Riba Rambles:
Musings of a Mental Magpie

Posted by Lis Riba at 11:00 PM

[An open letter to Stephen Greenblatt]

I noticed a recurring theme in interviews about your SCCardenio experience:

Renaissance Scholar as Playwright:

Working on a play with Chuck was perfect for me because I am interested in cultural mobility. That is, I am interested in what happens when materials get recycled – what happens when things are moved from one place to another, from one culture to another, or from one mind to another. Chuck happens to be a genius at that kind of recycling.
[Cultural mobility] interests me because of its strong links to my lifelong pursuits as a Shakespearean. Shakespeare was perfectly capable of inventing stories. He did it, for example, in A Midsummer Night's Dream and in The Tempest. But most of the time he preferred to rip somebody else off. Whether he was working from an ancient source or a contemporary source, he clearly loved moving texts into his own sphere and seeing what he could do with them. I'm a scholar of the Renaissance, a word that means rebirth. That's another way of saying cultural mobility.
 

From Lake Como to Cambridge:

Chuck himself posts all of his work on the Web without copyright restrictions, so that people can adapt and transform his plays as they wish as long as they acknowledge where they got them. It was liberating for me to see that this process wasn't about a magical ray coming down from the heavens onto one isolated individual, but rather about the recycling and circulation of materials.
 

From Lake Como to Cambridge:

For me this whole process has been about the idea of cultural mobility – what happens when materials are moved. One of the things that thrilled me when I first started reading Chuck's work was that I realized he's the cultural mobility meister. His work is all about what happens when you move material from one place to another. Since Chuck left me with a lot of unspent grant money, I'm using the funding to provide theatre companies around the world with translations of our play and translations of the source materials we used [Theobald's The Double Falsehood, which is the 18th-century adaptation of Shakespeare's lost play, and Cervantes' Don Quixote]. I tell the companies that they can't perform our play because I want to see what happens when they adapt and transform the materials to their own theatrical and national cultures. I'm going to have all these plays translated back into English, so we'll have a sophisticated version of the old elementary school telephone game in which you see what happens when a message is passed around. There has already been a production in Japanese in Yokohama and one in Bengali in Calcutta. And there's one coming up in Croatian in Zagreb and one in Spanish in Alcalá, which is rather touching because that's the city of Cervantes' birth.

The ARTblog has also gotten into the act, with two entries so far presenting this challenge:

As part of the Cardenio project, Stephen Greenblatt has given support to companies around the world for them to produce their own adaptations of the Cardenio story from Cervantes' Don Quixote. If you were to adapt the story, what would your play be?

I want to say one word to you. Just one word:

Plastics.

No wait, that's not it...

Fanfic

If you're interested in "cultural mobility," then you want to be studying what's happening in the realm of participatory fandom.

Adaptation and transformation... Circulating and recycling... Moving texts into another sphere and seeing what can be done with them...

That's one of the more accurate descriptions I've seen of fanfiction and vidding.

So if you want to study an active culture where these actions are taking place, you really ought to take a closer look at fandom.

Because, to quote the old commercial, Fanfic? You're soaking in it!

Let me know if you're interested, and I'll try to provide an introductory tour.

If you'd prefer a more scholarly source of information on the subject, allow me to point you towards Henry Jenkins, a professor at that other college in Cambridge, who is one of the leading experts in the field.

PS: Given the fact that Charles "posts all of his work on the Web," that you're encouraging adaptations, and are providing other theater companies with your play and the source material, how can I get a copy of your script?

Because, I'll confess, you've got me tempted to take a stab at it...

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:45 PM

In my regular review, I mentioned I had further criticisms with Greenblatt & Mee's Cardenio, but couldn't elaborate without revealing major plot details.

So, this entry is intended to address those issues.

Consider this An Open Letter to the Playwrights.

As it stands, the play is flawed, but still salvageable.

My intentions are to pinpoint specific areas in need of improvement, that might assist in the revision process.

Here there be spoilers:

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:30 PM

I maintain a list of every Shakespeare play I've seen. I've been looking forward to adding Cardenio to the tally ever since A.R.T. announced this season's schedule.

Unfortunately, I'm still waiting.

