That Way Madness Lies by Dahlia Adler ISBN: 9781250753854
Published by Flatiron Books on March 16, 2021
Genres: Anthology, LGBTQIA, Retelling
Pages: 320
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In That Way Madness Lies, fifteen acclaimed writers put their modern spin on William Shakespeare’s celebrated classics!
“From comedy to tragedy to sonnet, from texts to storms to prom, this collection is a knockout.” —BuzzFeed.com
West Side Story. 10 Things I Hate About You. Kiss Me, Kate. Contemporary audiences have always craved reimaginings of Shakespeare’s most beloved works. Now, some of today’s best writers for teens take on the Bard in these 15 whip-smart and original retellings!
Contributors include Dahlia Adler (reimagining The Merchant of Venice), Kayla Ancrum (The Taming of the Shrew), Lily Anderson (As You Like It), Melissa Bashardoust (A Winter’s Tale), Patrice Caldwell (Hamlet), A. R. Capetta and Cori McCarthy (Much Ado About Nothing), Brittany Cavallaro (Sonnet 147), Joy McCullough (King Lear), Anna-Marie McLemore (Midsummer Night’s Dream), Samantha Mabry (Macbeth), Tochi Onyebuchi (Coriolanus), Mark Oshiro (Twelfth Night), Lindsay Smith (Julius Caesar), Kiersten White (Romeo and Juliet), and Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (The Tempest).
Breaking it down by story (careful: spoilers ahead!):
Severe Weather Warning (The Tempest) by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
This is a sweet and totally surface retelling of The Tempest. The revelation the MC has, about how she shouldn’t let her sister’s betrayal be her prime focus in life, comes out of nowhere and thus lacks any emotional impact. It also only takes one thread of The Tempest (Prospero’s revelation) and doesn’t even nod at the others (Caliban is rich material, as is Miranda’s sheltered naivety and Prospero’s wisdom coming from being a parent). Not bad, but thoroughly disappointing.
2 gems
Shipwrecked (Twelfth Night) by Mark Oshiro
Has Mark Oshiro ever seen Twelfth Night? This story had absolutely nothing in common with the play, aside from names and there’s a shipwreck in there. Double tragic because this play of gender-bent shenanigans and ennui masquerading as love says something very important about how gender is a social construct (there’s no innate way to tell someone’s gender- Viola more than gets away with pretending to be male, so well that it causes amorous complications) as well as how actual love is very different than perceived romance (and Olivia’s escapism). It’s one of my favorite plays, but this story is a tension-less, surface-level wish fulfillment where everyone is different, special, and gets a happy ending…without feeling invested in a single character. Although the MC is non-binary, and every character is gay or bi, it truly feels token.
1 gem
Taming of the Soul Mate (Taming of the Shrew) by K. Ancrum
Another of my favorite plays (especially when the ending is staged ‘correctly’ where it’s clear Katherine and Petrucio are in on the joke, and punking everyone because they truly are an even match in wit). This one was an interesting concept and I feel like story-Katherine was reflective of play-Katherine. It was tender and touching, so in a way I think captured that moment of one person’s vulnerability inspiring the other to bend more toward compassion…given the similar setup regarding Bianca, I think this got as close to the meat of the play as possible in such a short timespan (though it lacked the witty wordplay between our romantic leads). I enjoyed reading it.
4 gems
King of the Fairies (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) by Anna-Marie McLemore
An interesting and exciting choice, telling the story from the perspective of the Indian changeling boy (who doesn’t even get a name in the play, let alone lines or any agency). This ended up being one of my favorites. A bit florid in places, but that’s fitting for the fey settings, and I love the Colonialism lens applied to Oberon and Titania (really, given original fairy tales, that entitlement rings true).
5 gems
We Have Seen Better Days (As You Like It) by Lily Anderson
Impressively, this one managed to capture all the highlights of As You Like It! We’ve got a father shirking his duty, a daughter and her cousin making their way through the forest to him, the love interest whose brother is a jerk, and the MC trying to weasel out of the love interest whether or not he’s interested in her. All within a believable and impactful short story touching on child abandonment and growing up.
5 gems
Some Other Metal (Much Ado About Nothing) by A.R. Capetta and Cory McCarthy
Another one of my favorite of Shakespeare’s plays. The intergalactic setting and play-within-a-play was cheeky fun, and although this story focused on only one aspect of Much Ado About Nothing, it was cutely positioned and thus it worked. It felt a bit rushed, but it did play off vulnerability and fortitude as the original play does, despite that.
