tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35368281183494724512024-02-02T14:19:28.517-08:00Notes from a Shakespeare NerdWe are such stuff as dreams are made on and our little life is rounded with a sleep.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-82714978483930445642015-07-21T22:18:00.002-07:002015-07-24T09:30:17.077-07:00By the Pricking of my Thumbs... <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNCCe-qtAaPEtA5DI22frLE9wXmCGnhFykZWG7mQ9FdvlOiars0-xLELkxaOaQHBGRk_dx1FlOwi1NptpuvOCiENhWtC_zqOx9oY3qvQSjCvbZpUDTEOq4COFBcFB_OCSlj6caKZ-UqYxV/s1600/IMG_5228.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNCCe-qtAaPEtA5DI22frLE9wXmCGnhFykZWG7mQ9FdvlOiars0-xLELkxaOaQHBGRk_dx1FlOwi1NptpuvOCiENhWtC_zqOx9oY3qvQSjCvbZpUDTEOq4COFBcFB_OCSlj6caKZ-UqYxV/s640/IMG_5228.png" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Macbeth and Lady M have blood on their hands</td></tr>
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<br />
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Review of <i>Macbeth - </i><b>EDITED</b> 24 July<i><br /></i><br />
<a href="http://portlandactors.com/" target="_blank">Portland Actors Ensemble</a> <br />
July 2, 16 and 23, 2015 <br />
<br />
Disclaimer: I have thought about this play and even this
production for a long, long time. That’s one of the perks of being the graphic
designer, not to mention being able to sit down and talk to the director about
what direction he’s going with the show. While I’ve enjoyed the “inside scoop,”
I feel like I’m not able to write the review I should, because I am really not
seeing it from the audience’s perspective. Let me just say up front, I really, really
enjoyed this production and went to see it as often as I could.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Macbeth</i> has long
been my favorite Shakespeare play. I saw it in Ashland when I was about 13, and
the atmosphere of that night has never left me. It was in the outdoor theatre
at night, and there was real fire, and real bats flying around. I don’t know if
they imported the bats or if that was just a happy coincidence. But the mood it
created left an indelible mark.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRcMdbyFda_pd0hsA80PilDAmE5o1JC1TplkNdHjrGP7q1i7zpJ2FXg1ixzAfxv6s4udlvkrJHgyS82nyRr7SAJspakGxUZJ8aLW2O9NVG3aOJAIuX7omr8KwvwcckZWlOmg1Vd88Evl0k/s1600/IMG_5183.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRcMdbyFda_pd0hsA80PilDAmE5o1JC1TplkNdHjrGP7q1i7zpJ2FXg1ixzAfxv6s4udlvkrJHgyS82nyRr7SAJspakGxUZJ8aLW2O9NVG3aOJAIuX7omr8KwvwcckZWlOmg1Vd88Evl0k/s320/IMG_5183.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Banquo and Macbeth encounter the Weird Sisters<i><br /></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Macbeth</i> is
primarily about atmosphere, if you ask me. It is a short, fast-paced,
action-packed, bloody, violent, dark play. It has big themes and important
lessons and lots to think about, but it doesn’t really give you time to
actually think. And that’s OK, too. Not every play can (or should!) be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hamlet</i>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Portland Actors Ensemble’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Macbeth</i> has all the basics – macabre setting (in a cemetery!)
complete with bats at dusk, intense action, fast pace, elaborate costumes with
a gorgeous Celtic flair to remind you this is the Scottish Play – and for
anyone who hasn’t thought about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Macbeth</i>
and studied it and overanalyzed it to death, it’s a great way to experience the
play. It’s easy to follow even for those who don’t know the plot beforehand,
never drags, and is an entertaining two hours. </div>
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</div>
<br />
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</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lady M has an idea and asks for the nerve to carry it out</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cecily Overman is the quintessential Lady Macbeth – intense,
dark, and very much a driving force in the play. She also played an amazingly wicked Hecate – which gave me goosebumps. This doubling is spot on, and almost makes me rethink my aversion to the Hecate bits of the script. (Most scholars agree that Hecate is an interpolation and that Shakespeare didn't put her in there. Plus, she speaks in rhyming couplets, which is really hard to make sound evil, and gets annoying after a while.) <br />
<br />
Michael Godsey’s Macbeth is appropriately
ambitious, troubled and slightly psychotic. He's a great warrior who has stepped from his concrete, martial world of honor and heroism into something he can't explain, full of mysterious figures who speak in riddles and don't obey physical laws. He's out of his depth, but does his best. Michael does a great job making Macbeth complicated – he's a horrible person and does horrible things, but he's at least human.<br />
<br />
The rest of the cast also have an
intensity and forcefulness that is, in part, born of necessity when you’re
playing outdoors without amplification to several hundred people a night. From
that perspective, they all are to be commended. The words may go by quickly
(possibly a little too quickly at times?) but you can hear all of them. On the
other hand, in focusing so much on projecting so people on the other side of
the cemetery can hear you, you sacrifice subtlety and nuance in the
performance. It’s a calculated trade-off. Extra props to Tom Mounsey who gave MacDuff some depth without sacrificing projection.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">King and Queen at last!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Director Matt Pavik’s vision for the production is that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Macbeth</i> is first and foremost a Tragedy
in the classic sense (a sympathetic main character going inexorably towards
destruction). There’s something to be said for this approach. Shakespeare
himself calls it a tragedy. The problem is in order for it to fit the classic
definition, the main character must be sympathetic – the audience must like
him. And that’s a tall order for Macbeth. I applaud Matt and the cast for
attempting it, and some performances they succeeded better than others. But
there’s a lot to overcome. You have to give Macbeth some positive and
compelling motivation to act the way he does. They do this by emphasizing the
relationship between Macbeth and his wife, which works brilliantly as long as
the two of them are together… but which gets a little lost when Lady Macbeth
isn’t on the stage. As magnificent and larger-than-life as Overman’s Lady
Macbeth was, a lot goes on without her. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MacDuff announces Macbeth's death</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You also have to make sure that characters opposing Macbeth are
less likeable than he is. Usually I find myself really liking the character of Malcolm. But this time I couldn't really connect with him. Andy Haftkowycz played Malcolm with a lot of energy and bombast, but very little depth (also a byproduct of the venue and volume?), and I didn't find him as compelling as I often see that character portrayed, but perhaps this is also to throw a
better light on Macbeth. And then there was MacDuff, who I could never quite decide if I liked or not. Mounsey did a great job playing him; I just think the text doesn't really come down on one side or the other. Also, by cutting the scene at MacDuff’s castle where
his family is slaughtered, it takes the sympathy for MacDuff down a notch. (I
did find myself missing that scene later when MacDuff is being informed of what
happened. I feel like the audience should have known, and that the later scene
was missing some tension without it.) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In order to make Macbeth more sympathetic, you also have to
somehow deal with the other characters’ responses to him, and I don’t know how
to get around this. The Weird Sisters call him “wicked” as in “something wicked
this way comes,” and the audience goes right along with it. MacDuff calls him "thou bloodier villain than terms can give thee out" and Malcolm refers to him as a "butcher." And the audience can't help but agree. Lady Macbeth is
possibly the only character that actually likes Macbeth… and she’s pure evil
herself, so that’s not a great commendation. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All this to say that I understand where Matt is coming from
and his vision for the show, but I’m not quite convinced that it’s even
completely feasible. And I blame that on Shakespeare more than anything else.
Try as you might, it’s nearly impossible to really connect to a regicide and
tyrant. And Shakespeare just doesn’t give us the space to get comfortable with
him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There were a few other nit-picky things…. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Oddly enough, for a play that reeks of atmosphere and in a
graveyard of all places, the production could have used a little more
atmospheric help. The tents / changing rooms made an effective backdrop – a little
too effective because they blocked out the view of most of the headstones while
you were watching the play, so you lost a sense of perspective and feeling. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three Weird Sisters meet Macbeth</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For me, the Weird Sisters just weren’t all that creepy. I
get that there were practical constraints (they doubled the murderers, so they
couldn’t have dramatic hair or make-up, and that’s just something that you get
used to when doubling characters), but the only thing that made me think, “Oh,
these people aren’t just people!” was Macbeth and Banquo’s reaction to them and the way the "use the force" on Macbeth and Banquo... and yet, that got a laugh every single time, so it didn't really help the creepy feeling. I never did figure out their complex (and beautiful) costumes... and wonder if perhaps they wouldn't have been a little more foreboding and mysterious if they, too, were simply shrouded as Hecate was.<br />
<br />
The
audience had to supply much of the “witchcraft” from their imaginations –
even the iconic cauldron was just four chairs. I totally understand the highly
minimalistic approach and the practicality of it in this setting, but perhaps
this was a little too minimalistic? And logistically, how hard would it have been to hook a fog
machine up to a battery and have it peeking out at the bottom of one of the
tents to give the Weird Sisters a little atmospheric help? Honestly, the only thing that gave me shivers was Hecate... and I kind of feel like Macbeth in a cemetery should have a little more atmosphere.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZ1LOBbrauWmFKq6k9VjYhDeICUqKBJw8U-8-aUqOvqQiB6UOwzCtF-eEmikC1hkb7v9inrJ15fFmiypck_ckLqnnIPkLLP04dJ-iBf0bkpnTJYlPHkyobh1tnTxCTzSiizH63Nh1GYJN/s1600/IMG_5332.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZ1LOBbrauWmFKq6k9VjYhDeICUqKBJw8U-8-aUqOvqQiB6UOwzCtF-eEmikC1hkb7v9inrJ15fFmiypck_ckLqnnIPkLLP04dJ-iBf0bkpnTJYlPHkyobh1tnTxCTzSiizH63Nh1GYJN/s320/IMG_5332.png" width="212" /></a>Also, for a play that’s steeped in blood, the audience also
had to use their imaginations to supply the gore. OK. I get not going
overboard. But even a little would have been nice. I’m not even thinking too
much about Banquo’s murder or during the violent bits… but when Macbeth comes
out after having just killed Duncan, his hands should be bloody. And when the
murderer interrupts the banquet and Macbeth says, “There’s blood on your face,”
I think blood would be appropriate. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m being SUPER picky here. Again… I’ve thought about this
too much. I did enjoy it… very much. I think Matt Pavik put together a great
team, and they all did a superb job within the constraints unique to outdoor
theatre. I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to watch parts of the
process from a distance and to see what all goes into bringing such an
amazing story to life. Well done, everyone! </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-82740178294573175562014-09-25T21:32:00.000-07:002014-09-25T21:42:59.697-07:00Upcoming Shakespeare -- Fall / Winter 2014 (plus a little)Oddly, its getting a bit thin out there for Shakespeare. But there is some... especially some college productions, which are happy on the budget! If you know of anything else going on in the next few months, please leave a comment! I get grumpy when I have to go too long without seeing live Shakespeare. ;-) (Some places don't have a schedule up yet... but I figured I should post these before I forget.)<br />
