a showman,suggested of this societyandthe pervasivepresenceof modernmedia. The pseudo-historical line that we have traced created, as it were, a fixed cenual axis connecting up with which the development of a
numberof personalthemes.It alsoprovidedthe frameworkwithin inating themeof the political power gamewas exwhich the dominating themeon which plored. Shakespearean was evidentlya majorShakes This s evidently -the the adaptorsalsotried to focusthroughoutthe cycle. In Riclnrd II, which Ten Oorlog followed fairly closely, the centerof atlention wasthe powerstrugglebetweenRichardand Bolingbroke.Langyg to which and Percevalclearly tracedthe processof humiliation "body polihis gradually of deprived was He is subjected. Richard tic," andin theproductionhe wasliterally shownnaked. Particularlyin Margarethadi Napoli, the emphasiswas very whichjustice muchon theintriguesandtheruthlesspowergame,to 'Winchester's Bishop of It wastypicalthatthe becomessubservient. almostprogrammaticlines relating to the elimination of the Duke of Gloucestershouldhave been divided betweenand therefore sharedby Somerset,Buckingham,York, and Suffolk: Thatheshoulddieis worthyPotcy;
But yet we want a colour to his death: 'Tis meet he be condemnedby course of law-s
For all of them policy is merely self-interest.Margaretherself in this versiongraduallyemergedasthe emblematicwomanwho used love and sexasa weaponin the powerstruggle. ln Edwaarthe King, basedon 3 Henry V/ (from act 2 onwards), the connectionbetweenpower and the the authorsdemonstrated media.Edwaarwas a performerfor whosecharmand talent the contemporaryaudienceeasilyfdl. It is slightly ironic that precisely this actingquality that is sucha distinct characteristicof Shakentittara III wasto be curtailed in Risjaar Modderfohil<zr speare?s den Derde lRichardMotherfuckerIII]. Far more than in Shakeof power, speare,Lanoye'sRisjaarillustated fhe total degeneration ultimately leadingto self-destnrction. The cycle in its entirety demonstrateswhat Jan Kott has called the "Grand Mechanism."History is presentedas a ruthlesspower stnrgglein which everyruler is eventuallyreplacedby a new one. thecrown,he dragsbehindhim achain But whenthelatterassumes
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of crimes and; therefore,has alreadycreatedthe basisfor a ner pretenderwho brings the wheelfrrll circle.6 In an interview, Tom LanoyehimseHexplainedthat the concef of the GreatWheel of Time and Powercan be more effectivel' demonstrated in a sequelof playsandkings. If, moreover,oneca presentthat sequelin one day andwith the samecast,the meanin; will emergeevenmore poignantly.In that way, the audiencewil experiencethe wholedevelopmenttogetherwith theactors.Eacho them first plays a major role, then a minor one, and finally sub mergesin the story, or theotherwayround.This givesriseto a full ritual narrativein which eachking alsorepresentsa particularforn of exercisingpower.The sequelthusalso becomesan essayon thr useof power.T Theconceptthat allowsactorsto re-emergein differentrolescre atesa senseof repetition and degeneration.The authorsskillfull: makeuseof this in orderto addsomeextra effects.It is significani for example,that the actorplaying RichaarDeuzidmetakesup tht role of La Falstaff. The "feminine" aspectof Richard that is re. jected by Bolingbrokeis thuscontinuedin the subversivesexualit5 of La Falstaff.The murdererof Richard(Roste)later becomesHeir (Hal) and Hendrik de Vijfden (Henry the Fifttr), who in a senseir the real usurperof the crown.Anotherstriking exampleis the "res. urrection" as it wereof the threeactorswhosebodieslie murderec on a huge table at the end of Margarethadi Napoli (Winchester. York, and Suffolk) and who reappearas