Professor Howard Scammon at William and Mary, who Glenn Close had specifically sought out to study under, was an opinionated individual. He described (in 1971) how he used to attend the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario every year, but no longer did. "One year it was "Hamlet" in motorcycle leathers. Next it would be "The Tempest" in motorcycle leathers. Then "Macbeth" ended with his head down a well, or some such thing. I never went back."
I was minded of this reading Neoneocon's frustration at attending the opera "Hansel and Gretel" and its reinterpretation at Yale. More than one commenter said "You're surprized? Where have you been? You ain't seen nothin'" Which is true, and it's been going on for a long time. Let's have Ionesco where the rhinoceroses are driving SUV's, those fascists; or "The Goodbye Girl" with it's Richard III played as a "raging homosexual."
Neo's response is worth remembering: Write your own friggin' masterpiece. Lots of parasitism in the arts these days.
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