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Wow! It's been a while since I've been on here. For one thing, I haven't seen a lot of Shakespeare lately. And the shows that I have seen, I've been too busy to review. Not good. I'd say I'm going to try to change that... but there's a surprising dearth of Shakespeare on the horizon -- strange, when the goal is to have productions of all 37 of Shakespeare's plays done in the next 2 years in Portland. Hmmm... Anyway... on to a review!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3_vGBFA_OSKzD6i0K2cC0s1c2YMBqoHNVRpaHOGTMjwts39aFMx1pDoVZmwGTc-93EgLYuthfVswILCjE6IvxNe4mFLgxp1jD814aF97mLe_nw98oPEKU2ZYsD2eV_vkKQz3dRGoJulq9/s1600/IMG_4074.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3_vGBFA_OSKzD6i0K2cC0s1c2YMBqoHNVRpaHOGTMjwts39aFMx1pDoVZmwGTc-93EgLYuthfVswILCjE6IvxNe4mFLgxp1jD814aF97mLe_nw98oPEKU2ZYsD2eV_vkKQz3dRGoJulq9/s1600/IMG_4074.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i><b>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</b></i></div>
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<a href="http://portlandactors.com/" target="_blank">Portland Actors Ensemble</a></div>
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24 August 2014</div>
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PAE has a lot of practice doing outdoor summer Shakespeare,
and it showed in their production of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A
Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>. They did many things right – the actors poured
themselves heart and soul into the production, and their enthusiasm spreads to
the audience; they know how to handle the language so that it’s not awkward,
even with all the rhyming couplets in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dream</i>;
and they are experts at doing theatre in an outdoor venue, projecting both
their voices and their actions for large crowds and not depending on artificial
amplification (I hadn’t realized till recently how unique this is!).</div>
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However, I have to say, I was disappointed in two major
areas of this production.</div>
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First, there wasn’t any continuity in the fairy world.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2vt0i8MA5IxgnpnDRbJeuVZRXqgKf8AGfLw50rvMnXdb1BZheCKYcNtIAV6-3hWTb5Vf83mYazzb2I5D91Or2y555AGug0x91TYePnvOcXs0ITfeTu3K8mNgmjyUTSRUPLVNz6DaOg51/s1600/IMG_4007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2vt0i8MA5IxgnpnDRbJeuVZRXqgKf8AGfLw50rvMnXdb1BZheCKYcNtIAV6-3hWTb5Vf83mYazzb2I5D91Or2y555AGug0x91TYePnvOcXs0ITfeTu3K8mNgmjyUTSRUPLVNz6DaOg51/s1600/IMG_4007.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a>There were adorable little fairies, played (very well!) by
children, in fluffy tulle over white clothes and lush flower headpieces. Then
there were three bizarre adult fairies in all black with bad attitudes and
black bandanas. I really couldn’t see any reason for the adult fairies except
to carry Titania’s bower on and off stage and to provide “music.” More on that
anon. It would have made more sense if the adult fairies belonged to Oberon’s
company and the children to Titania’s… but they all seem to be Titania’s… so I
was left extremely confused about what they were there for and why they were so
different from the others. Honestly, they were distracting.</div>
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Then there was Oberon – a grumpy satyr – which works, don’t
get me wrong! But it doesn’t seem to fit in with the other fairies. He’s the
only “mythical creature” fairy of the lot… and honestly, as great as his satyr
costume was, it was left completely in the dust by Titania’s gorgeous purple and
green dress… so much so that it was kind of hard to believe that he was the
king of the fairy world with him as king.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOqcC2obJbRRu6K0nHjlR9NtZ2sW93Hv_cOz6rFrfXFNFqE6ZlzSRoVWf36jHDQ6HAumvp9laD4sne8b6VEn5UPE9fyk03JOgP6Nv8LdBQhZdFtO3kntddc2rE89nGoyK2vtCt6Rdfr9sO/s1600/IMG_4115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOqcC2obJbRRu6K0nHjlR9NtZ2sW93Hv_cOz6rFrfXFNFqE6ZlzSRoVWf36jHDQ6HAumvp9laD4sne8b6VEn5UPE9fyk03JOgP6Nv8LdBQhZdFtO3kntddc2rE89nGoyK2vtCt6Rdfr9sO/s1600/IMG_4115.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a>And then, it saddens me to say, but Puck was all wrong. Not the
acting – Kate Belden was marvelous, with just the right blend of mischievous
and skeptical, and a brilliant physicality that really sold the part – but her
costume was incomprehensible. A beige body suit that looked like a bored child
had taken a sharpie to it – no real continuity or design or comprehensible
reason for what was there – a corset and black tutu, face paint – again, in an
incomprehensible design that looked like it was just there to fill space – and a
bowler. OK… so some of the doodling on her body suit was supposed to look like
Oberon’s tattoos and therefore show that she was his minion. But it looked more
like sharpie doodling seriously. None of the other fairies had face paint or
even heavy make-up. She didn’t look like she fit anywhere.<br />
<br />
To me, this is a vision and continuity problem. There were a
few too many ideas about what the fairies should be like, and the costumer and
director tried to incorporate them all – sweet children flower fairies, almost
Goth-ish (but they didn’t even go far enough to really be called Goth) dark
fairies, semi-Steampunk Puck, mythical Oberon, and glitzy Titania. And with
three other “worlds” in the play (the court, the lovers and the mechanicals), a
highly diverse fairy world is just confusing and makes no sense.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB40Oc2O_VBMCqDFGlgOqDj1fknFd_WTH7VJzakqB1gLiNBkevCeUOqWtwlrRV4sUxgbv-lTdbpodcaG914u1bVpsKG5dEK_bOB1GIbEfMP3BfxnveYAyCXR4Uxo5hqDZfsqN34tRsGj6I/s1600/IMG_3869.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB40Oc2O_VBMCqDFGlgOqDj1fknFd_WTH7VJzakqB1gLiNBkevCeUOqWtwlrRV4sUxgbv-lTdbpodcaG914u1bVpsKG5dEK_bOB1GIbEfMP3BfxnveYAyCXR4Uxo5hqDZfsqN34tRsGj6I/s1600/IMG_3869.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a>My second disappointment in this production is a little
harder to put into words because it’s a balance thing. I like physicality and
energy and fun in a production… especially when the play calls for it. But I
also feel that, as with everything, gags, physical humor, slapstick, etc. must
enhance the text, not distract from it. And that’s where I feel this production
fell down. At times the physical humor was so broad and all-encompassing that it
detracted from the text. There were several times when I felt like the lines
were just something they were getting through while they did their shtick.<br />
<br />
Now, if you know anything about me or have read any of my
other reviews, you know that the text is paramount in my opinion. When other aspects
of the performance get in the way, when a concept or idea upstages the text
instead of helping and enhancing it, I have problems. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i> just pushed the bounds too many times for
me. From the introduction “rap” – and I hate to be quite so blunt here, but if
you’re going to work a rap into something, first have a reason for it other
than you’ve always wanted to do a rap, and second, please don’t have it done by
a group of middle-aged white people; it was painful – to the strip-tease fight
scene where the young lovers all lost their clothes; from the very strange “music”
the dark fairies were “singing” to lull Titania to sleep, to a few too many
pratfalls (especially when one of your main characters is wearing a short-ish
skirt that just won’t stay down)…. It was too much. I lost the hilarity of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Shakespeare</b> in the shtick, and that’s
just not fair to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Midsummer Night’s
Dream</i>, which is a wonderful play in its own right, funny and accessible and
delightful even on the page. There’s no need to add the extras to “engage the
audience” on this one. That shows that you don’t have a very high opinion of
your audience and that you don’t trust the text to do what it’s been doing for
400+ years.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUgPgFtrpLshWAYJeuEPRqBGpN8ckTheJzPmFdY51xB1puc4ql893wwMYnbqbZfxXY8EKsd4sXcVOse-MmRyhqDOn2JJWjaGHf9GUG-wDvplo1hVvQ70M4LP2zokRighED8Kgt4MJHOzc/s1600/IMG_4140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUgPgFtrpLshWAYJeuEPRqBGpN8ckTheJzPmFdY51xB1puc4ql893wwMYnbqbZfxXY8EKsd4sXcVOse-MmRyhqDOn2JJWjaGHf9GUG-wDvplo1hVvQ70M4LP2zokRighED8Kgt4MJHOzc/s1600/IMG_4140.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
As Shakespeare pointed out in Hamlet's advice to the players, "And let those that play your <span class="keyword1">clowns</span>
<br />
speak no more than is set down for them. For there be of them that will themselves laugh, to set on some quantity of barren spectators to laugh too, though in the mean time some necessary
question of the play be then to be considered. That's villanous
and shows a most pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it" (Hamlet 3.2.1914-1919). <br />
<br />
And that's amusing when you note that the one place the shtick and silliness didn’t feel out of
place was with the Mechanicals… and that’s because basically everything they’re
doing is ridiculous in the extreme already. As usual, they may have been my
favorite part of the production. I kind of missed how I usually tear up at the
end of Pyramus and Thisbe… but Bottom (Michael Godsey) tacked on a couple extra
death scenes, and I got my tears after all from laughing so hard at him
reenacting Romeo’s, Ophelia’s and Cleopatra’s last moments.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggZZnRlUfWvTR9GcgXWxSxAHxkajlk75winTByCNq4t_3b8zZPGMHWbrtbyMpNodEyGeMVEfjEv0VajPuFaXuDPNGpH21wav3ZOKjLM_qQfyWLZWlQPhL4VGEetfWVescA8xyqNU5ZlNDG/s1600/IMG_4141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggZZnRlUfWvTR9GcgXWxSxAHxkajlk75winTByCNq4t_3b8zZPGMHWbrtbyMpNodEyGeMVEfjEv0VajPuFaXuDPNGpH21wav3ZOKjLM_qQfyWLZWlQPhL4VGEetfWVescA8xyqNU5ZlNDG/s1600/IMG_4141.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a><br />
I do want to add that the acting was quite good. Patrick Cox
is always fun to watch, no matter what part he has, and he did Oberon proud.
The four lovers (Mariel Sierra, Tara Herschberger, Matthew Sunderland and David
Bellis-Squires) were delightfully smitten with… whomever. And massive kudos
again to Kate Belden who made me love Puck despite the train wreck of a
costume.
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Dream runs one more weekend – Aug. 30 – Sept. 1 – at Reed
College. Performances start at 3. </div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-56141064470983052772013-09-10T14:05:00.000-07:002013-09-10T15:04:00.466-07:00Two Gents… or… Are They?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://www.disjecta.org/media/filter/large/img/verona_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="http://www.disjecta.org/media/filter/large/img/verona_2.jpg" width="400" /></a>Review of<i> </i>The Playmakers'<i> Two Gentlemen of Verona</i> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
8 September 2013</div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Two Gentlemen of
Verona</i> is a problematic play… especially the ending. But it’s also one of
the funnier ones, and, when well done, as fledgling company the Playmakers proved,
it can be riveting and delightful and frustrating and adorable and aggravating
and ridiculous all rolled into one. But then, that’s kind of life, isn’t it?
Seldom are things quite as cut and dried as we would like, and happy and silly
emotions come mingled with frustration and sorrow and pain. So why should a
play from a playwright known for his keen grasp of human nature be simple or
easy?</div>
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<br /></div>
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It’s a typical Best Friends Both In Love With The Same Girl
story, complete with backstabbing, betrayal, unexpected forgiveness and
reconciliation. You see, Proteus has a girl (Julia, played by Kayla Lian) and
Valentine doesn’t. But Valentine leaves town and instantly falls for Silvia
(Foss Curtis). Then Proteus follows Valentine and discovers Silvia for himself.
Proteus and Valentine are practically brothers – and Zach Virden (Proteus) and
Colton Ruscheinsky (Valentine) bring this out exceptionally well. The feeling
you got was not so much that Proteus was really in love with Silvia, but that
he couldn’t leave his best friend’s shiny new toy alone, and that all his own
cool toys paled in comparison with the novelty of something that belongs to
someone else. Immature? Yes. But honestly… aren’t we all sometimes?</div>
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<br /></div>
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Julia really does love Proteus. I’m not really sure why. We
don’t get to see too much of the chemistry between Julia and Proteus. Most of
what we do see is the two of them making cow eyes at each other and bemoaning the
fact that Proteus must leave town for a while. This is where I see the play
falling down a bit… and I don’t think it’s this production in particular; it’s
Shakespeare’s fault. But, there<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> was </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a moment when Virden and Lian showed us that
these two probably are a very good match: Proteus and Julia (who at this point
is dressed as a boy), are teasing Silvia’s other suitor, Thurio (Josh Gulotta).