avengersin the.shapeol Risjaar (Richard of Gloucester),Edwaar,and Sjors (Georgeol Clarence). Clearly, Ten Oorlog leavesbehindthe actual line of history in order to createa larger, more comprehensive, all but mythical development.Whereasmostof the low-life scenes,manymilitary episodes,and other subplots are simply cut, other "historical" elementsaregiven a moremythicalquality. A casein point is Joan la Pucelle,who in Shakespeare is a charactershowingdifferentfacetsof a fascinatingpersonality:popularleader,politician, r/bnerian figure.8In the adaptation,sheappearsmerely in a vision of young Henry the Sixth, who takesup the role of the Dauphinandis challengedto fight againsther. Sincethe role is playedby the same actess who is Leonora@leanor),sheappearsas an incarnationof Hendrik'svision of ideal womanhood. I havealreadymentionedthe curiousmetamorphosis of Sir John Falstaff into La Falstaff. In recentyears,critics havepointedout that Falstaff'sfavoriteplace,the Boar's Head,is not only a theatical but also a feminizedplace.Falstaffis characterizedvery much
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femininerermsand thus he threatensto effeminatethe king's heir, Princellal.e At the sametime he also representsthe carnival imageof which, accordingto Mikfiail Bakhtin,is attitude,a central "constitutesa constantfocusof oppositionto the ofthe body. He ficial and serioustone of authorityand power."toLanoye and Perceval apparentlywere only interestedin theseaspectsof Falstaff and thus createdthe weird mixture of Mother-Lover-Tiansvestite who tries to preventHein from rejectingthe feminine and subversive valueshe/shestandsfor. Far from being the many-sidedcharcreated,La Falstaff thus becomesan acter that Shakespeare archetypicalfigure. firere is anotherway in which the adaptationgoesbeyondactual history, conftibutingto its allegorizingtendency.For tleir Flemish and Dutch audiences,Lanoyehas said in interviews,the namesof Richmondand Kent meanvery little apartfrom being well-known cigarettebrands.The concretehistoricalcontextis not experienced and this faciliaJsrrchin the the continental continentalreception receotionof these theseplays, olavs.and as-such
Mon important i tated Lanoye's symbolical or allegorical approach.More than the actual kingdom, for example, is the position of England as
an island. In the courseof the trilogy this position is strengthened in that it triesto consolidateits patriarchalstructuresand to protect itself againstexternalinfluences,first and foremostthat of woman. status All importantwomencomefrom France,which acquires_the of a myttrologicalplaceof dangerandmystery.This is whereHendrik de Vijfden goesto war and conquershis bride. It is no coincidencethat ttrispilt is playedby the sameactresswho performsthe /l\ role of Margarethhdi Napolilater.Itdy, Lanoyeargues,canbe seen asthe superiativeof Frante,but alsoasthebirthplaceof the Renaissancewith its fundamentalchanges,affectingandproducingthe cenhalpositionof individual man.All rebellionsaresituatedin heland, w-hichthusalsoacquiresa symbolicalmeaning.tt Parallelto thegeneral"historical" line, or ratherin cfosgconnection with it, ttre iuthors havedevelopeda setof individual-psychological themes.In the first part, In de ruutm van de Vaderen de 6on,the sfrugglebetweenfatherandsonis a cenfralissue.Alread-y in Riclaar Diizidme, theconflictbetweenYorkandhis sonAumale if only becausethe role of the Duchis emphasized and sharpened, esshasbeencut. But itis particularlyin the conflict betweenHenry the Fourth and prince [Ial that the conflict is further thematized. himseHput the themein greaterperspec{veby creatShakespeare ing a secondfatherfigurein Falstaffanda secondsonfigure in Hotspur. The adaptationcapitalizeson the play's centra-lirony that p.ieciselythe unworthy son Hal will be the killer of Percy,the
