“Possessed by Shakespeare: Hamlet and Tomás González’s El bello arte de ser” (Article)
Title: “Possessed by Shakespeare: Hamlet and Tomás González’s El bello arte de ser”
Author: Donna Woodford-Gormley
Abstract: Cuban playwright Tomás Gonzalez argues that spiritual possession is the origin of theatre, and he regularly incorporates Afro-Cuban rituals into his plays. The characters in his Hamlet adaptation, El bello arte de ser, are frequently in states of possession, and, like many Cubans and Cuban-Americans, they are also haunted by memories of the loved ones who left Cuba or of the family and friends they left behind. At the same time, the play is haunted by Hamlet, incorporating quotations from or allusions to Shakespeare’s play. Ultimately, Gonzalez suggests that allowing oneself to be possessed by a role or by a play is what allows for great theatre while also healing the spiritual wounds that will otherwise possess one.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: http://http://public.eblib.com/choice/PublicFullRecord.aspx?p=6804266
Primary URL Description: Worldcat link to Shakespeare International Yearbook, 19
Access Model: print/ ebook
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Shakespeare International Yearbook 19
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Shakespeare in Cuba: Caliban's Books (Book)
Title: Shakespeare in Cuba: Caliban's Books
Author: Donna Woodford-Gormley
Abstract: This book explores how Shakespeare is consumed and appropriated in Cuba. It contributes to the underrepresented field of Latin-American Shakespeares by applying the lens of cultural anthropophagy, a theory with Latin-American roots, to explore how Cuban artists ingest and transform Shakespeare plays, including The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. By ingesting these plays and incorporating them into Cuban culture and literature, Cuban writers make the plays their own while also nourishing the source texts and giving Shakespeare a new afterlife.
Year: 2022
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 978303087366
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

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