Well, nothing like someone who actually knows a subject to make mince of all my cherished assumptions, vague as they may have been. I was aware that Shakespeare's plays are seldom produced as written, but I thought most of the adaptations were (and had always been) mere abridgements, not rewrites. And I never imagined that the bard had ever not been popular in England.

Knowing something of the ways of theater troupes, I can easily imagine that costumes could be "anything that looks foreign, out of date, and slightly ridiculous," unless it has to be specific, like Bottom in the donkey's head or Malvolio cross-gartered.

I've seen numerous productions of Macbeth on stage and a few on screen, including Polanski's with the severed head rolling like a hammered croquet ball. Never saw a version I didn't enjoy at least a little. It's theater--people acting on a stage. It will never be the same.

But yes, a bit of deference to playwrights is in order, at least in moderation.