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"ideal son," who, in Lanoye's version,inflicts a mortal wound npon the king. In the penultimatescenewhich endswith the kins'* death,the spectatorswitnessan extendedphysicalstmgglebetrvin Hendrik and his son, in which the two rivals cling tightly to each other.This is a fine theatricalimageof the ambiguityin the father_ son relationship.l,anoye runs together2 Henry U act 3, sceneI ("How many thousandof my poorestsubjects/Areat this hour asleep")with the eprsodein act 4, scene5, whereHal, assumins The text, especiallyof Hali that the king is dead,takesthe crown. "hunger[ing] of for his "emptychair king's reproach to the reply . . . beforethy hgur,F rip."-,"is adaptedin-sugh.gway that Hal, rather than showinghimself an obedientand dutiful son, appears to despisehis father.Ironically, this is preciselythe attitudethatis appreciatedby the king, who is eventuallychokedby theprince. Henk is now able to follow in his father'sfootsteps.Beforehe cando so,however,he hasto shakeoff the influenceof La Falstaff. who is to him a Mother as well as a [,over. Clearly Henk mustrenouncethe feminine valuesin order to becomea conquerorof Franceand of the FrenchprincessCatherine.As a military champion, he subduesCatherine,who is representedas a frump. versionthereis still an emotionalaspect Whereasin Shakespeare's to the relationshipbetweenHenry and Catherine,the love affair in of whathe the adaptationis reducedto a brutal taking possession conquered. has The whole of Hendrik de Vijfdenis in fact presentedto the audienceby La Falstaff,who alsodeliversthe prologue.Beforehedoes so, however,he takesoff his femaleattributessuchas his fake his long red gownfor shirt andtrousers.This breastsandexchanges shift into the role of the Chorussuggeststhe recuperationof the by La Falstaff. subversiveandfeminineforcesrepresented It is interestingto notethe similarity with the readingof theHenriad offeredby ValerieTiaub, who finds a parallel constructionof male subjectivityand sexualityin the plays and in psychoanalytic theory: The drama enactedby Prince Hal and narrativized by Freud provides a repro' lslling instance of the mechanismsby which patriarchal relations "grotesque" duce themselves.The female body, first consfiucted as a maternal body (Falstaff) which must be reproduced is displaced by the "clasiical" body (Katherine) which must be subjugatedfor closed Prince Hal to assumephallocratic control as King Henry V.t2 Hal's rejection of Falstaff seems to assuage anxieties about their homoerotic bond as well as about the equation of woman and ma-
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.lsTt isindeed striking that Falstaff, and particularly his body, is often referredto in femaleterms.Equally sriking are the mili-tarycontext and terms in which Henry the Fifth woos the Frenchprincess. Valerie Ttaub seesthe processof the rejection of the maternal and of identificationwith the paternalnot merelyas the individual of onecharacter,but alsoasa paradigmfor theculpsychosexuality iuial constructionof early modernmasculinesubjectivity.t4This broadeningof an individlal developmentinto a cultural one is exactly whaiTen Oorlog tries to achievethroughthe developmentof the wo cental thematiclines which reinforceeachother. It is alsointerestingto notethatLanoyehasgiventhe relationship betweenHenkon theonehand,andthe sexuallyambiguousLa Falstaff (and,later,Catherine)o/ the other morepoignancyby having the Chorusrely in more thair one passageon someof th9 sonnets that dealwith thetriangleof thepoet,theDark Lady, andthe young man.