Their verbal banter and witty wordplay show that they at least have the same
sense of humor and probably would be quite good friends, in spite of the
romantic side of things.</div>
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<br /></div>
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And it’s important to the plot that Julia and Proteus really
are a good match… because even though he leaves her and finds himself “in love”
with Silvia (who recognizes him for the worm that he is and despises him for
it), in the end he apologizes for everything and goes back to Julia. Does she
take him back? Is all forgiven and forgotten? Well… possibly forgiven, but the
look on Lian’s face as they walked off together was a pretty good indication
that Proteus’s indiscretion would not be forgotten for quite some time. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Valentine, meanwhile, has a wonderful speech about being
banished from his Silvia – very reminiscent of Romeo’s, except that Valentine’s
is somehow even more touching and feels a bit more sincere instead of just
ridiculous. Or perhaps it’s just because we looked ahead in the story and know
that Two Gents ends well and Romeo and Juliet doesn’t.</div>
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<br /></div>
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And while Ruscheinsky made it easy to love Valentine
throughout the play, Virden made it very easy to love Proteus as he grapples
with his decision to dump Julia and pursue Silvia… and just as easy to hate him
when he’s plotting against his best friend. But we wouldn’t be so frustrated
over Proteus’s stupid choice if we didn’t care for him as a character to begin
with. </div>
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<br /></div>
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I would be remiss if I didn’t even mention Lance (Max
Maller) and the dog, Crab. The play would be funny enough without them… but
once you add the monologue about the dog into the story, it becomes pure gold,
and Maller nailed it. (For my taste, one or two of the clown’s more bawdy jokes
were overemphasized, but I feel like that’s because there was so little “adult
humor” in the rest of it that the more PG-13 things stood out.)</div>
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<br /></div>
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On the technical side of things, the entire cast handled
Shakespeare’s wordplay and potentially awkward rhyming couplets very well. My
only complaint on that point was that occasionally, when they were facing the other
way or when it was a quiet, poignant moment, or when the traffic on Interstate
Ave. got noisy, I couldn’t hear all the dialogue. The courtyard at Disjecta
Contemporary Art Center is an intimate enough space that this shouldn’t have
been a problem… but for some reason, it was. The space seemed perfect for this
kind of production, though, and director Avital Shira had the actors use the many levels well. </div>
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<br /></div>
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I also enjoyed the musical interludes. Kate Berman has a
beautiful voice… and a well-timed chorus from “Falling in Love is Wonderful” or
“Why Can’t You Behave?” or “As Time Goes By” added a modern note of irony to
the age-old story. Props to Musical Director Amir Shirazi. </div>
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<br /></div>
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So Two Gents may be a problematic play plot-wise, but that
doesn’t mean that it can’t be a delightful show, and a thought-provoking one.
Was Shakespeare being facetious when he titled it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Two <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gentlemen</b> of Verona</i>?
Because neither Proteus nor Valentine really act like my definition of
gentlemen. At least not to the girls. But then, maybe the play is more about
the friendship between the guys than it is the romances with the girls. Hmmm…
something to think about.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-91143874966976950332013-08-28T11:54:00.000-07:002013-08-28T11:55:52.225-07:00Fun and Frustration in Romeo and Juliet<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://www.willametteshakespeare.org/storage/Romeo-and-Juliet-Poster-Small.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1372007305692" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.willametteshakespeare.org/storage/Romeo-and-Juliet-Poster-Small.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1372007305692" width="215" /></a>Review of Willamette Shakespeare’s <i>Romeo and Juliet</i></div>
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11 August 2013</div>
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This has been an odd summer. I’ve been working weekends,
which means I don’t get to as much Shakespeare as I would like, and also, when
I do get to it, I don’t often have the time to write up my thoughts on what I
saw right away. So I’ve been forced to rely on an overtaxed memory to write
this review… which doesn’t seem fair to the production. On the other hand, it
means that this is about the things that really stuck out to me instead of
incidental details. So maybe it’s not ALL bad after all. </div>
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Now that we have the disclaimer out of the way, on to the review.
I am not a huge <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Romeo and Juliet</i> fan.
Never have been. I could never understand why it was touted as the world’s best
love story. It’s not! It’s a pathetic love story… and not pathetic in a
wonderful romantic way, either. Pathetic in a “well that was dumb and look what
it got you into! If either of you had an ounce of maturity or common sense, you’d
both still be alive right now” way. But I went to see Willamette Shakespeare’s
production because the cast list and director looked pretty amazing. And I’m so
glad I did.</div>
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I thoroughly enjoyed it. Well… as thoroughly as one can
enjoy a tragedy where you kind of want to throttle whoever was responsible for
the tragic outcome. But even that means that the actors made me care enough
about what was going on to be upset when things go sideways. </div>
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I was especially impressed with Chris Ringkamp’s Romeo. He
was a totally believable love-struck sap… not too over the top, but enough that
from time to time you remember he was just as “deeply” in love with Rosalind at
the beginning of the play. His reaction to seeing Juliet at the balcony was
priceless.</div>
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Tamara Burgess’s Juliet was also quite good. She did an
excellent job convincing me she was 13, which is so important to the believability
of the story itself. And she was very much in love… I particularly liked the
way she couldn’t just say goodbye to Romeo at the end of the balcony scene, but
kept calling him back to tell him something else.</div>
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For all the tragedy waiting in the wings, I found the first third of the
production hysterically funny. Of course, that’s the typical love-struck idiots
part before the full weight of their messed-up families comes into play.</div>
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Juliet was obviously closer to the Nurse (Mindi Logan) than
she was to her mother. In fact, Lady Capulet (Meredith Ott) felt very much like
a socialite who had never had much time for her young daughter until now when
suitors are starting to hover. She doesn’t give Juliet much reason to bring her
woes to her or confide in her. </div>
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And that brings me to my main take-away from this production
– tragedy strikes when teenagers are left to sort out the world on their own.
They should have had someone with more wisdom and experience to help them
navigate the world… but instead all they get from their parents is more problems because
of the feud. The Nurse and Friar Lawrence (Tom Mounsey) aren’t any help,
really. But their parents are distant and distracted, so they have no recourse.<i> </i></div>
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<i>Romeo and Juliet</i> may never be my favorite play, but thanks
to director Matthew Pavik and the cast, I can see its merits and understand a
little better its high place in Shakespearean circles. I still don’t<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>think it’s an exemplary love story… but as a
story about two very broken and messed up families, it has a lot going for it. </div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-77542493228753099182013-08-09T11:38:00.001-07:002013-08-28T23:13:55.429-07:00Upcoming Shakespeare Summer 2013 to Summer 2014<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiZcO-MiBTQYXXOpAXPbwHk5NN-iGmdXh0z-hdrQpRqCqn1svcZtASJh1YlE1raIr-bCbbzQ2cGO9ZwS7cR5rIP71XQD12Zefn4FP1X7ZX8yJX3GTuF6SRu0OYohsL2qbKNBpouMJNOmjd/s1600/IMG_2632.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiZcO-MiBTQYXXOpAXPbwHk5NN-iGmdXh0z-hdrQpRqCqn1svcZtASJh1YlE1raIr-bCbbzQ2cGO9ZwS7cR5rIP71XQD12Zefn4FP1X7ZX8yJX3GTuF6SRu0OYohsL2qbKNBpouMJNOmjd/s320/IMG_2632.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Because I'm going to try to be better about making it to local Shakespeare, I've once again compiled a list of what's happening when. </span>Many of the local colleges (MHCC, PCC, Reed, PSU, George
Fox) don’t have their theatre schedule up on their web sites yet, but I'll try to update this closer to the beginning of the school year, if any of them are doing Shakespeare. (I'll also update this with links to my reviews... if and when I write them!)</div>
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And on a completely random note... how in the world are we getting so many productions of Cymbeline lately? In 2011, Northwest Classical did it... and then in 2012 Portland Center Stage... and now we have PAE and Oregon Shakespeare Festival and next spring University of Portland?!?! I'm not complaining -- I love Cymbeline! -- but for one of the lesser known plays, it's certainly getting a lot of attention!</div>
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The good news is that it looks like even without going to Ashland, there's quite a bit of Shakespeare this year. Not enough for one play a month (because there's a dry spell November through January), but otherwise, it looks like an interesting year. Maybe a little heavy on the tragedies... but oh well. </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2013</b></div>
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Now – Aug. 24 </div>
<b><a href="http://www.willametteshakespeare.org/" target="_blank">Romeo and Juliet</a></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> –</span>Willamette Shakespeare<br />
My Review: <a href="http://exitspursuedbyabear.blogspot.com/2013/08/fun-and-frustration-in-romeo-and-juliet.html" target="_blank">Fun and Frustration in Romeo and Juliet </a><br />
<br />
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Now – Sept. 2<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.portlandactors.org/" target="_blank">Cymbeline</a></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – </span>PAE</div>
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*Now – Oct. 11<b> </b></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.osfashland.org/productions/2013-plays/cymbeline.aspx" target="_blank">Cymbeline</a></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – </span>Oregon Shakespeare Festival</div>
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*Now – Oct. 13<b> </b></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.osfashland.org/productions/2013-plays/a-midsummer-night-s-dream.aspx" target="_blank">A Midsummer Night’s Dream</a></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – </span>Oregon
Shakespeare Festival</div>
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*Now – Nov. 3<b> </b></div>
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<a href="http://www.osfashland.org/productions/2013-plays/the-taming-of-the-shrew.aspx" target="_blank"><b>Taming of the Shrew</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – </span></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span>Oregon Shakespeare
Festival</div>
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*Now – Nov. 3<b> </b></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.osfashland.org/productions/2013-plays/king-lear.aspx" target="_blank">King Lear</a></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – </span>Oregon Shakespeare
Festival</div>
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Aug. 17 – Sept. 29<b> </b></div>
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<a href="http://postfivetheatre.org/2013/julius-caesar/" target="_blank"><b>Julius Caesar</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – </span></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span>Post5</div>
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Aug. 17, 25, Sept. 29</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><b><a href="http://www.opsfest.org/tour-calendar.html" target="_blank">Comedie of Errors</a></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – </span>OpsFest</div>
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<br /></div>
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Sept. 20 – Oct. 13</div>
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<b><a href="http://www.nwctc.org/season.html" target="_blank">Richard III</a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b> </b>– </span>NWCTC<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2014</b><br />
Feb. 28 – March 30<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><b><a href="http://www.nwctc.org/season.html" target="_blank">King Lear</a></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – </span>NWCTC</div>
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<br /></div>
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April 5 – May 11<b> </b></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.pcs.org/othello/" target="_blank">Othello</a></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – </span>Portland Center Stage</div>
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April 8 – 12<b> </b></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.up.edu/calendar/default.aspx?tool=calshow" target="_blank">Cymbeline</a></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span>University of Portland</div>
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May 23 – June 22<b> </b></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.nwctc.org/season.html" target="_blank">Macbeth</a></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – </span>NWCTC</div>
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May 23 – June 22<b> </b></div>
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<b><a href="http://postfivetheatre.org/tickets" target="_blank">Titus Andronicus</a></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span>Post5</div>
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Summer 2014<b> </b></div>
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<b>Antony
and Cleopatra</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – </span>PAE<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><br />
<b><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">A Midsummer Night's Dream</span></b><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – </span>PAE </span></div>
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<i>*Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland (not quite local... but I feel compelled to include them because, I mean, it's Shakespeare!)</i></div>
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<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-49161704834996578522013-07-13T14:22:00.002-07:002013-07-22T13:40:21.945-07:00Of Rings, Rats, Ducats and Cell Phones -- PAE's Merchant of Venice<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFBSFSSoHJGMd0FBSdtgsQKbIhm2f4A4X1S0XPrq24PRxxRBJSw3UKTheyCl3GYYuGXcEQ23Dj77RKVTrp0F9q1660PQaQdkC5xZrlAxkTfXk6OCeEKIv3Dr6zwA0zN2a9Cj5BMBgNKsWo/s1600/IMG_2850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFBSFSSoHJGMd0FBSdtgsQKbIhm2f4A4X1S0XPrq24PRxxRBJSw3UKTheyCl3GYYuGXcEQ23Dj77RKVTrp0F9q1660PQaQdkC5xZrlAxkTfXk6OCeEKIv3Dr6zwA0zN2a9Cj5BMBgNKsWo/s320/IMG_2850.jpg" width="320" /></a>Review of Portland Actors Ensemble's<i> Merchant of Venice </i>(6, 12 July 2013)</div>
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Oh, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Merchant of Venice</i>.
