Things I texted, using voice-to-text, during intermission, when asked, from afar, "how is the play."
We'd gone out to Spring Green again, for a wonderful production of "A Winter's Tale."
Here's the Capital Times review. Excerpted sentence: "The transition from buttoned-up Sicilia to wild and woolly Bohemia — dressed by Raquel Barreto like cowboys and the ensemble from the 1960s musical 'Hair' — allows viewers to relax into the story." That transition comes right after intermission. As we drove home afterwards, Meade made that same comparison. It was like "Hair"... but the actors didn't get naked nor did they urge us to join them on stage.
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26 comments:
Synopsis...
He has become so enraged that Leontes orders their infant daughter abandoned in the wild...But all may not be as dire as it first appears, as a shepherd saves the young girl...
"I'm going to place [her] in an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death."
"... a man in a bear costume, but it was very large. It’s kind of pretty funny. In the text of the play, the stage direction is 'exit, pursued by a bear.'"
Would have been better if it was a man bear pig.
Wince said...
Synopsis...
He has become so enraged that Leontes orders their infant daughter abandoned in the wild...But all may not be as dire as it first appears, as a shepherd saves the young girl...
"I'm going to place [her] in an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death."
I thought it was a story about abortion.
"...not actually witness [her] dying, I'm just gonna assume it all went to plan. What?
My local Shakespeare Theater did Winter's Tale this spring, and also had a lot of fun making the Bohemians really Bohemian. Autolycus the thief pretty much stole the show. Here are the official pictures: link.
Never leave the good guy alone to die. He always escapes.
Let barbers weep, their scissors cast aside,
No razor’s edge shall dim my spirit’s flame.
My hair, it grows where passion doth reside,
Proclaiming loud my wild, untamed mane
@Dr Weevil
Great pix. Thx. Interesting setup with the audience right there.
The Autolycus at the APT production was one of the best parts of the show. Lots of broad clowning.
Spoiler alert.
I'm having a long conversation with Grok AND ChatGPT about the 2 very different interpretations of what happened to Hermione. I've got a big preference for the theory that she really did die and the statue was really a statue and it miraculously came to life. The other theory is that she was squirreled away somewhere by Paulina for 16 years and the "statue" was a trick rigged by the 2 women to give Leontes some kind of experience.
Ann:
You should come to Staunton some time. There are at least a dozen Globes in the world, but the Blackfriars Playhouse is "the world's only recreation of Shakespeare's indoor theater". For a few years, they switched to saying "first recreation", but then the Wanamaker in London discovered that the plans they used were not in fact from Shakespeare's time but much later, so it's back to "only".
They follow Shakespearean practices, keeping the lights on, interacting with the audience, minimal sets. (It's rather like "original instruments" music in principle.) Well worth the long drive to the Shenandoah Valley. The late Terry Teachout was a big fan.
Romeo and Juliet just opened the Fall season, though the pictures aren't up yet - I'll be in them, sitting on stage. Suiting the text, the actress playing Juliet could pass for 14, and Romeo doesn't look much older. I told them if acting doesn't work out, she can easily get a job with the police department doing undercover drug work in the local high schools.
Two Gentlemen of Verona opens next week. As always, it will include a live dog: a different one every week. They have a deal with the SPCA to help them get their ugliest dogs adopted by showing them on stage. They've had some really ugly dogs in the past. I'm looking forward to seeing this year's crop.
"You should come to Staunton some time."
True. We should!
"Exit, pursued by a Bear" describes my typical Saturday night....RR, JSM
"I fought the bear and the bear won."
- Antigonus (posthumously)
Shakespeare had to compete with bear-baiting so I guess he figured he'd rather join them than beat them (beating or baiting bears is a dangerous business). It's a pity it wasn't a real bear, but back in Shakespeare's day I guess he didn't have to worry about insurance companies.
I can see reading Stanley Cavell on Shakespeare (Must We Mean What We Say, Disowning Knowledge in Seven Plays of Shakerpeare) but not reading or watching Shakespeare.
"not a real bear of course..."
Any bears out there in the blogosphere wanna weigh in on this clear case of appropriation? I don't want to speak for y'all. That would be ironic.
Not a real bear? That reminds me. The college next door to the Blackfriars Playhouse (Mary Baldwin) has a Master's program in Shakespeare Studies that combines classroom studies with acting (also directing, costuming, etc.). Every years the students put on excellent performances at the theater and elsewhere in town. A few years ago, they did Christopher Marlowe's Edward II, about a flamingly gay king of England who comes to a very bad end (hint: red-hot poker) along with his two sleazy 'favorites'. The grad students who played the king, his main lover, and another main character were all thickly bearded, seriously overweight, and either flamingly gay themselves or really good at pretending to be. (They're actors, so no way to tell.) Anyway, I didn't tell them, but I did tell one of their professors that I couldn't help thinking of that production as Edward II and the Three Bears.
Well thank God for small wonders.
No stage crawl.
This is why I hate live theater. Read it instead.
I remember reading Hair When I was a teenager (I've never seen it) and bring shocked that at one point, the stage direction is, "He f***s her."
I just saw Two Gentlemen done by SF Shakespeare in the Park. Somewhat excessively feminist-ized ( the dukes and outlaws were all actresses) but that was no big deal.
But! There was No Dog!
The hell?
Fred Drinkwater said...
I just saw Two Gentlemen done by SF Shakespeare in the Park.
"You killed five actors -- good ones!"
The play I care to watch is the film version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Burton and Taylor at their greatest. They make the film feel like a play is key, I think. The filmography (perhaps the wrong term) is hyper-realistic. The secondary couple, George Siegal and Sandy Davis are amazing in their parts. Edward Albee wrote the original and swore to his death it was non-fiction. Technically, it's a romance, as all characters learn something about themselves and stay together.
But that makes it a romance only for those with a strong stomach.
Scotland, PA is my only other likable filmic play. Maureen Tierney is one of the greatest actors of our generation. It's Macbeth in a burger joint. Christopher Walken is in it. It somehow takes the pre-Renissance battles for power and translates them into franchise burger joints. How? You have to watch it. Do watch it.
Tina, my father described watching Who's Afraid as like hitting yourself on the head with a hammer - it feels so good when it's over. Great film.
I don't get the image.
To me this image seems to emphasize the brutalist architecture. We don't see much of the surrounding nature. We mostly see old people, an empty stage, and empty seats. Harsh!
Also why does this image have fish eye vibes? Is Althouse holding the camera way out of square?
I'm an honorary Anungarunga.
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