I found the brown bag this week to be very interesting. I now have a much better understanding of how copyright law plays out for directors. I also enjoyed hearing the process of how the play came to life–how the copyright was obtained, the original ideas for the play, why particular scenes were cut or crafted, how the impromptu scene was actually kept impromptu, etc. It was also interesting to learn about the copyright extremes in theater–how Arabian Nights can be modified in almost any way and how Rent cannot be touched.
I Googled Arabian Nights to try to find different reviews of the play. I ran across this article from a youth theater troupe in England. The summary is just as familiar as it is foreign. While the backbone of the play was the same, the stories included and the way different theaters modify the play is very different. Prior to the brown bag, I would have thought that the differences could only be attributed to creative liberties. Now, however, I know that copyright laws play just as big a role, if not bigger in some instances, as directors’ creative interpretation and execution of a play.
It is interesting to think of the role these modifications play. It is possible that some changes could end up being so extreme that they completely alter the play entirely. For curiosity’s sake, it would be interesting to view different versions of The Arabian Nights. Perhaps another director’s take on the story changes the way the play is produced.
It is interesting to think about how a director can almost change the play entirely. Every showing of Arabian Nights has the possibility to be different which means people could come out of the each show thinking and learning about a different lesson.
This is very interesting how people can have such differing takes on each viewing of Arabian Nights because each production is not the same. Specifically in regard to the play put on by Lafayette College, professor Lodge mentioned how she made sure to tone down the sexual inuendos of the play in order to make it more PG (for kids sake). Viewing this play in a different setting, we would thus all have different takeaways than we did last week.