It’s a great play, full of ups and downs, drama and humor, love and revenge…
and open to so many misinterpretations and pitfalls. How are we supposed to
deal with the anti-Semitism? Was Shakespeare anti-Semitic to have written
something like this? Was that just the culture of Shakespeare’s age? What about
the bromance between Antonio and Bassanio? Is it anything more? And suddenly
you’re mired in a bog of politically correct ways to play it, with the
sensibilities of today taking center stage instead of the plot and story
itself. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSzmdalpW-LvTNi7AtHUCPFkDiO8qzHJklbETIKaG79GlZPJWFs3q9edd1B5wMSSlji-DwlFctTfPtj-b6wWMCjh7OISAIYA3cAL8jWdMhMOHCQJs2yd4do9n8T-1dLAKlLxl-ofIHg6jj/s1600/IMG_2697.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSzmdalpW-LvTNi7AtHUCPFkDiO8qzHJklbETIKaG79GlZPJWFs3q9edd1B5wMSSlji-DwlFctTfPtj-b6wWMCjh7OISAIYA3cAL8jWdMhMOHCQJs2yd4do9n8T-1dLAKlLxl-ofIHg6jj/s320/IMG_2697.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Don’t get me wrong – I love <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the Merchant of Venice</i>. But I always approach productions of it
with trepidation and concern that Shakespeare’s story will somehow get lost
amidst the clamor of what people think it should be.</div>
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I shouldn’t have worried about Portland Actors Ensemble’s
production. (I should never worry about their productions, since I’ve been
going regularly for more than 10 years and have yet to see one I didn’t like!)
Director Bruce Hostetler and his stellar cast have woven the many seemingly
conflicting elements of the plot together into a beautiful, seamless story that
doesn’t jar where it’s not supposed to, that makes you walk away thinking about
deeper things than social prejudice. </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ3YxaL750LhuLhYS5rnAJ9IwvyuR9y1Ha-md2_To0l4EPxipbATlFurRK2QiHPbfy4AaBU8oK8WK5szoqt-A7aOBIX5Fme8b4OIr0nrua0o3M6y9kvfJoSDbLAxkUrvv_Oni46GNk9nxz/s1600/IMG_2764.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ3YxaL750LhuLhYS5rnAJ9IwvyuR9y1Ha-md2_To0l4EPxipbATlFurRK2QiHPbfy4AaBU8oK8WK5szoqt-A7aOBIX5Fme8b4OIr0nrua0o3M6y9kvfJoSDbLAxkUrvv_Oni46GNk9nxz/s320/IMG_2764.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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One key to understanding this play is recognizing that
Shylock is a villain. He is also a Jew, but I believe that was more of a
necessary plot device for Shakespeare than any statement about race. In order
for his plot to work, Shakespeare needed a money lender to be the baddie. In
today’s world, we have many options for that kind of role – loan sharks, banks,
the Mafia – but in Shakespeare’s day if you wanted to borrow money, you went to
a Jew. Simple as that. James Peck does a masterful job at reminding us that
Shylock is not a nice guy. He gloats. He grumbles. He laughs at Antonio’s need.
He cares more about his money than he does about his daughter, Jessica (as
brilliantly shown when he kisses Jessica goodbye… and then comes back to kiss
the briefcase of money goodbye). Even in some of the more “sincere” speeches
about how Jews are people, too, Peck’s delivery reminded us where it’s all
going – Jews are people, too, and therefore can be vindictive and vengeful and
evil. </div>
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Another reminder that Shakespeare doesn’t have it in for all
Jews is the character of Tubal – Shylock’s associate. Tubal is actually the
first one to bring up the idea of mercy in the trial scene. And when Shylock
pays no attention to him, Tubal (Enrique Andrade) refused to have anything more
to do with him. Though he didn’t say anything, Andrade made it perfectly clear
that Tubal does not condone his fellow Jew’s actions and that not all Jews are
cut out of the same cloth. Jews are people, too, which means they don’t fit
into boxes and won’t be tidily categorized… even in a Shakespeare play that
leans fairly heavily on stereotypes. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTY0B9kVFfpWtto0RQf2X-N24o9S3-k9WpW0WHG86057FF-SnL2rFmcmtcuVWS4fje4iA78tNhjRhbxXhFDaphqiwsHQjv22TbD878dwfOX3KgPZsV2NMkhYOX1LFVf3BzmzhQtZE330HB/s1600/IMG_2797.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTY0B9kVFfpWtto0RQf2X-N24o9S3-k9WpW0WHG86057FF-SnL2rFmcmtcuVWS4fje4iA78tNhjRhbxXhFDaphqiwsHQjv22TbD878dwfOX3KgPZsV2NMkhYOX1LFVf3BzmzhQtZE330HB/s320/IMG_2797.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc1WvN-vBKiSodgyfggdTR4M_dbcdMNa89jjvcTT9cw-rIofyewcCO1wJPyCB1unQ66JMlfXl5QVjc0ZdcVwGhUZrH-MCQXOS6Tt1VqLVwZmmuS3JxGhtlRD4CHDRLEmfH6EOmgeDnlOTl/s1600/IMG_2697.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>For a play that we tend to think of as being all about
justice and law, there’s an awful lot of romance going on almost constantly.
Lorenzo (Benjamin Newman) and Jessica (Megan Chambers) win the Most Adorkably
Sweet Couple Award for long, awkward silences and many blushingly sweet looks.
Gratiano (Benjamin Sheppard) and Nerissa (Elizabeth Gibbs) win the Most Likely
to Argue Award for bringing together two characters with plenty of spice and
spunk. But the Most Unusual Couple Award has to go to Salanio (Clinton Clark)
and his cell phone – a delightfully modern device that rendered many an info
dump and long monologue advancing the plot actually entertaining and fun to
watch. </div>
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Let’s not forget Bassanio (Sam Burns) and Portia (Jenny
Newbry) though. Burns’s Bassanio is earnest and a good friend and slightly more
mature than his sidekicks Gratiano and Salanio, but is still impulsive and has
absolutely no business sense whatsoever. When things go skew-whiff, Bassanio is
a loyal if somewhat ineffectual helper. He’s also delightfully naïve and
totally smitten with Portia. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Newbry’s
Portia provides a good counter to this. She’s 100 percent girl and very much in
love with Bassanio, but you can tell she’s the brains behind most of what goes
on. She bats her eyelashes and turns on the charms to get her unwelcome suitors
the Prince of Morocco (Alistair Morley Jaques) and the Prince of Aragon
(Enrique Andrade) to pick the wrong boxes. And she makes plans to help Antonio
when all Bassanio can think of is being there with him. Together they are
lovely.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFuiLHIHillcXeKtPyxhYCSGpu0zGP5AYhUVG7T2-m89tyLe-vFOa6M1M5atIf3Tp6G_laVtCUsn6q6vmj_QDV7jARu2ELa_XxBOAaquSnDB8_YBLQiwoepOe9lMrMm7N3veytg_D9Yeyd/s1600/IMG_2669.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFuiLHIHillcXeKtPyxhYCSGpu0zGP5AYhUVG7T2-m89tyLe-vFOa6M1M5atIf3Tp6G_laVtCUsn6q6vmj_QDV7jARu2ELa_XxBOAaquSnDB8_YBLQiwoepOe9lMrMm7N3veytg_D9Yeyd/s320/IMG_2669.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I could wax eloquent about so many things… but time and
space prevent me. I’ll only mention Launcelot Gobbo (Michael Kutner) and Old
Gobbo (Alastair Morley Jaques) as wonderful examples of Shakespeare’s Clowns.
Kutner’s version of Launcelot’s shoulder angel and shoulder devil had me in
stitches… and his Brando impersonation was great! And to whoever thought up the
Rats-on-a-Stick… disgustingly brilliant. ;-)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpv49qMM-S9aql13x1spQCbzaTGCFgvrCThRCbaKE_Jh5CNlwiLGRajdGLGoz3qqJbYbFycSMfI0VlJ-cOqF_JUSFXZ57z2Ss_PQJJTmDm4-iKC13le09vt92Z1cwhF53A87rdJRboKVYi/s1600/IMG_2890.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a> </div>
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Through all this I discovered a theme that I hadn’t seen
before, one that I need to think about more and unpack later – the letter of
the law vs. the spirit. It’s there in the courtroom scene… it’s there in the
lottery for Portia’s hand in marriage… it’s there in the dispute about what
really happened to the rings… and it’s a good reminder of what’s really
important in life. But that’s a discussion for another time.</div>
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For now… Merchant runs until July 20<sup>th</sup>. It’s
definitely worth the watch, if you can make it. Details at <a href="http://portlandactors.org/">portlandactors.org</a>.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-90232352863127596442013-03-08T10:07:00.000-08:002013-03-08T10:09:58.001-08:00Joss Whedon's Much Ado Trailer<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/wVvyJbyoLBE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
<br />
After hearing rumors about Joss Whedon doing <i>Much Ado About Nothing</i> for a while, it's nice to know that it's actually happening! Look out, June! What do you think? What are you looking forward to the most about this? What are you dreading? (I will admit to being ridiculously excited about the casting! I mean... Nathan Fillion? Doing Shakespeare? Dogberry, no less? Yes, please!)<br />
<br />
In random other news, I did read <i>Shrew </i>in February... and have been having troubles collecting my thoughts on it. Perhaps this weekend I'll try to pull some thoughts together.<br />
<br />
In March I'm reading <i>King Lear</i>, one of my favorites.<br />
<br />
So... nothing really profound... but I'm planning a trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to see <i>Shrew</i>, <i>Lear </i>and <i>My Fair Lady</i>... so there should be some reviews happening when I get back from that. <br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-16523547224407421742013-01-31T11:12:00.001-08:002013-01-31T11:12:51.335-08:00A Year of Shakespeare<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Looks like I need to do some dusting in here. I've been a little low on Shakespeare lately. But to fix that, I've got a plan for 2013: Read one Shakespeare play each month. It's not much... but it's a start. I've made a list -- originally this was going to be a reading / discussion group, but logistics haven't fallen into place yet. So I thought I'd just post my list, and anyone who was vaguely interested might read along with me.<br />
<br />
<b>If</b> I'm diligent, I might post "things to look for while reading" for each play. <br />
<br />
So here's my reading list. I realize that January is gone... but maybe you can sneak Macbeth into the beginning of February.<br />
<br />
<span></span><br />
January Macbeth <br />
February The Taming of the Shrew<br />
March King Lear<br />
April The Winter’s Tale<br />
May Merchant of Venice<br />
June Cymbeline<br />
July Romeo and Juliet<br />
August As You Like It<br />
September Troilus and Cressida<br />
October Julius Caesar<br />
November A Midsummer Night’s Dream<br />
December Twelfth Night<br />
<br />
If you are interested in reading along and maybe finding a way to discuss these (even with comments on here or via email?), leave me a note. By the way, a lot of these are ones happening in the Portland area this Spring / Summer (or in Ashland)... and I've tried to set it up so that you can read the play before going to see it. <br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-41940619265108530962012-10-25T10:11:00.002-07:002012-10-25T10:14:40.238-07:00Saint Crispin's Day 2012Well... we've come to another 25 October again... and I've woefully neglected my blog. Let's just say there's been a dearth of Shakespeare in my life recently. But it's Saint Crispin's day... and this time I thought I'd put up several different versions of Henry V's Saint Crispin's Day speech.<br />
<br />
This first video has four versions in it. It starts with Sir Larry from 1944, then goes to David Gwillim (1979), followed by Michael Pennington (1989), and finally Sir Kenneth Branagh (also in 1989). <br />
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Next, we'll go back to 1951 with just the audio of Richard Burton's performance. </div>
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And then we'll wrap it all up with the newest one: Tom Hiddleston from The Hollow Crown: Henry V (BBC 2012).<br />
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So... what do you think? Who do you think captured the feel of the thing best? Who would <i>you</i> follow into a hopeless-looking battle? Don't be shy! (I was really surprised by my reactions to all 6 of these!) I'd love to hear your thoughts. :-D<br />
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Cheers... and happy Saint Crispin's Day!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-60556520898078943452012-09-02T19:32:00.001-07:002012-09-03T09:11:56.062-07:00Princes and Theatre Groups Have to Grow Up<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Review of Post5 Theatre’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Henry IV Part 1 </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(31 August 2012)</span></div>
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Perhaps I’m more of an English Prof than a Theatre Critic. My first criteria
when looking at a play is not “How well did this production hold together?” or “How
well did the actors bring life to their characters?” or “How entertaining was
this?” but “How well does this production adhere to the text?”</div>
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I realize that your Joe Blow Theater Patron couldn’t really
care less about the text, seeing it – if he sees it at all – as only the
backdrop to an entertaining evening out. </div>
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But especially where Shakespeare is concerned, messing with
the text bothers me every time. Why? Because Shakespeare worked hard to make
his plays “hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature; to show Virtue her own
feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form
and pressure.” He carefully crafted his words, characters and scenes to get at
something specific. And when that is ignored, or worse still, deliberately
altered, a great disservice is done to the play, the audience and even the
actors. </div>
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Now, don’t get me wrong – I realize that there’s a lot of
room for interpretation and individuality when producing Shakespeare. So I’m
not at all bothered by variant readings or alternate views of a play. But when
one’s concept or one’s own ideas about how things could be done trump the text,
that’s where I draw the line.</div>
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And that’s what bothered me the most about Post5 Theatre’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Henry IV Part 1</i> – it messed with the
text, and because of that, missed the whole point of the play. Subtly (but
deliberately, because you can’t switch the order of scenes around without doing
it on purpose) they shifted the focus from Prince Hal to Falstaff… and instead
of a Growing Up and Taking Responsibility Story, it became so much less. The
new “final scene” (they ended with Act V Scene 4 instead of 5) left me feeling
like the take-away was “Living a debauched life isn’t so bad as long as you
know the right people and are in the right place at the right time” – although I
will say that I don’t feel like the entire show backed that point up. </div>
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The problem is that the ending of anything is extremely
important. In a play, it’s the last thing the audience sees. It’s the image
that sticks with them. Shakespeare started and ended the play with the King
(Henry IV) speaking, and I think it’s significant that the last voice we hear is
Hal’s father accepting him and finally giving him the respect and responsibility
that belongs to a prince. You miss all that when Falstaff gets the last word,
and it isn’t a sincere one.</div>
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The very modern, rather American setting also contributed to
the obfuscation of Shakespeare’s point. I lost any sense of royalty, of the
fate of the nation hanging in the balance. And giving Henry IV the feel of a
president instead of a king diminished the importance of the worthiness of the
heir to the throne. Presidents don’t pass their office on to their oldest sons.
