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TPO 17 Conversation 1
Narrator
Listen to a conversation between a student and a professor.
Professor
OK, let' s see. Right, Modern Stagings of a Shakespearian Classic. Well, like I told you last week, I think that's a great topic for you paper. So the title would be something like ... uh ...
Student
I am not really sure, probably something like 20thcentury stagings of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Professor
Yes, I like that. Straightforward and to the point. So how is the research going?
Student
Well, that's what I came to talk to you about. I was wondering if you happen to have a copy of the Peter Brook production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in your video collection. I've been looking for it everywhere and I am having a really hard time tracking it down.
Professor
That's because it doesn't exist.
Student
You mean in your collection ? Or at all?
Professor
I mean at all. That particular production was never filmed or recorded.
Student
Oh no. I had no idea. From what I read, that production, like, it influenced every other production of the play that came after it. So I just assumed it had been filmed or videotaped.
Professor
Oh, It definitely was a landmark production. And it's not like it ran for just a week, but either it was never filmed or if it was the film's been lost. And it' s ironic because there's even a film about the making of the production, but none of the production itself.
Student
So now what do I do? If there is no video.
Professor
Well, think about it. This is the most important 20thcentury staging of A Midsummer Night's Dream, right?
Student
But how can I write about Brook's interpretation of the play if I can't see his production.
Professor
Just because there's no recording doesn't mean you can't figure out how it influenced other productions.
Student
Yeah, I guess there's enough material around, but it will be a challenge.
Professor
True. But think about it, you are writing about dramatic arts, the theater, and that 's the nature of theater, isn't it?
Student
You mean because it is live, when the performance is finished ...
Professor
That's it. Unless it' s filmed, it's gone. But that doesn't mean we can't study it. And of course some students in this class are writing about productions in the 19thcentury, there are no videos of those. You know, one of the challenges for people who study theater is to find way of talking about something that 's really so transient, about something that, in a sense, doesn't exist.
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