Shakespeare is still the most wildly represented in the theatre, but “Othello” or “Taming of the Shrew” may not always be represented like the classical text. There have been many modernizations that involve rewriting for a more modern audience. In some cases, this may capitalize upon the productions own literary perspective or the zeitgeist of the times. For instance, Othello can be a man who climbs insurmountable odds to become a hero, only to have his own self-doubt preyed upon instead of a man who represents the everyman, and the dark side that lies within.

No two people view a play the same, and this is due to production and what individuals bring to their viewing. In literary theory, this is Reader Response criticism: the idea that 50% of interpretation is the text itself and the other 50% is the reader’s background. Especially in theatre, the audience can have many different interpretations. Similarly, for those producing a text for the theatre, the same classical play can be reinterpreted to yield very different productions. Many modern productions are based in some way around clasics, or canonical works; what differentiates these plays is the perspective that the producers take on the original.