In fact, as the play went on, I grew more and more convinced that this wasn’t
about kings, but about crime lords or rival gangs. The ubiquity of the biker
theme didn’t help this at all. </div>
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Why should Hal grow up and set aside his “friendships” with
his biker buddies? Why should he clean up his act and stop all the drinking,
drugs and debauchery? What’s the incentive? I got absolutely no sense of “someday
you will be king, and you need to start acting like one.” In fact, when Henry
IV is dressing Hal down in what <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">should</i>
be a very moving scene and a definite turning point in the play, the king pulls
out a bottle of Johnny Walker and starts drinking. Maybe I’m too picky, but my
first thought was, “Double standards much?”</div>
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<span class="commentbody">The overriding thought behind this
production seemed to be (in my humble opinion), “We, the cast and crew, are
going to have fun!” Great. I have nothing wrong with that. I have often dreamed
of doing theatre, first and foremost because it looks like so much fun. But
that fun must be tempered by the text. You have to have some reason for doing
something other than, “It’s fun.” When you start making decisions based on what
would be “fun,” you always have to double check them against the text.</span></div>
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<span class="commentbody">Sure, to some people it might be a
lot of fun to portray the Douglas (Samuel Dinkowitz</span>) as the head of a
biker gang. But in doing so, you lose the idea that he represents the power of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scotland</i>, which, last time I checked, is
a little more than just a biker gang.</div>
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<span class="commentbody">In this same vein, I found the
extra-textual asides (random modern non-Shakespearean insertions) amusing at
first, but they quickly got tedious and detracted from the beauty of the
language. While it might be fun to put them in, is it worth the constant
reminders to the audience that Shakespeare’s language isn’t the same as today’s?
Shouldn’t you be trying to help the audience feel at home in the language and
forget that it’s different? </span></div>
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I don’t blame any of this on the actors at all. In fact,
much of the acting was superb. Orion Bradshaw’s Hotspur was fiery and impetuous
and so intense it was almost frightening… when it wasn’t funny. Brenan Dwyer
played up to him as Lady Percy and complemented his passion nobly. Phillip J.
Bernes was marvelous as Francis the drug dealer, but even more impressive as
John of Lancaster – a bit part, but an important one. Michael Godsey was
thoroughly conniving and evil as Worcester, making Hotspurs passionate
rebellion look almost innocent by comparison with his own cold-blooded, calculating
villainy. Jeff Gorham made a respectable King (or President?) Henry IV and brought
an air of maturity and gravity to his part.</div>
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I save Ty Boice’s Prince Hal for last because, though he did
an excellent job, he just wasn’t quite able to assert his presence over that of
Falstaff (<span class="commentbody">Rusty Tennant</span>). Again, it felt like
the “let’s have fun with this” mentality won out over the text, because
Falstaff just turned into so huge a presence that Hal’s part was necessarily diminished.
</div>
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<span class="commentbody">This is possibly the genesis of the
question of who the play is really about and the muddling of Shakespeare’s
point. There is a delicate balance between Hal and Falstaff as characters. Get
that out of alignment, and the whole play shifts. </span></div>
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<span class="commentbody">The problems I have with this
production come more from how the play was conceived by director Don Alder (and
possibly by the vision of Post5 Theatre in general?) than from individual
performance (with the possible exception of Tennant’s Falstaff). And maybe I’m
being overly critical of the whole thing. I doubt many people even realized
that the production missed the whole point of the play. But isn’t that even more
reason to uphold the text? Don’t you have a responsibility to your audience to
give as accurate a representation of the play as you can? </span></div>
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<span class="commentbody">Post5 Theatre reminds me a lot of Prince Hal, actually: They have a responsibility – a responsibility both
to their audiences and to the plays themselves. They also have a lot of
potential to be able to fulfill those responsibilities. But until they stop doing
things “just for fun” and start giving the texts the respect they deserve, they will
not be major players in the theatre world.</span> </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-54957575788511488312012-08-14T11:30:00.000-07:002012-08-14T13:21:13.833-07:00Whirligig of Time -- Perception and Reality in Twelfth Night<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1qAAiaXmLNS1X0kO8Yig_HfeLGFP69j1HQIaaPvfdiEs_l0075_ul6OjICIFtDi4ZHP0bris3semYjas_-_Vch3uuH19iJJiGu6QnQovourGI_cd2Mqr-GM9G7jIzA9iyTzQwnaLH9GuZ/s1600/IMG_1389.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1qAAiaXmLNS1X0kO8Yig_HfeLGFP69j1HQIaaPvfdiEs_l0075_ul6OjICIFtDi4ZHP0bris3semYjas_-_Vch3uuH19iJJiGu6QnQovourGI_cd2Mqr-GM9G7jIzA9iyTzQwnaLH9GuZ/s320/IMG_1389.jpg" width="320" /></a>Review of Portland Actors Ensemble’s <i>Twelfth Night</i>
(11 August 2012)</div>
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I had a hard time starting this review of Portland Actors
Ensemble’s <i>Twelfth Night</i>. On the one hand, I absolutely adored the
production. “Beautiful” was the word I used the most when describing it to
friends. But I find that I run out of adjectives very quickly with a play like
this: It’s brilliant: the costumes are stunning, the music sensational, the
sets lovely, the timing perfect, all the characters amazing, and every
performance inspired. I loved it, and can think of very little that could be
improved. So I feel like I don’t have a whole lot to say.</div>
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<br /></div>
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On the other hand, the play has produced deep thoughts in
me… and I’ve been tempted to wax philosophical. But that opens up a Pandora’s Box
of ideas that have less to do with this particular production. So I have too
much to say… and that too much is not quite to the point. </div>
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<br /></div>
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But… this is theatre. And the purpose of theatre is
communication. And communication is worthless if it doesn’t communicate Ideas.
Shakespeare’s plays – even the comedies – are not just plots and characters and
settings, but vehicles for Ideas. And if a particular production (this one, for
instance) can spark these big Ideas in a viewer, then it has done its job and done
it well. So, really, the philosophy isn’t so much off topic after all.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii6Oh9AMOx8lkeU62l-R1iCzomJwOgSbuMa6VtID4Nm11W5n_qLB0WjpFjjaWqTs4N4zIHaJVnDewbNel4AuOX4-77eU2PgQfPFrC1RV6uAsjDWY4jQrgIYGuwuaxuFXXbzKS4_9ASRjhG/s1600/IMG_1385.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii6Oh9AMOx8lkeU62l-R1iCzomJwOgSbuMa6VtID4Nm11W5n_qLB0WjpFjjaWqTs4N4zIHaJVnDewbNel4AuOX4-77eU2PgQfPFrC1RV6uAsjDWY4jQrgIYGuwuaxuFXXbzKS4_9ASRjhG/s320/IMG_1385.jpg" width="320" /></a>A friend overheard another audience member say, “Isn’t it
amazing how they make it feel so contemporary and modern?” I laugh, not because
whoever said this was off base, but because they were so spot-on. But here’s
the thing: It’s not this production. Sure, director Avital Shira had her
stellar (ooh! There’s another superlative adjective!) cast deliver the lines
with a fresh, modern feel. But the reason it works so well is that the characters
that Shakespeare created are as much at home in the 21<sup>st</sup> century as
they were in the 17<sup>th</sup>. People haven’t changed. Guys were
melodramatic, lovelorn idiots then (Orsino), and they are now. Girls were apt
to fall quick and hard for someone at the least provocation (Olivia), and they
are now. There will always be self-important, pig-headed jerks in positions of
authority (Malvolio), and we will always rejoice when they get their
comeuppance. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdYbRgMFgC-6GwakUP2ud0y-7vMUIS2pK9Oa_oLAIe57tf6p5orubi6zSrA200W_KoWatBdzEgEZ9g0yaMZsv_9ByPf0luqb1T57xrMqD9cShtIxxTnGOMzmE8Tjy1Wu_dy9XCzFutt8zG/s1600/IMG_1337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdYbRgMFgC-6GwakUP2ud0y-7vMUIS2pK9Oa_oLAIe57tf6p5orubi6zSrA200W_KoWatBdzEgEZ9g0yaMZsv_9ByPf0luqb1T57xrMqD9cShtIxxTnGOMzmE8Tjy1Wu_dy9XCzFutt8zG/s320/IMG_1337.jpg" width="320" /></a><i>Twelfth Night</i> works so well because we all know the
characters from our own lives. How many long conversations have I had with my
Orsino guy friends, so blinded by what they want that they can’t see what they
could have? How many times have I, myself, been Olivia – wanting the
unattainable and acting like a complete idiot in an effort to attain it?</div>
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No one escapes censure in <i>Twelfth Night</i>. And that’s
what makes it work so well. It’s a play about contrasts – wisdom and folly, men
and women, perception and reality – but mostly perception and reality. We all
have a preferred version of reality… the way we’d like things to be. And it’s
this perception that blinds us to the way things actually are. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy961nRBp77U5yu6OaPHRii9SWkSNU25CpN285yU7bj7wCs5H4yxU-Ig96cLc3lRwW-xBCecD6jyjDE8mWP-juBd1E5B8oP-Sd8MfyLtAhAKTTgz2EJ-Se2Xj_Cba_5t8o52z6WvU5ed2J/s1600/IMG_1341.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy961nRBp77U5yu6OaPHRii9SWkSNU25CpN285yU7bj7wCs5H4yxU-Ig96cLc3lRwW-xBCecD6jyjDE8mWP-juBd1E5B8oP-Sd8MfyLtAhAKTTgz2EJ-Se2Xj_Cba_5t8o52z6WvU5ed2J/s320/IMG_1341.jpg" width="213" /></a>In true Shakespearean tradition, the only person who really
knows what’s what in the play is Feste, the fool, played charmingly in this
production by Carson Cook. Cook made it obvious that he knew exactly what was
going on – that “Cesario” is really a girl; that Orsino’s love for Olivia isn’t
going to last; that Olivia’s mourning for her brother is more of an excuse
(though perhaps not a conscious one) to be moody than true, deep-seated grief. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMJyU5M1Tp0i1Kb56BMS1eeBpsG1iaWP53dBufCmuYhx9M8sDUziRQw9abR9GqC0wccguyYbGAOP-THUywUILcmkrotCIPEXHZsiAp-p6Jsj9uqbzWlbFblkPV-umQneHE9Ozhs5TwqWkD/s1600/IMG_1349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMJyU5M1Tp0i1Kb56BMS1eeBpsG1iaWP53dBufCmuYhx9M8sDUziRQw9abR9GqC0wccguyYbGAOP-THUywUILcmkrotCIPEXHZsiAp-p6Jsj9uqbzWlbFblkPV-umQneHE9Ozhs5TwqWkD/s320/IMG_1349.jpg" width="213" /></a>Of course, Shakespeare’s device (making the “fool” the wise
one) brings up the contrast between wisdom and folly, and reminds us that when
we think we are wise, that’s when we’re the most foolish. This comes out in
practically every character in <i>Twelfth Night</i> to some extent or another,
but most in Malvolio (played by Arthur Delaney). Malvolio’s perception is that
everyone loves him (despite much evidence to the contrary), and this makes him
particularly susceptible to the practical jokes played on him by Maria (<span class="uficommentbody">Jennifer Elkington), Sir Toby Belch (Will Steele), Sir
Andrew Ague-Cheek (Max Maller) and Feste. Once again, in true Shakespearean
tradition, the villain is hoist by his own petard, and when the whirligig of
time brings in his revenges, we may feel a little sorry for the “madly-used
Malvolio,” but we recognize that he brought it upon himself. Delaney did a
particularly good job throughout of making Malvolio so obnoxious that I, like
Maria, could “</span>hardly forbear <span class="keyword1">hurling</span> things
at him,” and that made the ending more palatable. </div>
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I could go on in this philosophical bent, but I don’t want
to try your patience. So I’ll end with a few notes about this production. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWWe5OjESIA6Yct_-JMP9wohhY8qgqYwCUQmrXfIFqxkXoyqeHBKKN_YupTLI1OQF9eiDIaDYOtmVD-NgH5LcdYHxHANfLVY4BYF47yYdaUYgzoXthNYaVr8FGtFVYFpti3Smv6AzMZrNe/s1600/IMG_1345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWWe5OjESIA6Yct_-JMP9wohhY8qgqYwCUQmrXfIFqxkXoyqeHBKKN_YupTLI1OQF9eiDIaDYOtmVD-NgH5LcdYHxHANfLVY4BYF47yYdaUYgzoXthNYaVr8FGtFVYFpti3Smv6AzMZrNe/s320/IMG_1345.jpg" width="320" /></a>Zach Virden made an awesome Orsino. And <span class="uficommentbody">Britt Harris did a lovely job as Viola / Cesario. The two
of them have some delightfully awkward moments as the relationship between
master and confidant threatens to turn into something else. In fact, the entire