The second part of the trilogy, Margarethn di Napoli (I and 2 playing who is playing angel who womandressedlike an angel enm Vh openson on a woman VI) ooens Henry
the cello. Tliis attractiveand memorableimageintoduces and accompaniesa few sceneswith a dreamlikeatmosphere,centering aroundJoan.The actionin Franceseemsto bereducedto whathap pensinsidetheheadof Hendrik (Henry the Sixth). It is youngHenlkik himself who in thesescenesplaysthe role of the Dauphinand fightswith theMaid of Orleans.This is quitepuzzlingto the s.pecFtoi, but on realizingthat the actessplaying the part of Joanis also the one who takesthe role of Hendrik's auntIronora, and that the actresswho impersonatesthe angel will reappearls Hendrik's bride, Margaref one gathersthat the authors' objectiye_hereis to dramatizeihe clashbetweendreamandreality in Hen&ik's experience.The two womenare his vision of ideal womanhood,a vision that is in starkcontrastwith the schemingand violencethey axeto indulgein. As a matterof fact, they will try to beatthe men-attheir own game. Margarethagradually emergesas the emblematic womanwho usesloveandsexasweapons. After themurderof York andhis sonSchoonRolandke(Rutland), the threeremainingYork brothersunite againstMargaretha.This is the point whereLanoye'sthird part, En verlos ons van het lcwade [Anil deliverus from evil], begins.The spectators,who so far have watchedthe ritualistic and manneristworld of Richard //, the burcartoonlikepresentationofHenryN andH9rry Vas well as lesque -mixture of dreamandhistory in Henry VI, arein for yet another tlre surprise.Edwaar'sopeningll1s5-"$surs! Who de fok hasmade
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aiolling stone/ofDaddyYork,onzegeliefdepa?"-set the tonefor
tna1nl ry11PIk oJ society a contemporary a repreientatioqgf
left. klwaar is a showmanand womanizerto whom all [;'*it den *o*rn are merely sex objects.Finally, Risjaar-Modderfokker hisown-mother, by even out Derdeis the ultimate pervlrsion.Cast ne only hungersfor power.His suicideat the very endof the cycle of this degenerateworld' rigninlt --"i-oy" the-self-des-tnrction and Percevalwerenot interestedin the historicalcontent could Yycle the materialfor their of the fhyr, but thought_they o*n o,i-6ses. It is thJreforeobviousthat, ratherthan producinga The n"* i",*lution, they havechosenfor a radical reinterpretation. which mirlanguage, is its ver-sion this of uip"", most conspicuous developmentthat theauthorswanted iors ttreoveratlquasi-mythical 'itroughout the trilogy, Lanoyetakesadvantext. the io otoi""t into tue^"dr the dramaticquality and flexibility of the iaTbig pentamet"i F o* the archaicfanguage,enrichedwith a certaintheaticality via thefairly moderndiction by French-expressions, anaaecaAence to a mind-bggglin' gangster moves. if. Morgorrtna h Napoli, he and infectsthe lanincreases t"p' T# numberof Englishwords producesthe deprocedure *ue". At first, the originality of this atmosplere,but cynical iirefl stroct effect, creaiingthe appropriate Frenc}_words, used this soon wears thin. unlike the sparingly of English profusion wttictr add a specificflavor to the text, the eventuallyturns counterproductive. it ir difucult to overstitethe enormousamountof intertextuality version.Both Richaar tfrui .trata"terizesthis late-twentieth-century O""ae*"'s devotionto poetryandhis ratherpersonaltastesareilpogt f*J-S.noek ("Thbl"rt ut"OUVhaving him quotethe Flemi_sh oi" t^","in 2.1)1nd the Greekpoet Kavafis("Waitingfor the su{royndingRichaar atmosphere nurt.tiuitr,- in 5:2).Thedecadent Flemish well-known of a version obscene by Aumale's is sussested same [I," the Il 2.1). in ("Avondliedeken oo"rf;"UvAicb Nahon 't Schrijverke Gezelle's Guido of parody ;;in dL" Falstaff's yI j ryltery fmitingtl in Hendrik Vien l.l).The scenein Henry duke of iia**a"r"yr he will makehis brothersRichardandGeorge exconsiderably is Cioo"esto and duke of Clarencerespectively, ilJ;a i" TenOorlog(Edwaarthe King,l'1' end)'Lanoyemakes interrefleciwith the name-givingscenein Tarantino's ih";;; Dogr,whereit is theleaderof a criminalgangwho gives iiriiot, new namestolts members.In additionto all the literary references, thereare allusionsto contemporaryFlemish or Belgian-culture or pofiti.r. The useof languages-Dutch with its Flemishvariants,
