History Main / AlternateShowInterpretation

* The acclaimed 2008 U.K. revival of ''Theatre/LaCageAuxFolles'', which transferred to Broadway in 2010, was deliberately smaller-scale than the original CostumePorn and SceneryPorn-heavy 1983 Broadway staging that had become the precedent. This was something writers Harvey Fierstein and Jerry Herman had wanted for years; as Fierstein explains in the liner notes of the 2010 cast recording, "I wrote about a small drag club but what we've always given the audience was a full-blown Folies Bergere...I've witnessed a lot of productions focus more on the farce and less on the heart."

* The 2004 Broadway revival of StephenSondheim's ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'', which sets the whole thing in an insane asylum.

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* A 2011 Los Angeles production of Bernard Pomerance's ''The Elephant Man'' chose to defy in-script instructions that the lead actor not use any kind of makeup/costume to suggest his deformities (he must use body language and vocal distortion instead) in favor of outfitting the performer in an elaborate prostethic suit.

** Instead of painting his face black to play Theatre/{{Othello}}, PatrickStewart played the titular role in a racially inverted production, opposite an otherwise all-black cast. This was by all accounts one of the more unusual productions of the play in recent memory. And it was ''awesome''.

** It's not uncommon for productions of ''Julius Caesar'' to have Romans dressed as Nazis.

** One memorable Berlin performance of "St. Joan" (in the Deutsches Theater) started out with four actors fighting over who got to play which character, all reading from cheap paperback copies of the play. Once they finally all managed to get a private part in the play, they found themselves stuck in the middle of an ItGetsWorse plot, and desperately tried to stop being these characters again (with varying levels of success). Meanwhile, the actors and a miniature cardboard cityscape were filmed live and projected onto a screen, with the SFX crew clearly visible, and as the plot got more dramatic, the floor disappeared from under the actors, slowly forcing them back towards the screen. On which a counter was displayed showing how many people had died of poverty and hunger worldwide during the performance of the play alone. Oh, and? It ''didn't change or add a single word'' from Brechts original script. The whole thing was a huge CrowningMomentOfAwesome.

** Instead of painting his face black to play Theatre/{{Othello}}, PatrickStewart played the titular role in a racially inverted production, opposite an otherwise all-black cast. This was by all accounts one of the more unusual productions of the play in recent memory.
*** To be clear, this is generally perceived (amongst those involved in theatre, at least) to be ''awesome''.

*** In the 2011 Oregon Shakespeare Festival production, the only change was making Caesar a woman.

* The 2004 Broadway revival of {{Stephen Sondheim}}'s ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'', which sets the whole thing in an insane asylum.

* The original production of ''{{Theatre/Assassins}}'' was off-Broadway at Playwright's Horizons. The Broadway production was the first time the idea of [[TheNarrator the Balladeer]] [[spoiler: turning into Lee Harvey Oswald]] was implemented.

** Instead of painting his face black to play {{Othello}}, PatrickStewart played the titular role in a racially inverted production, opposite an otherwise all-black cast. This was by all accounts one of the more unusual productions of the play in recent memory.
*** To be clear, this is generally perceived (amongst those involved in theatre, at least) to be ''awesome''.

* A 2011 Los Angeles production of Bernard Pomerance's ''The Elephant Man'' chose to defy in-script instructions that the lead actor not use any kind of makeup/costume to suggest his deformities (he must use body language and vocal distortion instead) in favor of outfitting the performer in an elaborate prostethic suit.

* Similarly, the newest film version of ''{{Chicago}}'' set all but two of the musical numbers as part of Roxie's imagination.

* Modern performances of BertoltBrecht plays almost demand this trope, to keep the audience alienized, as Brecht wanted it. Common tactics include the use of words projected onto a screen (one of Brecht's favourite tactics), having the actors protest their stage directions, having the actors switch roles halfway through, using minimalist sets, and name-checking Brecht.

* A 2011 Los Angeles production of Bernard Pomerance's ''The Elephant Man'' chose to defy in-script instructions that the lead actor not use any kind of makeup/costume to suggest his deformities (thus, they must do that through body language and vocal distortion) in favor of outfitting the performer in an elaborate prostethic suit.

* A 2011 Los Angeles production of Bernard Pomerance's ''The Elephant Man'' chose to defy in-script instructions that the lead actor not use any kind of makeup/costume to suggest his deformities, but to use body language and vocal distortion instead, in favor of outfitting the performer in an elaborate prostethic suit instead.

