We have had the special privilege of interviewing Andrew-Elijah Schindler, one of the writers behind BYU Young Company’s production of Henry V.
It was also our intention to interview the other playwright, a mister William Shakespeare because he is not only more well known but also British. It was then that one of my assistants informed me that the man sadly passed away some 149,310 days before the time of writing. That assistant has since been fired and the interview went forward as planned. As soon as I met Schiindler I was immediately struck by how incredibly handsome and humble he was, observations that my editor claims have nothing to do with the content of the interview but I feel bound to include in the interest of journalistic integrity.
Q: What was your contribution to Henry V?
A: Right, so I started off as the dramaturg for the show and as is often the case with dramaturgy, I picked up a couple responsibilities along the way. I helped a bit with the shadow puppetry, I of course did dramaturgical work, and I wrote some additional narration to begin and end some important scenes.
Q: Why did you decide to add narrations to the original Shakespeare?
A: In Henry V there is a part called the Chorus. The Chorus is essentially a narrator. I think it’s because Henry V tells a story that jumps through time and space pretty quickly. The Chorus helps to bridge the gap between each scene and catch the audience up to speed. Early on in the process our director Rebecca Wallin was clear that she wanted to make a show that kids would absolutely love, and she was worried that some kids in our audience might have a hard time following some parts of the story. She asked me if I could write some additional narration for our chorus character.
Q: Why did she ask you write the narrations?
A: I am a dramaturg and I’m also a playwright, so I’m always looking for opportunities to stretch my writing muscles. If I remember correctly I offered to write them when she let the production team know that she wanted these narrations.
Q: So in a way you brought this on yourself?
A: I mean, yeah. I love writing and I was really excited to bring that skill to the table.
Q: Will someone who isn’t familiar with the original play be able to pick out your narrations or are they pretty seamless?
A: They are not seamless in any way shape or form. While I was in the drafting process I was wondering if the narration should written in, you know, shakespearean verse or something like that. That’s when the director asked me if I could use some modern slang in the narrations.
Q: What kind of slang?
A: A lot of Gen Alpha, a lot of brain rot, and some internet humor thrown in.
Q: So it’s not very Shakespearean?
A: At least not in style. The goal was to have fun with and I’m pretty happy with how silly we were able to get with it. We’re still telling the same story, and we try to maintain as much of the feeling of Shakespeare as we can, but you can only go so far when you’re using words like "skibidi" and "aura."
Q: Are you worried that people will have a strong negative reaction to what you wrote?
A: *Cringe* is the intended effect...so not too terribly.
Q: What was you favorite part of the writing process?
A: I had to explain a number medieval or historical concepts and I was pleasantly surprised by how well equipped brain rot language was explaining these concepts.
Q: Do you have an example of that?
A: I have a few, but my favorite was the narration where I had to explain what a ransom is. Basically, if Henry were to lose a battle he would be captured and sent back to England after a ransom was paid, so him refusing to offer a ransom before what look like an un-winnable battle is pretty bold. I had to “translate” this whole idea into a language style that often doesn’t make sense. Then I found the phrase “Fannum tax” which means to take something, usually food. Luckily the phrase is very flexible and I was more or less able to use it to get the idea of a king’s ransom across.
Q: Is there a lot of that going on in the narrations?
A: I’d say so. Most of what I wrote was trying to bridge the gap between the language as Shakespeare wrote it and the language we use today.