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French,English,Americanslang-is almostas diverseas the culturesreferredto. As I haveindicated,history in the senseof the actual fifteenth evokesand the interpretationin the light centurythat Shakespeare disappearfrom sight in the adaptation. the Tudor myth almost of presents itself as a typical posfrnodernreinterTen Oorlog Instead, material.It may moreoverbe adpretationof the Shakespearean ducedherethat throughoutthe trilogy thereis a persistenttendency to undercutor trivialize. RichaarDeuzidme,for example,is so muchof a whimsicalsissythat he underminesthe tagic potential in that play. Nearlyall scenesandcharactersin Francearerendered in a burlesqueway. Paradoxically,though,the authorshavebeen able to reorganizeand refashionthe scatteredpiecesof this huge mosaicin sucha way that a grand narrativebecomesdiscernible cyclesin a fresh light. which allowsus to look at Shakespeare's
Nores 1. This German title is ambiguous. On the one hand, Schlachtenis simply and "Schlacht" the exclamation mark in the Gerneutrally the plural of [battle]. With "to massacre," "to butcher." The man title, it acquires a more sinister meaning, exclamation mark makes it virtually a war cry, approximating Mark Antony's 'Havocl" n Juliut Caesar. 2. Ten Oorlog by lbm l,anoye and llk Perceval,basedon Shakespeare'stwo tetralogies of history plays. Played by Blauwe Maandag Compagnie, Ghent" Belgium. Text Tom Lanoye; Director: lrtk Perceval; Adaptation: Tom Lanoye and llk Perceval; Dramaturgy: llc Joosten and Hans van Dam; Scenography:Katrin Brack. First performance:Ghent, Vooruit, 22 November 1997. Published texl Tom "The Wars of the Roses" van SlukcLanoye and Luk Perceval, Ten Oorlog. Naar speore,3 vols. (Amsterdam: Prometheus, 1997). German translation: Tom Lanoye and Irrk Perceval Schlachten! Nach den Rosenkiegen von Willian Slwkespeare. Aus dem Fliimischen von Rainer lGrsten und Klaus Reichert @anttrt am Main: Verlag der Autoren, 199). 3. The Third Part of King Henry VI, edited by Michael Hattaway, The New Cambridge Shakespeare(Cambridge: Cambridge Univenity Press, 1993), 4. 4. Seealso Phyllis Rackin, "Anti-Historians: Women's Roles in Shakespeare's Histories," n Performing Feminisms, edited by Sue Ellen Case (Baltimope:'Johns Hopkins Univenity Press, 1990), 207-22. 5. The SecondPart of King Henry VI, edited by Michael Hattaway, The New Cambridge Shakespeare(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991),
3.r.235-37.
6. JanKott SlukespeareOur Contemporary,translatedby B. Thbonki (New York AnchorBooks,1966),7. 7. lozef.de Vos,eA.,"TenOorlog" doorgelicht,Specialthemeissueof Dacumenn(TijdschirtvoorTheater)16,no. 2 (1998). 8. CompareTheFirstPart of King Henry VI, editedby MichaelHattaway,The
FOUR HUNDRED YEARS OF SHAKESPEARE IN EUROPE
(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,1990), New CambridgeShakespeare -rr:tg. 9. JeanE. Howard and Phyllis RackiD, Engendering a Nation: A Feninist AcHisnries-(l-ondon: Routledge'-1997)' 165' count of Shaluspeare's English "Henry IV: Carnival and History," 'rn Slwkcspeere's tO. Crafram i{olderness, History Ploys: Riclnrd II n Henry Vedited by Graham Holderness (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992\, l5l-&, 154. "Ten Oorlog" doorgelicht, 116-17. ll. Vos, yaleieTnub, Disire ari lrutery: Circulations of Sennlity in Slakespear12. (t-ondon: Routledge' 1992), 18. ean Drana 13. Ibid..59. 14. Ibid.. 55.
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