Before I begin to explore the world of adapting canonical texts, I must first define what is actually meant by “the canon”.
The canon refers those texts, (typically of an era before our own – although some can be contemporary) that are defintive or stand out in some way – the “game changers”, if you will. These texts (be it a playtext or novel) can be innovative in their language, style or content; they remain, over decades and centuries, influential to the writers that follow and as a result of their consistent praise are now considered to be superior or exceptional than any others. They are, in essence, the prevailing literary deities that are the figureheads of the well written text.

Many writers from within the canon; Shakespeare, Chekov or Brecht for example, have had their works adapted and recreated over the years – often succesfully. However there are still some critics and members of the theatre family that are not advocates of adapting these “classics” and in fact believe very much the opposite.

The opinion is; these play have stood the test of time. They were so ahead of their time at the point of the creation, that they are still as poignant and important today.

Take the work of Shakespeare, for example. Due to the broad spectrum of topics and themes within his body of work, it is possible to find a Shakespeare play that has similarities and links to any great story throughout history – right up to the modern day. This means his work always remains “relevant” (I hate to use the term, relevant as, ultimately, what one person finds important and meaningful is entirely dependant on the individual not on a generic level) to changes in most political, historical or social contexts.

It’s very much a case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. A belief that these texts are so well written and important that, to change them in any way would be sacrilege.

However, I personally believe that this is not the case. If anything I think it is paying a great compliment to a writers wor to say that it is so influential people want to replicate and build upon the source text’s success.

Playwrights and theatre practitioners do not always set out to adapt the canon because they dislike the plays. Often it is because there is a specific theme, character or other element of the text that particularly resonates with them and that they would like to pay  more care and attention to those ideas.

The plays of the literaray canon were placed upon that pedastle for a reason – to praise and acknowledge them. Many of the playwrights that go on to adapt these works simply wanting to do just that.