An interpretation of the stage directions, "A country road. A tree. Evening."
From Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.
(source: video)
Adverse to the sparse setting above sits Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night. (The video wouldn't embed, but you should seriously check it out.)
In Gerhart Hauptmann's play The Beaver Coat, some stage directions leave a wide spectrum of interpretative possibilities, whereas others add to the text in a literary sense, but would be difficult to portray in a theatrical production. Such as...
Who was not present at all. (p 156)
Think about that one for a minute. As a reader, you have a direct link to that line. You're told Adelheid was nowhere in the vicinity of the deer when her mother spins a yarn about it, which keys you in to the sudden, immediate humor of Adelheid's next line: "I almost dislocated something."
Reading it is quick and funny. But how would you portray it on stage?
With a significant gesture. (p 176)
What gesture? Is Motes doing jazz hands? Is he flipping the bird? This time, being the reader means you have to work for the imagery. If this were to be staged, the director would have to find an appropriate interpretation -- something that could be adapted to the time and place -- and the audience would be exposed to someone's translation of the original text.
... and in the manner of a deaf man... (p 178)
This line is more subtle, since all of us, to a degree, can imagine how "a deaf man" would look, or react. But the use of this vivid imagery comes into question when you think about the alternative. Instead of leaving "the manner of a deaf man" up to a director's interpretation, why didn't Hauptmann simply describe the exact motions he wanted the actor to perform?
... one object after another... (p 188)
This is a perfect opportunity to fill in the blanks with your own personal bias. Julius is picking up and throwing various objects around, and even though there is a great level of freedom in the interpretation, there are still limits to consider. Would he grab an axe and toss it to the other side of the room? Possibly. But since the play was performed in 1893, chances are he isn't going to be chucking an iPhone anytime soon.
Most of these examples are left up to speculation, since every personal image, every inner idea, is a matter of opinion. How would you interpret them? What did you see?
I actually was irritated at this play for not leaving enough up to the reader. A lot of the characters were described in great detail (like Krueger: "He is somewhat stooped, with the left shoulder a little lower than the other.He is, however, still very robust and emphasizes his words with vigorous gestures." I had before been picturing a snobby old man who was calm and somewhat cruel), and picturing them that way was not natural or helpful to me in picturing the play.
ReplyDeleteI do appreciate that their actions weren't completely spelled out, it allowed me to 'fix' the characters to a way that I liked and thought was funny.
I would be curious to know the age of Hauptmann when he wrote this play. He referenced people who were 'around 40' several times, like that was 80 years old. A person could get offended….. I agree with Erin. Too much detail about characters takes the fun out of reading. Might as well watch a movie.
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