Adaptation as both Repetition and Variation in King Lear in the Iraqi Theater: An Analytical Study

Abstract

In this study, the play King Lear has been chosen as the subject of the dramatic adaptation process in the theater of the Iraqi dramatic text. This choice is due to the suitability of its dramatic material on one hand, and on the other hand, to show the problems that have arisen from achieving this new dramatic text from the old material. Such an approach aims to provide an opportunity to answer many of the questions about what can be defined by adaptation in the theater, and what its connections are with repetition and variation. Then the problem appears regarding what happens when the balance of repetition and variation in the dramatic material shifts toward one side or the other. Research methodologies observed: Study paper discussing the fundamental questions raised by the subject, according to the method of analogy between dramaturgical material and dramatic dimension, with reference to stage data. Results: This research ends with a number of surprising results that challenge the perception of many scholars about the relationship between repetition and variation, as the level of repetition in the adaptation process far exceeds what can be conceived by the recipient, thus becoming a reversal that exhibits this dramatic dimension to the viewer.