Chels

Way back in January I made my first post of a planned three on Shakespeare adaptations. The series took a backseat between Valentine’s, World Book Day, and Bridgerton season four. This week I’m returning to share my recommendations for adaptations of Shakespeare’s comedies.

While there are significantly more adaptations of his tragedies, my personal tastes lean more towards the comedies. They say your favourite Shakespeare work is often the one you first encounter, and that rings true for me – Much Ado About Nothing is the play that got me into both reading and watching Shakespeare’s works.

Since there are so many Shakespeare adaptations, it’s hard to find exact numbers, but generally, the tragedies lend themselves to straight or ‘faithful’ adaptations, whereas the comedies seem to be popular inspiration for modern reimaginings. I suppose the sheer amount of death in the tragedies is harder to translate to modern settings than the relative ease of simple miscommunication and happy endings.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

I may have said that Much Ado was the first Shakespeare play I properly encountered, but my first ever introduction to Shakespeare’s work, though secondhand, actually involves A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It wasn’t strictly an adaptation, but it deserves its place on my list of recommendations.

The Suite Life of Zack & Cody’s season 2 episode ‘A Midsummer’s Nightmare’ follows Zack, Cody, and their class preparing to perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The complex romantic relationships of the play are mimicked by the characters, prompting the exchange:

Agnes: (to Cody) You like Gwen and Gwen likes Zack, Zack likes Vanessa and Vanessa likes you.

Cody: Exactly.

Agnes: Well, who likes me?

Cody: No one. 

For an introduction to Shakespeare for young people, I think it’s such a fun point of entry.

In terms of full adaptations, my favourite for screen is Michael Hoffman’s 1999 film. It’s such a fun and visually beautiful film, with an iconic cast. Michelle Pfeiffer and Stanley Tucci? Inspired. Much like Branagh’s Hamlet, it’s not set in Shakespeare’s original setting, but it’s still a period piece, set in late 19th century Italy. I really love the films that change the setting in this way; I think it’s really fun to somewhat modernise the plays, without setting them in the present, which can sometimes stifle them with modern references.

The BBC created a TV film in 2016 starring Maxine Peake, who had played Hamlet on stage just two years before. She’s one of our greats, and her Titania is one of my favourites. Following the radical change of Hamlet’s gender, this Midsummer adaptation includes a kiss between Hippolyta and Titania. The 2010s was a period of experimentation when it came to Shakespeare – these plays have been performed thousands of times, and it was a decade of exploring what was yet to be portrayed. Creative liberties were taken, and while some fell flat, others succeeded. My only criticism of this adaptation is that while the costumes were incredible, I was so unnerved by Matt Lucas’ appearance as Bottom. It was really uncanny, I almost wished he looked more cartoonish.

Much ado about Nothing

While Much Ado may be my favourite play, I don’t actually have a huge amount of recommendations for adaptations. Generally, though, most stage performances are worth seeing – it’s hard to get this one wrong.

Of course, Kenneth Branagh’s 1993 Much Ado has to head the list. Not only is it my favourite adaptation, it’s up there as one of my all time favourite films. Branagh and Emma Thompson have incredible chemistry as Benedick and Beatrice – they were perfect for their roles, and Branagh’s moments of slapstick are genuinely very funny. 

For a more modernised version of the play, David Tennant and Catherine Tate starred as Benedick and Beatrice in another case of inspired casting. They’d not long since worked together on series 4 of Doctor Who, and Tate’s comedy background took the series in a new, comic direction. Much Ado was the perfect play for them. Wyndham’s Theatre set their production in the present, making use of a golf cart, a superman t-shirt, and a cross-dressing party. It ramps up the slapstick and modernises the iconic Sigh no more song. 

I can sometimes come across as a bit of a purist, because I tend to gravitate towards period adaptations rather than modern ones, but I dare say the Wyndham’s 2011 production might be my favourite.

This is also the perfect place to share one of my favourite facts, which is that Much Ado About Nothing actually inspired Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, which, in turn, inspired Bridget Jones’ Diary. So, thank you Much Ado for giving us three of my all time favourite works of fiction.

The Taming of the Shrew

The Taming of the Shrew is interesting – it seems to lend itself more to modern film interpretations, rather than straight adaptations.

10 Things I Hate About You stars Julia Stiles, an icon of Y2K films inspired by Shakespeare’s plays (she was also Desi in O (2001) and Ophelia in Hamlet (2000)). It’s one of the most popular Shakespeare adaptations of the time – it feels like a staple film for literature students.

Before 10 Things, there was Kiss Me, Kate. Originally a stage musical, the plot follows the behind the scenes of a production of Taming of the Shrew. I really love play-within-a-play meta stories; I think they’re a really fun concept. And, of course, is a fun reference to Shakespeare’s own play-within-a-play in Hamlet. There have been plenty of stage and screen productions of Kiss Me, Kate over the years, but the most easily accessible is the 1953 film with Kathryn Grayson. It’s quite a good one, and if you can watch it in the right place, it was part of a trend of 1950s 3D films, which is very cool. 

Twelfth Night

As was the case with Much Ado, I have two recommendations for Twelfth Night.

She’s The Man is the 2006 modern take on Twelfth Night, with Amanda Bynes as Viola. This Viola wishes to join the school football team, and she’s also covering for her brother who has fled from boarding school to escape to London. Of course, she falls for Duke Orsino, who was previously in love with Olivia, and Olivia falls for Viola-as-Sebastian. It’s Shakespeare, but make it a 2000s teen romcom.

For a more traditional adaptation, there’s Trevor Nunn’s 1996 Twelfth Night or What You Will, starring Helena Bonham Carter and Imogen Stubbs as Olivia and Viola. Again, it’s modernised, but still a period piece, set in the 19th century. Like a lot of the 90s Shakespeare adaptations, it’s long (over two hours!) but worth it, in my opinion.

With that, we come to the end of my Shakespeare comedy recommendations. Next up, and with hopefully less of a gap, I’ll tackle the histories and romances.

Would you add any to my list?