Rogue Pun: The Rebel Shakespeare Company

Written by: Si Hawkins
Published: Friday 27th October 2017

A long time ago, in a garret far, far away (from Hollywood), a chap called William Shakespeare wrote a bunch of plays that would both elate and frustrate future generations. Oh, for the near-universal appeal of Star Wars, eh Shaky?

Well, Bill can now belatedly bask in that warm lightsabre glow, as since 2012 the bard-loving US writer Ian Doescher has combined his twin passions by reimagining the seven main Star Wars movies (so far) in a Shakespearian style. Fine works they are too, and his latest, The Force Doth Awaken, has just landed.

Which does raise a few questions: how did this ever happen? What do the Star Wars people - and the Shakespeare buffs - make of it? And why is he likely to skip this slot's near namesake, Rogue One?

If you happen to be at the MCM comic-con in London this weekend, you could ask Ian in person, as he's flying over. Or ask him something else entirely, as you can find those answers below; plus we've included some splendid covers by illustrator Nicolas Delort, whose artwork also accompanies the text inside. Now, if Bill had only included pictures...

How did this Shakespeare/Star Wars crossover come about?

I had the idea after three things happened around the same time, back in 2012: I watched the original Star Wars trilogy, read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and attended the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. With all three things bouncing around in my head, the idea came to me one day at the festival.

Has anyone linked the two worlds before?

Once the first book was underway with Quirk Books, I did some Googling to see if this idea existed anywhere else. I didn't find much, little bits, here and there, but as far as I could tell no one had actually taken Star Wars and rewritten it as Shakespeare. Also, I learned there's an author who wrote a book called Two Gentlemen of Lebowski, which is a similar concept overall.

Would you say that there are Shakespearian themes in Star Wars generally?

Absolutely. The villains, the young people discovering their destinies, the comic side characters, the tragedy, the drama - you find all of it in Shakespeare and in the Star Wars movies. Star Wars villains, in particular, feel like they have stepped right out of Shakespeare's pages.

I assume you have Lucasfilm's ok to do the books - what was their response when you first mooted the idea?

Yes, the books are licensed by Lucasfilm. When Quirk Books first sent them my first draft, Lucasfilm liked the direction but wanted me to go even further with what I had done - have more fun with it. They knew that, if Shakespeare Star Wars was going to exist, the concept needed to be taken all the way to its logical (and silly) conclusion.

I revised the first couple scenes - which is when R2-D2 started speaking in English in asides to the audience - and Lucasfilm approved. From there, we were off to the races.

I love Chewie's lament after the Han/Kylo scene (no spoilers) - at what stage did you come up with that?

With The Force Doth Awaken, I feel like I am making up for lost time because Chewbacca finally has dialogue ("translations" of his grunts and growls). His speech after the Han/Kylo scene was written in one draft. My son was studying Walt Whitman's poem O Captain, My Captain at the time, and Whitman's tribute to Abraham Lincoln felt like fitting words for Chewbacca to speak about Han, so he quotes the poem at the end of the speech.

And what are your favourite bits from your previous Shakespeare Star Wars books?

The most fun parts of my books to write are the dialogues between two characters not in the movie-- in my original trilogy they were stormtroopers, in the prequels they were Jedi, and now I'm back to stormtroopers - that I make up for every book. These dialogues poke fun at the movies in one way or another, and they are always a delight to work on. And I appreciate that Lucasfilm has enough of a sense of humour to let me do it.

This series would seem a good Shakespeare starter - have they been used in any schools?

They have, yes. Many teachers use these books as a bridge into Shakespeare for kids just starting to learn Shakespeare. I have been able to visit some of those classes and Skype with some of them. It is, honestly, the biggest honour for me when a parent or a teacher tells me that I have helped their children become interested in Shakespeare.

This section is called Rogue Pun - will you do the non-saga movies too, or go straight to Last Jedi?

It looks like I will not write Shakespearean versions of the standalone movies. That is a call that Lucasfilm makes, and they have decided it is best if I stick to the main episodes.

Has writing these books affected your viewing of the new movies? I can imagine you'll watch The Last Jedi thinking of period translations throughout.

Yes and no. The first time I see the movies, I am experiencing them like any fan does. With The Force Awakens, I saw the movie four or five times in the cinema so I become familiar with the movie as quickly as possible.

I will do the same with The Last Jedi. It probably won't be until one of those later viewings that I start thinking about the film in terms of my own adaptation. And I won't start writing until the video is made available.

Both Star Wars and Shakespeare have incredibly protective fans - have you had any surprising responses?

In general, Star Wars and Shakespeare fans have embraced the books and been very kind. Of course there are always 'You should have done this' type of comments. The comments I think make me laugh most are Shakespearean scholars who say, 'This is clearly not Shakespeare.' I couldn't agree more! I don't claim to match the Bard's greatness.

The Force Doth Awaken is out now, published by Quirk books. For details visit quirkbooks.com