TRICKS OF THE TRADE: 4: HOW TO UPDATE A CLASSIC PLAY

JANET SUZMAN

South African-born actor and director. She has recently adapted Brecht and Chekhov

The idea of adapting Brecht came when I saw Deborah Warner's production of The Good Woman of Szechuan. I wondered what it would be like if the audience matched the predicament of the characters. I approached the Brecht estate to explain the logic of the idea, and to see if they would let me update his text. I then asked Gcina Mhlophe, a storyteller from Johannesburg, if she would join me in relocating the play to South Africa.

We tried to reimagine the characters into an indigenous vernacular setting. It's important not to lose the essence of the play. All the ideas of poverty and homelessness that Brecht set in imaginary China translated very well. I collated a lot of the story rather than actually rewriting it, though I invented many of the stage directions. I've recently adapted The Cherry Orchard. I didn't have to ask Chekhov's permission as he's been dead 75 years. That's also set in contemporary South Africa, so I had to completely change the text. The characters had to speak as South Africans, and all the old political arguments had to be sifted through into modern ones. It's a little like the positive and the negative of a photograph: all the same shapes are there but the highlights are different.

It's good to stick to classic texts. A mark of a classic is that it can always be reinterpreted for a fresh generation. I choose plays with universal themes. It is important to see what the new idea has in common with the original. If the changes are consistently believable from beginning to end, then it sings. If it just comes in blurts and blobs, then it probably isn't a good idea.

'The Good Woman of Sharkville' is now previewing at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds (0113 213770), and opens on Thurs.