Star Wars: going back to go forward

The next Star Wars movie is months away, but its second “teaser trailer”, out since mid-April, has already got fans excited.

Those of you not very familiar with Star Wars may at least recall how the overwhelming popularity of the “original trilogy” — Episodes IV through VI, which came out in 1977–83 — contrasted with general disappointment at the “prequels” — Episodes I through III, which came out in 1999–2005. The prequels put enormous effort into special effects while failing to deliver the smooth plot or memorable dialogue for which the original trilogy is known.

The makers of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, scheduled to arrive on December 18, have taken all the criticism seriously. They’re promising a return to the aesthetics of the original trilogy, with live-action shots using models and only a minimum of computer-generated imagery.

At a major fan event in California this month, production designer Rick Carter said, “Seven comes after six. It doesn’t come after three. This is a period piece that we’re bringing forth. We’re always going back to go forward.”

The strength of the Star Wars films, and the reason for their popularity, is their ability to combine every universal theme in storytelling. William Shakespeare did that, too, which is why his works are still popular 400 years after he wrote them. American writer Ian Doescher made this connection in 2013 and decided to merge the two. The result is a series of stage plays called William Shakespeare’s Star Wars.

Episode IV (Verily, A New Hope) is full of references to Shakespeare’s original works.

C-3PO	Now is the summer of our happiness Made winter by this sudden, fierce attack! Our ship is under siege, I know not how. O hast thou heard? The main reactor fails!
(Act I, Scene 1, referencing Richard III)

Luke	What light through yonder flashing sensor breaks?
Han	It marks the loss of yon deflector shield.
(Act III, Scene 4, referencing Romeo and Juliet)

Doescher’s genius really shines, however, when the characters’ lines are expanded beyond the original. Compare:

Cult character Boba Fett, almost silent in the films, gets a brief soliloquy in The Empire Striketh Back, as do various monsters. These include the space slug, from whose belly the spaceship Millennium Falcon escapes.

Exogorth	To be a space slug is a lonely lot, With no one on this rock to share my life, No true companion here to mark my days. And now my meals do from my body fly — Was e’er a beast by supper so abus’d? … I shall with weeping crawl back to my cave, Which shall, sans food, belike become my grave. [Exit.
(The Empire Striketh Back, Act III, Scene 4)

The strongest dialogue in the films — between mercenary Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa — is also the best here.

Han	Your Worship, prithee let me be direct: I have one Lord and Master: ’tis myself, And only from that one take I commands.
Leia	A wonder great that thou art still alive! Now prithee, shall this walking carpet be Removèd from my path?
(Verily, A New Hope, Act IV, Scene 6)

In an afterword to each volume, Doescher explains what exactly about Star Wars is so Shakespearean, and what was done to make it more so. For example, as in the real Shakespeare, the characters often speak in asides in order to explain complex plans, actions and thoughts.

Both R2-D2 and Jar Jar Binks are cast as “wise fools”. They explain to the audience that they communicate in beeps, whistles or Jamaican baby talk so that the other characters will heed their ideas without debating them.

Act V of The Jedi Doth Return reveals a hilarious “Easter egg” in every line spoken by Admiral Ackbar. Mace Windu’s dialogue in The Phantom of Menace offers similar surprises.

Two books remain before the series is complete. The Clone Army Attacketh comes out in July, and Tragedy of the Sith’s Revenge in September.

Sometimes you do have to go back to go forward — and whether or not Episode VII manages to be successful at this, William Shakespeare’s Star Wars already is.