Sarah\'s notes for TBS eFM Korea Exchange programme

Sarah's notes for TBS eFM Korea Exchange programme interview about @KRBritish Sonnet Exchange 24/11/2016 Blue Square, Hamman-dong, Seoul. 7pm.

How did you get involved in Shakespeare?
My mother took me to an outdoor production, in a castle, of Romeo and Juliet when I was 11 or 12. Like many young people, I wanted to be the girl playing Juliet…but I ended up writing about Shakespeare and reviewing stage productions instead, which has many pleasures & possibly fewer pitfalls!

What interests you most about Shakespeare?
That he isn't dead 400 years after his death! He's a more indomitable, energetic, globetrotting ghost than any of the fictional ghostly characters he created! And he pops up across media – not just in books or on stages, but on TV, in pop charts, T-shirt slogans.

What are some interesting ways Shakespeare is being adapted to the modern audience?
The use of digital technology, 'effects' that you can produce in the theatre but also where theatre happens e.g. online, Twitter, live streaming – technology bends space and time constraints on players and audiences.

In languages other than English, recognizing that Shakespeare's audiences aren't all Anglophone, and that English-speakers can find it very interesting, even liberating, to experience Shakespeare in an unfamiliar tongue. It can make you hear and see a play afresh.

Does the study of Shakespeare change or does it stay the same?
The fact that he is widely studied is quite consistent, but the detail changes – the educational policies, e.g. how many plays – as well as the methods used to teach him (reading quietly, aloud, acting, creative writing). Also, the interpretations of plays students & teachers arrive at change in line with contexts – historical, social political and critical.

How has Shakespeare been adapted for Korean culture/education?
Translation into Korean language and modern settings (like professor and director Lee Hyon-U's Shrew) allows for engagement with local culture, idiom and creativity. Shakespeare is no longer overwhelmingly mediated for Koreans through English or Japanese as in the 19th & early 20thC. Also, using local celebrities to engage new & younger audiences as Yohangza does. These productions aren't just for Korean audiences or Korean speakers – they travel to the UK, China and Australia, for example.

What are your roles in the 'Shakespeare Lives: Sonnet Exchange' this evening?
Chairing the conversation, between the artists and also drawing in the audiences' contribution. I hope that the phenomenon of 'chair's privilege' exists in Korea – usually means the chair gets to sneak in a couple of their own questions and their own pet interests.

What are you most excited for?
I get excited by how far you can push and stretch Shakespeare without him breaking or shattering…so I am excited to see how radical, even subversive, the artists' work will be.

Also to see how relevant to modern day Korea and the wider modern world sonnets can be made through re-interpretation, as seen with Yohangza Pericles and at Sejong centre Macbeth.