* The original production of ''{{Assassins}}'' was off-Broadway at Playwright's Horizons. The Broadway production was the first time the idea of [[TheNarrator the Balladeer]] [[spoiler: turning into Lee Harvey Oswald]] was implemented.

*** In the 2011 Oregon Shakespeare Festival production, the only change was making Caesar a woman.

* Many, many, ''many'' productions of any Shakespeare play--particularly ''{{Macbeth}}''--decide to take wildly different interpretations of the text. Given how standard the practice of cutting his plays is these days, it's not surprising.

* The recent Broadway revival of {{Stephen Sondheim}}'s ''SweeneyTodd'', which sets the whole thing in an insane asylum.

* A 2011 Los Angeles production of Bernard Pomerance's ''The Elephant Man'' chose to outfit its lead actor in an elaborate prosthetic suit based as closely as possible on the real life basis for the title character -- thereby ignoring Pomerance's instructions that the lead actor not use any kind of makeup/costume to suggest his deformities, but to use body language and vocal distortion instead.

* The script of Bernard Pomerance's ''The Elephant Man'' famously deliniates that the title character should not be brought to life with the help of makeup. Instead, the actor portraying him must contort his body and distort his voice to suggest his extreme deformities. A 2011 Los Angeles production chose to go with [[http://www.backstage.com/bso/content_display/reviews/la-theatre-reviews/e3i3c7e81b03aabaf1578342cb2ff6203f4 a full-body prosthetic instead]], and the critic in the linked-to review thought the makers were CompletelyMissingThePoint by doing so.

* The script of Bernard Pomerance's ''The Elephant Man'' famously deliniates that the title character should not be brought to life with the help of makeup. Instead, the actor portraying him must contort his body and distort his voice to suggest his extreme deformities. A 2011 Los Angeles production chose to go with [[http://www.backstage.com/bso/content_display/reviews/la-theatre-reviews/e3i3c7e81b03aabaf1578342cb2ff6203f4 a full-body prosthetic instead]].

** One memorable Berlin performance of "St. Joan" (in the Deutsches Theater) started out with four actors fighting over who got to play which character, all reading from cheap paperback copies of the play. Once they finally all managed to get a private part in the play, they found themselves stuck in the middle of an ItGetsWorse plot, and desperately tried to stop being these characters again (with varying levels of success). Meanwhile, the actors and a miniature cardboard cityscape were filmed live and projected onto a screen, with the SFX crew clearly visible, and as the plot got more dramatic, the floor disappeared from under the actors, slowly forcing them back towards the screen. On which a counter was displayed showing how many people had died of poverty and hunger worldwide during the performance of the play alone. Oh, and? It ''didn't change or add a single word'' from Brechts original script. The whole thing was a huge CrowningMomentOfAwesome.

** Instead of [[WallBanger painting his face black]] to play {{Othello}}, PatrickStewart played the titular role in a racially inverted production, opposite an otherwise all-black cast. This was by all accounts one of the more unusual productions of the play in recent memory.

** Similarly, a small student theatre in the DC area set a stage adaptation of [[NineTeenEightyFour 1984]] like this, where Winston is in the ministry of love for being [[TheSchizophreniaConspiracy a paranoid schizophrenic]] and the party tries to treat his insanity.

** Another great example of Shakespeare play is some versions of Julius Caesar, where the Romans dress as NAZI'S. Guess that makes the Roman's look slightly different.

* A recent production of ''Big Love'' in this troper's town had Constantine as less of a {{Jerkass}} and more of a [[JerkassFacade Jerkass Facade]], which made him a much more sympathetic character. Similarly, Thyona ''was'' in love with him, and only wanted the choice of being able to choose him.
* Tons of them in {{Opera}}, especially in Germany. It began with Ch?au's Ring what made the Norse Mythology-based thing into an anti-capitalistic steampunk world. It worked. Recent ones, not so much.

* The Berliner Ensemble performance of Schiller's "Der Parasit" ("The Parasite") re-enacts the whole play with actors in puppet outfits (with fake legs and fake arms, done with a sleeve connecting the wrists almost directly to the schoulder). One key character is played by a dozen different actors who pop out of boxes on the stage to chant his lines. The Queen is played by a man (Axel Werner). A comedic sound effect is played for ''every single action''. Needless to say, the actual content of the play becomes moot.

** Instead of [[WallBanger painting his face black]] to play {{Othello}}, PatrickStewart played the titular role in an racially inverted production, opposite an otherwise all-black cast. This was by all accounts one of the more unusual productions of the play in recent memory.