Can-can Fairies

Cool! I finished off up to page 66 yesterday! That's Oberon implementing his plan to get Titania to BEND TO HIS WILL MUAHAHAHA.

And actually ... I've been wondering about the characters I've got. Especially after reading around some reviews of the existing M.Shakespeare comics. A few times similar thoughts were bought up by the reviewers ... that is, how the characters have been handled, and how they have ended up. Obviously, due to the cut scripts, some characters have much fewer lines in this range of books. How they are portrayed therefore would be a mixture of the exact words they have to say now, and how they appear originally.

Hippolyta, for instance, in Act1.scene1, originally has a chunk of lines at the beginning (and then no more), although clearly she becomes distressed at the situation regarding Hermia/Egeus and co. ... this is only alluded to in a line from Theseus. As this line is cut in our version, I tried to make her appear a little upset in order to compensate for the cut. I'm trying to do my best to keep both versions of these scripts in mind at the same time.

Interestingly, one reviewer found he/she could tolerate Polonius (Hamlet) much easier with his reduced parts in Manga Shakespeare, whereas in the full texts he was found to be irritating.

Anyway basically, I've been stressing about Oberon since! I'm worried he's coming across as a bit of a villain! MND is interesting as there is really not a main character. Everything revolves around a bunch of characters quite equally. (So deciding what to put on the cover was really hard!). Oberon and Puck as a team are perhaps the equivalents of the morally-dubious-shakespearian-duo ... but then, they are not human in the slightest! (So, why should they carry human values?)

Oberon, to me, comes across as having vague benevolence. After rowing so hard with his queen he goes straight on to vowing to help Helena get her man. Perhaps he felt guilty for clearly being such a retard with misplaced values! Haha. But then there is evidence that his 'help' to folks is actually commonplace ... Theseus, Hippolyta, etc. Same goes for Titania!

He is a dodgy angel.

Clearly, as we meet them, they have briefly forgotten how to care for each other. Though the history between them is quite evident. Their arguments are so petty. CLEARLY they love each other very much! :D

Oberon is willing to try anything to get his way. Same goes for Helena ...

The misplaced values continue with Demetrius and Helena, then. (And Helena appears right away as if SHE'S been drugged up by this flower already! Wuaha! Jesus, she's like the ultimate fan-girl).

I read one review of a performance of Midsummer, and the actor's performance for Demetrius was considered sadistic. He could be played that way certainly, or he could be simply a bloke who just can't take the commitment! Hah!

A couple of reviews of Manga Shakespeare books seem to have avoided the idea that these are adaptations. They are therefore under the control of those involved as to how the characters are to be portrayed, exactly the same way every performance of Romeo & Juliet, Julius Caesar, etc. etc., would be very different.

It's a shame if one's favourite character comes across a little differently (I, for one, will be keeping gigantic tabs on Iago, should Othello be comissioned!!!!) ... but then, isn't a great deal of the interest in repeatedly seeing (or in this case, reading) a Shakespeare performance of this, that or the other, in seeing how it's been tackled ...?