An addendum to my Cardenio timeline:

In 1990, Charles Hamilton made a big splash when he claimed The Second Maiden's Tragedy was actually Shakespeare's Cardenio. This identification has since been debunked, and the incident has been relegated to an embarrassing footnote in literary history.

I suspect the new play by Stephen Greenblatt and Charles Mee will suffer a similar fate.

That's a shame, because they created a perfectly decent play. It's just not Shakespeare, no matter how much they try to tout it as such. And while that kind of hype may sell tickets, it also burdens them with certain expectations that this play can't possibly fulfill. I avoid reading reviews until I write my own, but I suspect that by any other name, opinions would be much rosier.

Frankly, the play's relationship to Shakespeare's Cardenio is so tangential that I don't feel comfortable using that title. Instead, I'm dubbing this new production SCCardenio in honor of authors Stephen and Charles.

For those seeking simple advice on whether or not to see the show, Ian summed it up nicely:

There are three questions to ask about a production like this:

1. Is it fun to watch?
2. Is it a good play?
3. Is it a good pastiche of Shakespeare?

The answers, in this case, are "yes", "meh", and "no".

Most of my criticism focuses on Ian's third point -- its Shakespearean aspects.

As I told Ian on the drive home, "I wanted something close to Shakespeare's Cardenio. What I got felt more like an episode of Friends."

Many recent Hollywood films have been labelled "critic-proof" -- attracting a certain core audience who will see the movie regardless of the reviews. Titling this play Cardenio may provide a similar boost to the box office (I understand a New York run is already scheduled for next year). But poetic justice rarely favors Falsehoods.

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:25 PM

To provide a bit of context to subsequent entries, here's some of what I've learned over the previous week:

• 1605: Miguel de Cervantes published El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. It includes a character named Cardenio, who relates his story in several chapters.
   
• 1612: Thomas Shelton published the first English translation of the book, The History of the Valorous and Wittie Knight-Errant Don Quixote of the Mancha
   
• 1613: The King's Men twice presented a play before court called (spellings vary): Cardano, Cardenno, Cardema, or Cardenna
   
• 1653: Humphrey Moseley entered several plays in the Stationers' Register, including "The History of Cardenio, by Mr. Fletcher and Shakespeare, and the Merry Devill of Edmonton, by William Shakespeare" and "Henry I and Henry II by William Shakespeare and Robert Davenport"
  This is the earliest known evidence tying Shakespeare to Cardenio, although scholars reject the other three attributions made by Moseley.
   
• 1727: Lewis Theobald produced The Double Falsehood; or, The Distressed Lovers, a play which he claimed was "Written Originally by W. Shakespeare; And now Revised and Adapted to the Stage by Mr. Theobald"
  This account was commonly denounced as a hoax and forgery, but recent textual analysis has found "distinctively Fletcherian" stylistic mannerisms.*

And, basically, that's what we know.

^* If this interests you, and you have access to Shakespeare Survey, I recommend Stephan Kukowski's 1991 essay on The Hand of John Fletcher in Double Falsehood.

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:54 PM

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A Missouri woman was indicted Thursday for her alleged role in perpetrating a hoax on the online social network MySpace against a 13-year-old neighbor who committed suicide.

Lori Drew, 49, of suburban St. Louis, who allegedly helped create a MySpace account in the name of someone who didn't exist to convince Megan Meier she was chatting with a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans, was charged with conspiracy and fraudulently gaining access to someone else's computer.

Megan hanged herself at home in October 2006, allegedly after receiving a dozen or more cruel messages, including one stating the world would be better off without her.
          [...]
Drew was indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to get information used to inflict emotional distress on the girl.
          [...]
MySpace is a subsidiary of Beverly Hills-based Fox Interactive Media Inc., which is owned by News Corp. The indictment noted that MySpace computer servers are located in Los Angeles County.
          [...]
The indictment says MySpace members agree to abide by terms of service that include, among other things, not promoting information they know to be false or misleading; soliciting personal information from anyone under age 18 and not using information gathered from the Web site to "harass, abuse or harm other people."