play is filled with wonderful awkwardness – which is, I suppose, one of the
chief reasons a girl dressed as a guy worked so well in so many Shakespeare
plays. </span></div>
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<span class="uficommentbody">I would be remiss if I didn’t
mention the beautiful music written by Amir Shirazi and very well performed by
the entire cast. Bravo. </span></div>
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<span class="uficommentbody">For those of you who are
wondering about appropriateness and such, just know that at one point Olivia
comes out wrapped in a sheet (a very long, very opaque sheet… but still… it
implies… you know). I understand how they came to that interpretation, though I
don’t think it’s strictly necessary. Also the “intermission music” is a
slightly risqué drinking song. Those are my only real concerns… and by
comparison to the rest of the show, they are very small.</span></div>
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<span class="uficommentbody">Bravo to the entire cast and crew
for an outstanding job and one of my favorite productions all year! And thanks
for making me think! </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="uficommentbody">This production runs through Labor Day weekend. Visit <a href="http://www.portlandactors.org/">www.portlandactors.org</a> for dates and locations. </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-38617703054608111572012-08-08T20:17:00.000-07:002012-08-08T20:17:17.272-07:00One YearOne year ago today I started this blog with <a href="http://exitspursuedbyabear.blogspot.com/2011/08/shakespeare-haiku.html" target="_blank">a collection of haiku summarizing Shakespeare plays</a>. Wow. That seems like forever ago. And just yesterday I passed the 2,000 visits mark... which may not seem like all that much, but to someone who was just looking for a place to chronicle her obsession with Shakespeare, it's kind of amazing.<br />
<br />
This has been a fun adventure, and I fully intend to keep going. Not only does it help me think through the productions I see, but it also gives me a place to vent my thoughts that just won't go away. I've thought some (for me) Deep Literary Thoughts (the <a href="http://exitspursuedbyabear.blogspot.com/2012/03/robin-hood-and-forest.html" target="_blank">Robin Hood post</a>, the <a href="http://exitspursuedbyabear.blogspot.com/2012/04/happy-birthday-william-shakespeare.html" target="_blank">Shakespeare Birthday post</a>, the <a href="http://exitspursuedbyabear.blogspot.com/2012/04/one-reason-i-love-shakespeare.html" target="_blank">One Reason I Love Shakespeare</a> post) and had quite a bit of fun with the Bard, too. Interestingly enough, the <a href="http://exitspursuedbyabear.blogspot.com/2012/04/horrible-histories-and-shakespearean.html" target="_blank">Horrible Histories and Shakespearean Insults</a> post is the most popular of all time. Who knew?<br />
<br />
So, that's about all for now. Thanks for stopping by! Drop me a note. I love hearing from fellow Shakespeare Nerds.<br />
<br />
~KatieUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-53481590610417868892012-08-06T15:26:00.000-07:002012-08-06T15:27:01.270-07:00Not Much Ado<br />
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<a href="https://629e91f62e-custmedia.vresp.com/06a086a55d/MuchAdo-poster-med.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://629e91f62e-custmedia.vresp.com/06a086a55d/MuchAdo-poster-med.jpg" width="206" /></a>Review of Willamette Shakespeare’s <i>Much Ado About Nothing</i>
(4 August 2012)</div>
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<h6 style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">When
Claudio asks Benedick what he thinks of Hero, Benedick replies, “<span class="messagebody">Why, i' faith, methinks she's too low for a high praise, too
brown for a fair praise and too little for a great praise: only this
commendation I can afford her, that were she other than she is, she were
unhandsome; and being no other but as she is, I do not like her” (1.1.167-172).
In other words… she just doesn’t do it for me.</span></span></h6>
<h6 style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;"> </span></h6>
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And that was exactly how I felt about Willamette
Shakespeare’s <i>Much Ado About Nothing</i>. It’s hard to pin down what didn’t
work for me. There were a lot of good things about the production, and yet, it
fell flat. </div>
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Jason Maniccia was one of the highlights. His Benedick was
solid, and he looked at home in the part. I could believe in all of Benedick’s
changing moods – his self-confidence, his mockery, his frustration with
Beatrice, his love-induced melancholy and his puppy love. My only
disappointment was that he could have made so much more of the eavesdropping
scene, but that is probably more director Daniel Somerfield’s fault. </div>
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Ithica Tell made a smart, sassy Beatrice. She made the
400-year-old puns and wordplays feel fresh and spontaneous and biting. But I
could never really buy the bit where Beatrice is in love with Benedick. And
unfortunately, most of the rest of the cast didn’t play up to her energy level,
and so she felt out of place. I would really like to see her in some
fast-paced, high-energy productions. I think she would be brilliant. </div>
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This production, however, was not fast-paced or high-energy.
</div>
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Chris Ringkamp’s Claudio was eager and innocent and young
and in love, but Holly Wigmore’s flat performance of Hero gave him nothing to
work with. Where Chris really shone was as one of the watch, where he could
play more of a comic role, and where the other actors’ energy was infectious.</div>
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Most of that energy came from Clara-Liis Hillier (Constable
Dogberry) and Lauren Modica (Verges) who absolutely stole the show. Every moment
they were on stage was a gem. Their timing, their expressions, the way they
stayed so wonderfully in character when the focus was not necessarily on them –
they were wonderful! And costume designer Clare Parker did a bang-up job with
their costumes, too. I particularly loved Dogberry’s skunk necktie with the
squeaker, and Verges’s fez. </div>
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Composer and musician Jason Okamoto also deserves praise for
his beautiful music (performed by him and Ali Ippolito). It gave just the right
flavor and helped create the mood where other aspects failed. </div>
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One of the main problems with this production was the
timing. Was it really necessary to break up the flow of the whole thing by
having stagehands rearrange the benches every scene? It didn’t contribute to
the sense of location or setting, and it killed what little energy there was in
the last scene. If the benches absolutely have to be moved, why not have the
actors do it as part of their scene? Another timing issue was that actors would
often do their actions and then speak their lines – but not at the same time.
Guys? We’re not that interested in watching you play a game of lawn bowls. And
when the play has a lot of talking in it, you don’t want to drag it out any
more than necessary.</div>
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So timing was a problem. Lack of energy was a problem.
Several poor performances contributed to the overall lack of sparkle. In
general, I found it a good time to work on my quilt. Which is saying something
on a 100-degree day. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-67535148551626896592012-07-16T11:12:00.000-07:002012-07-17T09:11:04.123-07:00Hamlet... in a Cemetery<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLZ61a4e6idqu8Icdw0BjByZcO2uZ-YRNZgc5HdY09YVHNDRCvgIgNCKjvteMxPpLqi_WB7xr8V3F-nivqqJIAgPAYUb9Glnumqi2inRPwkqJoIJn-1egCy_nx78rr3DujzBObWeBd8mg0/s1600/IMG_9883.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLZ61a4e6idqu8Icdw0BjByZcO2uZ-YRNZgc5HdY09YVHNDRCvgIgNCKjvteMxPpLqi_WB7xr8V3F-nivqqJIAgPAYUb9Glnumqi2inRPwkqJoIJn-1egCy_nx78rr3DujzBObWeBd8mg0/s320/IMG_9883.jpg" width="213" /></a>Review of PAE’s <i>Hamlet </i>(14 July 2012)</div>
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To begin their 43<sup>rd</sup> season, Portland Actors Ensemble
took a straightforward, streamlined <i>Hamlet </i>and set it in Portland’s oldest
cemetery – Lone Fir Cemetery. The setting was magical. To watch a play that
echoes unceasingly with the inevitability of death while surrounded by
tombstones is an amazing experience.</div>
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The cast had to work hard to live up to the setting, and in
many cases they succeeded. The entire production was fast-paced and intense.
Occasionally the intensity seemed over-the-top for those of us with front-row
seats, but it was necessary with audiences in the hundreds night after night.</div>
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Manipulation oozed from every angle of this play – Old
Hamlet’s Ghost (Mark Rothwell) manipulating his son, Polonius (Curt Hanson)
manipulating his daughter, Claudius and Gertrude (Mark Rothwell and MaryAnne
Glazebrook) manipulating Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (Samson Syharath and Sam
Burns), Claudius manipulating Laertes (Peter Schuyler)… the list goes on and
on.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtK0OyaH5eOkRWOwd_Gi_C964g2Lgy2RPhvde8LFBBD54sRk78Xw4f3z1XHPPLG_HsjL9I4gRk4D2TlMfPoW50T_B7mC_fF2btICcKB_RBd6-_pF5ueMoSRHYR4LCYifxOxdiO5xGATzhI/s1600/IMG_9912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtK0OyaH5eOkRWOwd_Gi_C964g2Lgy2RPhvde8LFBBD54sRk78Xw4f3z1XHPPLG_HsjL9I4gRk4D2TlMfPoW50T_B7mC_fF2btICcKB_RBd6-_pF5ueMoSRHYR4LCYifxOxdiO5xGATzhI/s320/IMG_9912.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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Doug Reynolds was a convincing if young-feeling Hamlet. He
made us feel the pressure the character was under – the pressure to be the
perfect son (both to his demanding, dead father and to his self-centered,
oblivious mother), the perfect prince, and the perfect boyfriend. He had to
keep up appearances the entire time and had no one that he could be himself
with. Ophelia (played by Kayla Lian) would have been the one person Hamlet
could have poured out his heart to, if her brother and father hadn’t gotten in
the way. Then Hamlet recognized that she was a chink in his armor and he
couldn’t afford the distraction, which provokes the “Get thee to a nunnery”
scene. But we really did feel that he loved her very much.</div>
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Kayla Lian did an amazing job of showing the strain that
leads to Ophelia’s madness. It was very clear that, despite his many
shortcomings, she loved her father very much. In fact, the whole family dynamic
with Polonius, Laertes and Ophelia was touchingly and beautifully done. </div>
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Polonius (Curt Hanson) was perfect. He was a believable
rather overbearing father and trusted advisor to the king, while at the same
time being a tedious windbag. Hanson’s comic timing and delivery were
brilliant. </div>
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Mark Rothwell’s performance of Claudius was remarkable,
also. Every time he was on stage I hated him a little more… and when you’re
playing a villain that means you’re doing a good job. He reminded me of a slug,
or something that gives you that slimy feeling. He was self-centered and evil
with a thin veneer of charm and polish – a perfect stage politician. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyTmVrYMncosufXosAT79ePIXFkAO9L1ozu8nqQw2GL-QDd0OkLQp6BMm1esmZUE-y3L029BXL4DXR_ZVngt2RgXU25veD59xrx8Y-D3bof312Zzx4EMCzsh4Fz0lD6FMhv-k8eLQdFC2h/s1600/IMG_9906.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyTmVrYMncosufXosAT79ePIXFkAO9L1ozu8nqQw2GL-QDd0OkLQp6BMm1esmZUE-y3L029BXL4DXR_ZVngt2RgXU25veD59xrx8Y-D3bof312Zzx4EMCzsh4Fz0lD6FMhv-k8eLQdFC2h/s320/IMG_9906.jpg" width="320" /></a>The production was filled with wonderful moments – many of
them brilliantly awkward and funny. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern excelled at
awkward, as did Adam Thompson playing Reynaldo (and various butler-esque minor
moments). Charlie Pierce made an excellent gravedigger… and watching someone
play with a skeleton in a cemetery was an experience I won’t soon forget!</div>
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My main concerns with this production were with bigger
conceptual things. For one thing, the way the players were presented bothered
me – turning the leading player into a woman and implying some past between
Hamlet and her didn’t help my view of Hamlet’s character. Say what you want
about princes or college students or whatever, I still feel like it weakened
the character and called his relationship with Ophelia into question somewhat.
