Radical Shakespeare a new way of doing Shakespeare Essay

Radical Shakespeare a new way of doing Shakespeare - Essay Example e† and when used as a noun in terms of â€Å"a person who supports great social and political change.†2 Working from these definitions, it should not be surprising to learn that â€Å"radical theatre aims to make extreme changes in existing views, habits, conditions or institutions.†3 However, this simple definition is deceptive as the concept of radical theatre becomes much more complex in the various ways through which this alternative approach might be applied – whether by protest, aesthetic differences or through other forms of expression. In his pamphlet discussing the various forms of radical theatre, Richard Walsh identifies three distinct approaches to radical theatre that can be generally classified as aesthetics defining politics, politics defining aesthetics, and aesthetics obscuring politics – â€Å"the social and political dimensions of theatre were truncated to allow an exploration of the encounter between the theatrical medium and the individual perceiving mind.†4 This idea of the use of the term radical to describe the theatre can be best understood by examining the work of a radical director such as Peter Brook. Therefore, this essay will consider in which ways, and to what extent, the work of Peter Brook can be regarded as radical. In order to develop an understanding of the radical changes that Peter Brook and others brought to the stage, it is necessary to first have a concept of the world of theatre as it existed before Brook entered the scene. The commercial structure of early British post-war theatre was characterized by the classical teachings of the upper/middle classes who felt theatre should reflect a particular adherence to tradition. Coming out of the war, much of Britain’s mainstream theatre was dominated by the ideologies of a relative minority of commercial businesses who were merely seeking a profit rather than being overly concerned with any kind of artistic achievement. If a theatre company wished to garner the