Drew and others who were not named conspired to violate the service terms from about September 2006 to mid-October that year, according to the indictment. It alleges they registered as a MySpace member under a phony name and used the account to obtain information on the girl.

Drew and her coconspirators "used the information obtained over the MySpace computer system to torment, harass, humiliate, and embarrass the juvenile MySpace member," the indictment charged.

The indictment contends they committed or aided in a dozen "overt acts" that were illegal, including using a photograph of a boy that was posted without his knowledge or permission.

They used "Josh" to flirt with Megan, telling her she was "sexi," the indictment charged.

Around Oct. 7, 2006, Megan was told "Josh" was moving away, prompting the girl to write: "aww sexi josh ur so sweet if u moved back u could see me up close and personal lol."

Several days later, "Josh" urged the girl to call and added: "i love you so much."

But on or about Oct. 16, "Josh" wrote to the girl and told her "in substance, that the world would be a better place without M.T.M. in it," according to the indictment.

The girl hanged herself the same day, and Drew and the others deleted the information in the account, the indictment said.

Posted by Lis Riba at 11:40 PM

We just got home from seeing the world premiere of the new Shakespearean play by Stephen Greenblatt and Charles Mee.

Unfortunately, I have to work tomorrow, so don't have time to write a full review right now.

But I just want to share one realization that I think sums it up for now:

The play observes Aristotle's classical unities.

Need I say more?

[Well, yes, but it's late and I need to sleep.]

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:40 AM

that Boopsie, my cat since 1991, passed away.

I'm not as immediately weepy as I was, but I still think of her regularly, seeing things around the house or in stores that remind me of her.

We still haven't gotten another cat. In certain respects, it's nice to be able to sleep through the night and not have to clean litterboxes etcetera. But I also miss the warm furry comfort of a purring cat.

Give the mammals in your house a squeeze for me, okay?

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:48 PM

Washington Post, May 9, Page A3:

Posted by Lis Riba at 6:30 PM

Your Score: Midsummer Night's Dream

[You scored 33% = Tragic, 50% = Comic, 29% = Romantic, 38% = Historic]

You are A Midsummer Night's Dream. Blending elements of comedy and romance, A Midsummer Night's Dream tells the story of mischievous fairies who conspire to make everyone fall in love with everyone else, often with disastrous, yet humorous consequences. You are most likely haphazard in love, but good natured and friendly. While you may also have a mischievous side to you, it is most likely all in good fun. We have no doubt that you are an outgoing person, who may also be a bit of a klutz. And while you may not always get it right, you always try to do the right thing. We applaud you!

Link: The Which Shakespeare Play Are You? Test written by macbee on OkCupid

Via Alexx Kay

Posted by Lis Riba at 11:40 AM

The Paradox of Choice describes two decision-making styles: satisficers, who generally take the first thing that meets their criteria, and maximizers, who won't settle for less than best.

Needless to say, I'm more of a maximizer.

I've been looking around for a free web-based todo list organizer for Ian and me.

[Sites and services I considered include: 30 Boxes, Gtdagenda, gubb, I Want Sandy, Nozbe, Remember The Milk, Stikkit, Ta-da Lists, The Online CEO, Todoist, Toodledo, and Treedolist]

In the end, I've chosen Hiveminder.

Two features in particular won me over:

• Braindump: Just type in a bunch of tasks into the box, and it will parse them. Very quick.
• Dependencies: Once something's in the list, it's easy to add initial steps and/or followups. "But first..."

So it seems to require a lot less up-front organization to get started.

We'll see how well it works for me...

The other site I'll plug is Jott, which converts voice (phone calls) into emails, text messages, or its own lists.

On my way out the door the other morning, I noticed something I wanted to tell Ian. But he was still asleep, and I didn't want to wake him. Waiting until I arrived at work was risky because (a) I had a very full schedule, and (b) couldn't be certain I'd remember it that long. I wanted to inform him and then let it go.

So I tried calling Jott on my cellphone(I'd set his email address up as a contact from my computer). And when he woke up and went to the computer, my email was waiting for him.

I often come up with ideas while driving alone -- that's one of the reasons I initially bought myself a handheld audio recorder -- I think Jott's going to turn out to be a handy little tool.