With that kind of history, you almost feel like Laertes and Polonius were right
to tell Ophelia to keep her distance. </div>
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Director Bruce Hostetler also majorly minimized the Horatio
/ Hamlet friendship and turned Horatio (Scott Fullerton) into a glorified
babysitter the entire time. This did help to isolate Hamlet and require him to
put up even more of a façade, but when everyone in the play dies, you kind of
want the one person left on stage to be someone you’ve come to love and
sympathize with. This didn’t happen. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEbjxce5WaJrYH5YQwnQdJPofEkFHNhAEGEbAHasoebhoF7RA_TeuJO0xBgEheMkhDoLCGpuMIveJFsUmJwmGUXXUjOxfXyTdujsmH_XnfuSau_yfsGvYqsNtec7VcMnM5HPEaFUcD5adp/s1600/IMG_9918.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEbjxce5WaJrYH5YQwnQdJPofEkFHNhAEGEbAHasoebhoF7RA_TeuJO0xBgEheMkhDoLCGpuMIveJFsUmJwmGUXXUjOxfXyTdujsmH_XnfuSau_yfsGvYqsNtec7VcMnM5HPEaFUcD5adp/s320/IMG_9918.jpg" width="320" /></a>In fact, the entire second half was plagued with continuity
issues because of the way the play was cut down. Now, I totally understand the
need to cut the massive play so that people are able to sit through it. And I
don’t know how I could have done it myself. But I would not have taken out
Hamlet’s encounter with Fortinbras’s army (Act 4 scene 4 – the whole impetus
for the “How all occasions do inform against me” speech) or Hamlet’s ill-fated
trip to England. I was not convinced by the “Oh, he just decided not to go all
of a sudden” way that was handled. When Hamlet forges the letter that sends
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths, it is a significant step in his
journey, and not one that can be left out. </div>
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The ending (after everyone dies) was also cut down
significantly, leaving out what I think of as the zinger – the “this was the
point of this story” moment – and weakening the end considerably. I missed </div>
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“So shall you hear </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
of carnal, bloody, and unnatural
acts, </div>
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of accidental judgments, casual
slaughters, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
of deaths put on by cunning and
forced cause, </div>
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and, in this upshot, purposes
mistook </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
fall’n on th’ inventors’ heads. All
this can I </div>
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truly deliver” (5.2.422-428). </div>
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So while it was overall a good performance and the actors
played their parts very well, the whole thing lacked a cohesive feel and a main
point that resonates with the audience as they drive home. </div>
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The cemetery was very, very cool, though.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-5897787521158305522012-07-15T22:11:00.000-07:002012-07-15T22:11:43.850-07:00Post5's Dream<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Review of Post5 Theatre’s <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>
(13 July 2012)</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5zagfIp8h1qfdgr4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5zagfIp8h1qfdgr4.jpg" width="208" /></a>The great thing about theatre is that no two perspectives on
any one play are the same. Each production I see helps me understand the
original better. Each director, designer and actor has his own view of what’s
going on, and when you put those all together, you get a unique production that
(as long as the perspectives are actually drawn from the script) helps the
audience see the play in a way they never have before. </div>
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<i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i> seems particularly suited
for this. Something about the play itself brings out the quirky creativity in
people and lends itself to clever concepts and settings – sometimes a little
too clever for the play’s good. But, honestly! What are you supposed to do with
fairies, young people, courtiers and laborers-turned-thespians, not to mention
magic spells and someone with a donkey’s head?</div>
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Post5 Theatre’s <i>Dream</i> took some getting used to.
Directors Erica Terpening-Romeo and Caitlin Fisher-Draeger set it in Athens,
Georgia, and gave everyone (all the mortals, at least) thick southern accents.
Some of the actors handled this better than others, but overall I found I
wasn’t a huge fan of listening to Shakespeare’s language with the extra
challenge of sorting out an accent. (I’m not going to get into the discussion
here of how English sounded in Shakespeare’s day. All I can say is, I didn’t
live then.)</div>
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The other bit that I took a while to warm up to was their
depiction of the fairies, who had some vaguely Native American vibe going on,
complete with body paint and feathers. I will admit that the body paint (in
fluorescent yellow, orange, green, pink and purple) was fun and funky, and they
used it to good effect later on, but especially at the beginning, the fairies
were a little too weird for me. </div>
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On the other hand, the way the directors had the fairies be
present for the whole play, sometimes just watching on the sidelines, sometimes
actively participating in bits where Shakespeare doesn’t explicitly have them on
stage, was quite clever, and I liked it very much. They provided sound effects
and contributed to the general enchantment of everyone else in the forest by
occasionally smearing someone with pink or green paint – pink producing love
and green envy or anger. While I’m pretty sure that Shakespeare is trying to
point out that humans generally need little interference from the fairy world
in order to make fools of ourselves, the fairy contribution to the insanity was
a nice touch.</div>
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The set – a kind of scaffold supported by tree-like
structures – provided handy perches for the fairies, and lent itself to some
quite entertaining staging. It looked quite versatile, also – very impressive.</div>
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The costuming was problematic for me. The fairies wore as
little as possible (low slung yoga pants and a bra?), and Helena and Hermia’s
tops were inappropriately tight (Helena’s) and low (Hermia’s). That, coupled
with over-the-top sexually suggestive physicality, keeps me from recommending
the play. Don’t get me wrong: I know what’s going on in the play; I just think
that it really doesn’t have to be that R-rated. </div>
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Orion Bradshaw’s Puck was a little disturbing at times until
I started thinking of the fairy as a little boy who doesn’t know when something
is appropriate and when not. From that point on, I enjoyed his performance very
much. </div>
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The four lovers were quite good, and after a while, even the
southern accents worked in this setting – especially with the girls. Jade Hobbs
especially threw herself 110 percent into Helena, and did a marvelous job. </div>
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And then… the Rude Mechanicals. I nearly laughed myself sick
when they were on stage. They were all quite brilliant, but especially Todd
Hermanson as Bottom and R. David Willie as Flute. All the preparation for the
play within a play was appropriately silly and great, but the play itself
threatened to steal the show. From the Lion’s (Andrew Forrest’s) “mane” made
out of a tutu to the Wall (David Wade Granmo) slowly melting under its own
weight and Quince (Kerry Ryan) the director mouthing everyone’s parts along
with them and correcting their pronunciation, it was amazing! And then, after
all the silliness, they switched midstream and make the ending poignant and
touching… Bravo.</div>
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I have yet to see a production of <i>Dream</i> that I am
wholly satisfied with – no one’s vision is quite like mine – but each one I see
helps me understand the play a little better, and for that, I am grateful.
Post5 Theatre’s Dream may not be mine, but I think, under all the awkward
accents, ill-conceived costumes and inappropriate actions, they caught the
spirit and the heart of the play, as Puck says, “Lord what fools these mortals
be.” Sometimes, it’s good to remember that… and to laugh at ourselves. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-61281133451971181382012-07-08T20:51:00.001-07:002012-07-08T20:51:42.603-07:00Measure for Measure -- Mercy and Justice<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Review of NWCTC’s <i>Measure for Measure</i> (7-7-2012)</div>
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<i>Measure for Measure</i> is not for everyone. The whole
plot revolves around what can only be called “adult content.” That being said,
however, Shakespeare uses this framework to explore the delicate balance between
justice and mercy, much as he does in <i>Merchant of Venice</i> (only better,
in my opinion). Shakespeare is obviously thinking back to Matthew 7:1-2,
especially where it says, “by your standard of measure it will be measure to
you.” Some may be disturbed that in the end Shakespeare’s plea for mercy
appears to let everyone off the hook for their lewd behavior, but for me at
least, the take-away was more that living according to the spirit of the law is
often harder than just blindly adhering to the letter. It’s better to extend
mercy and change someone’s life than to cut that life short.</div>
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Because of its subject matter, <i>Measure for Measure</i>
must be a very difficult play to stage, and yet director Butch Flowers and his
talented cast and crew did a tasteful and very good job with it. They
successfully navigate around the myriad pitfalls and avoid the temptation to go
overboard with the innuendos and raciness. Even the costuming, which in many
plays is inappropriate with much less motivation, was modest. If you’re going
to have a problem with this play, it will be with Shakespeare’s story, not with
Flowers’ vision of it. </div>
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Technically the play was beautiful; sets, lighting music and
costumes were all just right. Performance-wise, it was brilliant. There wasn’t
a single character that didn’t sparkle. Jayson Shanafelt’s intensity and fixity
of purpose made for an excellently awful Angelo. Bonnie Auguston’s Isabella was
a believable novice nun in an awkward and tight spot. And Chris Porter made an
great if somewhat abrupt Duke Vincentio. Joe Healy’s Provost and Nathan
Crosby’s Claudio were both wonderfully sympathetic, as was Clara-Liis Hillier’s
Mariana. The whole production was well-paced, and Jason Maniccia’s comic timing
as Lucio was hysterical. The bits with the executioner and his apprentice had
me in absolute stitches – well done, Matt Pavik and David Burnett!</div>
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As I was watching I had a hard time thinking of any way the
production could be improved. But as I thought more about it and eavesdropped
to the responses of the audience, I think perhaps a little more emphasis on the
mercy vs. justice theme would have helped. That, however, is really the only
thing I can think of that would make it even better.</div>
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<i>Measure for Measure</i> is a powerful play, but not one
that is necessarily accessible or even appropriate for everyone. It’s lesson,
however, is one that bears repeating:</div>
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“For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no
mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13).</div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-59657417196247331092012-07-02T14:40:00.000-07:002012-07-02T14:40:03.222-07:00Sonnets...I feel I must apologize for my woeful neglect of this blog lately. All I can say is that June is an insane month. I've had several Shakespeare moments that I haven't had time to write up (finally saw <i>Coriolanus</i>, went to <i>Hamlet </i>in the cemetery, spent some time questioning the main point of <i>the Tempest</i>... stuff like that), and I hope to get some reviews done soon. But now for something completely different:<br />
<br />
I stumbled on this happiness while doing research for my latest writing project. This is now my favorite way to enjoy the sonnets:<br />
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I had heard some of these before in a CD set called "When Love Speaks," but there's a few in this collection that aren't in that one... like...<br />
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<br />
<br />
Of course, some of these people could read the phone book, and I'd love it. How much more when it's beautiful poetry by my favorite author? <br />
<span id="goog_1584256717"></span><span id="goog_1584256718"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-77910842196044481752012-05-30T22:03:00.000-07:002012-05-30T22:24:38.513-07:00Four Histories on the Beeb<br />
<br />
I can barely contain my excitement for this. The BBC is doing <i>Richard II</i>, <i>Henry IV</i> (parts 1 and 2) and <i>Henry V.</i> They air in England in June... and who knows when for the poor, culture-deprived Americans. Looks like in <i>Richard II</i> alone we will see Patrick Stewart, David Morrissey and David Suchet, with Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Iain Glen, Niamh Cusack, and a bunch of other people I will probably recognize on the screen filling in the other 3 movies. Happy sigh....<br />
<br />
Anyway... So you all can get as excited as I am... here's a trailer. :-D Try not to drool too much...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/M4N9-4vhYVU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe> </div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
And if that wasn't enough... Look! Here are some clips!!! :-D First from Richard II:<br />
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<br />
Then from H4P1: <br />
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Then from H5:<br />
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Yup. I'm looking forward to this!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-66967246078945867062012-05-27T07:15:00.001-07:002012-06-09T09:47:13.249-07:00Horrible Histories and Shakespeare Phrases<span id="goog_299206857">And Horrible Histories does it again! This is just fun. :-)</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/65Cy4-rfd24?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span id="goog_299206857"><br /></span><br />
<span id="goog_299206857"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-67125036704631360642012-05-11T13:58:00.000-07:002012-05-11T13:59:07.239-07:00Graphic Design and ShakespeareSo, occasionally I get the chance to blend a few of my diverse interests. I'm excited to be doing the graphic design for <a href="http://www.portlandactors.org/" target="_blank">Portland Actors Ensemble</a> this year! And here's the first poster.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw1LjRRpCcNZFzYHca8oveB_5lmkfqM-YgMLF9oFveyjZk72SMHOz4is9nAIFHd7XiCvjBUKk0ZORSwPl6lPzF00xAYDIh5OJS6FcLH0IDkk6ukk-GdYj3tZgmYc2iZFwGvtz0I_h4LLzD/s1600/hamlet_poster_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw1LjRRpCcNZFzYHca8oveB_5lmkfqM-YgMLF9oFveyjZk72SMHOz4is9nAIFHd7XiCvjBUKk0ZORSwPl6lPzF00xAYDIh5OJS6FcLH0IDkk6ukk-GdYj3tZgmYc2iZFwGvtz0I_h4LLzD/s1600/hamlet_poster_web.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-76169844629931215122012-04-23T11:15:00.000-07:002012-04-23T11:16:31.177-07:00Happy Birthday, William Shakespeare!!!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjExlqNAFXGVU6vt8Hi6bxU1SglV_kQ6QYtPCweW7SNl1viqdRWFVtXfheD8BhfIdl5VTz2yQEIUFzOhCXpe8feVywsKgMelgz7wzo-5o5qrK27VIldW_fk7JM4GOFGGlYwVO1XehBMwFAf/s1600/0_Shakespeare_birthday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjExlqNAFXGVU6vt8Hi6bxU1SglV_kQ6QYtPCweW7SNl1viqdRWFVtXfheD8BhfIdl5VTz2yQEIUFzOhCXpe8feVywsKgMelgz7wzo-5o5qrK27VIldW_fk7JM4GOFGGlYwVO1XehBMwFAf/s320/0_Shakespeare_birthday.jpg" width="183" /></a>Not terribly long ago, I wished a friend happy birthday on
Facebook. My friends all know that I’m a Shakespeare Nerd… so they challenged
me to explain what deep things Shakespeare had to say on the topic of birthdays.