5 gems
I Bleed (The Merchant of Venice) by Dahlia Adler
It’s refreshing to see the anti-Semitic Shakespearean play retold by a Jewish author. The plot points are there, but with a more satisfying ending (without, notably, erasing Portia’s power).
5 gems
His Invention (Sonnet 147) by Brittany Cavallaro
An intensely impactful short story written from the point of view of the woman Shakespeare was damning in this sonnet (for not loving him as he loves her).
5 gems
Partying is Such Sweet Sorrow (Romeo and Juliet) by Kiersten White
A clever epistolary (can I use that term, when the narration is through text messages, not letters?) take on the tale that hits just about every plot point. The ending is slightly different- and a bit darker- but the core of “young kids making bad choices” is there. TW for abuse and assault. Honestly, for a short story told through text to make me feel something at the gut level is quite a feat.
5 gems
Dreaming of the Dark (Julius Caesar) by Lindsay Smith
A dark supernatural and feminine take on Julius Caesar- which is thrilling, because the power dynamics of teenage girls is definitely more fraught with peril than that of Roman emperors. Chilling and hits the main plot points, though the Antony analogue here is nothing like the one in the play.
4 gems
The Tragedy of Cory Lanez: An Oral History (Coriolanus) by Tochi Onyebuchi
Well-written and an interesting take, with much more subtlety than Coriolanus. It centers around the complex dynamic when a beloved figure rises to greatness, but in this case the figure of Cory doesn’t blatantly insult his own people- the anger against him comes from his ‘selling out’ (or maybe his potentially being gay or bi, or maybe his having a friend who represents a different style of rapping- it’s realistically complicated there). The assault on Rome is translated into a concert- this is where I was a bit lost, as it seemed that presented a danger only to Cory, not to Rose Park (Rome) which is mother persuades him not to do, and he’s killed same as the play (in this case, for reasons not known). It’s not a play I enjoy, so this far-more-subtle take on it was refreshing (and I appreciate that, knowing nothing about rap, I could still follow along).
5 gems
Out of the Storm (King Lear) by Joy McCullough
I wouldn’t call this a retelling. There’s an attempt to turn it into a story of three sisters reclaiming a bond their manipulative father broke, but that is so many stories that it doesn’t feel close enough to King Lear. It’s also a bit on the nose at the end, which I think robs it of further impact. I would rather have seen the power dynamic closer to the play- how the man’s need for validation allows him to be manipulated, how his daughters’ ambition (or forward-thinking, whatever) is stronger than the sexism they’re undoubtedly subjected to, how even a determined but naïve Cordelia can’t save her father through love because that’s not how the world works.
3 gems
Elsinore (Hamlet) by Patrice Caldwell
I like the gender-bent and Victorian gothic setting, and the major plot points are there. I dislike Hamlet as a character, but this version was near enough to the source to be recognizable while also being a lot more interesting and noteworthy. It’s a shame this was a short story, because I was getting into and then it ended, skipping what would undoubtably be the most interesting bit (and also turning tragedy into comedy- which in Shakespeare’s day mean the good guys got a happy ending).
4 gems
We Fail (Macbeth) by Samantha Mabry
Another fantastic retelling, this one from Lady MacBeth’s point of view. This one kept to most of the major plot points (really, the two biggest which drive the tension and action in the play) and did so without demonizing anyone. It was impactful and well-paced, and ended up being one of my favorites of the collection for it’s reframing.
5 gems
Lost Girl (The Winter’s Tale) by Melissa Bashardoust
Confession time: I’ve never read nor seen The Winter’s Tale, so I’m not qualified to really judge how good of a retelling this is. From plot summaries, it sounds like there are several references to it in Lost Girl, at least. And the alternate endings the two MCs tell each other cover a lot of ground from the play. It lacked emotional impact for me, but was complex and realistic in unexpected ways.
3 gems
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Hey Beth! It's funny how much I tend to like revisitings of Shakespeare and yet I seem to read so few!
Bummer about the Tempest reimagining being disappointing. I tend to like it when that play is reimagined, wether it's stuff like Forbidden Planet or (bad ha ha) movies like the 1982 Cassavetes Tempest.
The Romeo and Juliet one by Kiersten White sounds interesting! And good question- does epistolary cover text messages? Ah, the challenges of 2022 lol. I think it would?
I'm glad there were some 5 stars in this collection!
The Tempest is such a great one! But yeah, it really needs to space to develop and follow the core concepts.
If you read it, I'd be curious what you think of the whole collection! And thanks for stopping by. 🙂