This season, Broadway has seen a lot of its classics come back! Waiting for Godot, No Man’s Land, Glass Menagerie and others have seen their time again on stage. What makes them great? Why do they still work? And how are they different than their original (or even previously revived) relatives?
A lot has to do with the way the director decides to tell the story in the first place. For example, in a recent revival of Hamlet, Jude Law and the cast donned modern day clothing to tell the story, making it easier for an audience to grasp the language of Shakespeare. While Alan Cumming just did a phenomenal job in Macbeth, in which he played a patient in a psych hospital, and the doctors, nurses, and other patients around him took on the traditional roles in the play.
Sometimes, it’s the set being changed. A complicated, heart wrenching show like The Glass Menagerie can be told and have just as much of an impact, even if the set is done in a much simpler way, in almost a black box style. When John Goodman and Nathan Lane took the stage in Waiting for Godot in 2009, the set was full of trees, rocks, and forest-type things. But in this season’s version, the set consists of nothing more than loose trees, gravel, and an almost black brick-wall back drop. While the words and meaning don’t change, changing the scenery can make it a completely different show!
Then of course, there’s the obvious change of the cast. The 2009 revival of Waiting for Godot featured veteran TV, film, and stage actors John Goodman and Nathan Lane. This time around, it’s Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen (who is also in a revival right now of No Man’s Land). While Macbeth and Hamlet have been played by countless men throughout history, some of the most memorable include Mel Gibson (film-Hamlet), Richard Burton (Hamlet), Patrick Stewart (Macbeth), and Alan Cumming (Macbeth). The most recent productions were helmed by Jude Law (Hamlet), and this current season has welcomed Ethan Hawke as Macbeth. This season also welcomed Zachary Quinto to Broadway in his debut as The Son in The Glass Menagerie.
Whether you change the scenery, the costumes, or even the cast, these plays and characters will always be considered classic.