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As far as I can tell, he really only brings them up three
times – once in <i>Antony and Cleopatra</i>, where Cleopatra uses her birthday
as yet another way to manipulate Antony; once in <i>Julius Caesar</i>, where
Cassius uses the fact that it’s his birthday to manipulate Messala; and finally
in <i>Pericles</i>, where the princess of Pentapolis presides over a grand
tournament held in honor of her birthday. From this, we can deduce three
things: (1) you have to be Roman or an associate of ancient Romans in order to
have a birthday; (2) birthdays are an excuse to manipulate people and get your
own way; and (3) birthdays are a chance to party.</div>
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Not really, of course. I’m sure there’s cake involved
somehow.</div>
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<b>O, for a muse of fire that would ascend the brightest
heaven of invention! (<i>Henry V</i>, 1.1.1-2)</b></div>
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In honor of Shakespeare’s birthday, I’ve been thinking about
how Shakespeare has impacted me. It’s funny, because of all the things I’ve
thought about Shakespeare, I’ve never really put that one into words. Well,
it’s about time I did.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Shakespeare was my first guide into the Forest of Literary
Analysis and Criticism. At the time, I thought I was in Arden… but that just
shows what a magical place the Forest really is. </div>
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You have to understand, I’ve been an avid reader for as long
as I can remember. Books – even old, literary books – especially old, literary
books – have always been my friends. But all growing up, I’ve resented
Literature Classes and Text Books that attempt to dissect and anatomize my
friends, twisting them into strange, unrecognizable shapes, claiming they mean
more than I could ever see. </div>
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So I avoided the Forest of Literary Criticism, unsure of
what lurked in its dark, leafy undergrowth. </div>
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But a funny thing happened as I went to more and more
Shakespeare plays: I noticed that some productions worked better than others;
some highlighted things I had never seen before; and some, though radically
different than the “traditional” versions, captured the feel, essence and
message better than a “normal” version. I began to dig into the plays
themselves. Where was all this awesomeness coming from? And there, staring back
at me, were the texts that I had read, but never really unpacked. </div>
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Perhaps it’s the fact that Shakespeare wrote plays, a medium
that <i>must</i> be interpreted in order to be fully enjoyed, that allowed me
to start looking at stories deeper. Thoughts of “Why did they do it that way?”
or “I could do that better myself!” or “Wouldn’t it be fun to do a production
of <i>Hamlet</i> set in mobster Chicago? How would that work, exactly?” just
pushed me back to the sources.</div>
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Soon I was reading everything I could find on Shakespeare
and his plays. I noticed that some interpretations just rubbed me wrong. <i>(That
just doesn’t </i>feel<i> like what’s actually going on in </i>Macbeth<i>!)</i>
As annoying as I found this, at first, it forced me to go back to the original
and pick it apart for myself. </div>
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<b>Now am I in Arden, the more fool I. (<i>As You Like It,</i>
2.4.15)</b></div>
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The really funny thing was that the more I dug into
Shakespeare, the more I loved it and wanted to share my love of it with others.
But it seemed like everyone else was still at the “Wait… everybody dies at the
end of Hamlet?!” stage. And the more I had to explain why I loved Shakespeare,
the deeper I dug into the texts. Before I knew it, I was saying things like, “<i>As
You Like It</i> is a fairy tale… so you can’t take it too seriously.” <i>AYLI</i>
is a fairy tale? Where did that come from? Or “<i>Macbeth</i> is all about the
whole predestination vs. free will debate… and Shakespeare comes down on the
side of free will.” Seriously? What happened to my “Don’t dissect and anatomize
my friends! Don’t read into the story things that aren’t there!”?</div>
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<br /></div>
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Then I started applying the things I had learned from
picking apart Shakespeare to other stories. And before I really knew how I got
there, I was taking writing students for picnics just inside the fringes of the
Forest of Literary Criticism and watching their faces register “Maybe… but stop
reading things into the story!”</div>
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So what difference has Shakespeare made to me? He introduced
me to the great wealth of all literature waiting for me just inside the Forest
of Literary Analysis and Criticism. Yes… it’s sometimes a scary place… but I’m
not afraid to wander there anymore. Thanks, Shakespeare… </div>
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… and Happy Birthday!!!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-47843310356367181802012-04-22T17:52:00.000-07:002012-05-21T13:37:19.248-07:00Much Ado About Surfboards<br />
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Review of Northwest Classical Theatre Company’s <i>Much Ado
About Nothing</i> (20 April 2012)</div>
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One of the fun things about a theatre as small as the
Shoebox is that the audience feels like they are actually in the setting, not
just looking at it on the stage. Less than five minutes after I walked in to
the palm-tree bedecked, 1960’s beach party themed theatre, I was wishing I had
worn flip-flops instead of heels and a Hawaiian print instead of an LBD. (Bravo
to director David Sikking for the amazing set design!)</div>
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Director David Sikking and the cast of <i>Much Ado About
Nothing</i> certainly had fun with the setting – 1965 California beach, with
surfboards, bikinis and the Beach Boys. And many things in the setting worked
really well with the story. The party atmosphere that underlies Much Ado was
obviously present. Don John (Orion Bradshaw) as a rebel without a cause
actually makes perfect sense for one of Shakespeare’s enigmatic villains with
very little motive for his actions. And the music (a mix of original songs by
Stephen Alexander and classic surfer songs) made me want to sing along. </div>
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The fun, flirty dynamic between Beatrice (Melissa Whitney)
and Benedick (Peter Schuyler) delighted me. Both actors made their characters’
arcs highly believable and consistent. And, as usual with <i>Much Ado</i>, the
“eavesdropping” scenes made me laugh way too much! Benedick tried to hide
behind the surfboards. And when that didn’t work, he tried to climb into the
cooler, and then finally got his head stuck under one of the beach chairs. I
didn’t think Beatrice’s scene could beat that, but when she hid under the beach
umbrella, then collapsed it on herself, I was in stitches. </div>
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Hero (Brenan Dwyer) and Claudio (Carson Cook) made a sweet,
young couple – just as they should be. Carson Cook, especially, rose to the
challenge of a demanding part, and though his angst was somewhat understated,
in the Shoebox it was very effective. There is a moment where we see
“snapshots” of Hero and Claudio hanging out, surfing, playing games, and
generally “dating.” It was priceless. </div>
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The whole production was highly physical, which had its
great moments (Benedick turning around and nailing Beatrice with his surfboard,
for one), but which also earned the production a PG-13 rating in my book. Don
John and his minions (girls in this case, played by Clara-Liis Hillier and
Jessi Walters) were too all-over-each-other for me. </div>
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<br /></div>
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The fact that Conrad and Borraccio turned into Connie and
Veronica made for some awkward moments later on in the play, also… as did the
fact that Clara-Liis Hillier played Connie in one scene and Margaret in the
next. While Hillier is more than capable of handling multiple parts, it was
unfortunate that those two parts were doubled. At least, I found it confusing…
and I know the play quite well. </div>
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The setting, which worked well for many things (Gilligan
meets Shakespeare?), turned out to be a complete disservice to Dogberry (Scot
Carson). One would think that the part would be perfect – I mean, isn’t
Dogberry a bit of a dumb surfer dude anyway? What’s the problem? The problem
was that he didn’t stand out; he wasn’t that different from Benedick, Claudio,
Don Pedro, Leonato, Antonio and the others. There wasn’t enough contrast, and
without the contrast, the part just wasn’t as funny as it ought to have been. </div>
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Overall it was a fun experiment. I’m not positive that it
was wholly successful… but it sure looked like a blast to put on!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-41696926061007929542012-04-19T21:36:00.000-07:002012-06-09T09:47:20.415-07:00Horrible Histories and Shakespearean InsultsFound a new Horrible Histories on Shakespeare. This one goes with my Shakespeare Insults Mug. :-D<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Zchaqy2AlnQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536828118349472451.post-15944678975999826102012-04-17T11:27:00.002-07:002012-04-17T13:45:40.533-07:00A Midsummer Night’s Nightmare<div class="MsoNormal">Review of University of Portland's <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i>, 13 April 2012</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">At the closing of <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>, Puck addresses the audience:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoBodyTextIndent"><a href="http://www.up.edu/showimage/show.aspx?file=19718" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://www.up.edu/showimage/show.aspx?file=19718" width="320" /></a>If we shadows have offended, <br />
Think but this, and all is mended, <br />
That you have but slumber'd here <br />
While these visions did appear. <br />
And this weak and idle theme, <br />
No more yielding but a dream, <br />
Gentles, do not reprehend: <br />
if you pardon, we will mend: <br />
And, as I am an honest Puck, <br />
If we have unearned luck <br />
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue, <br />
We will make amends ere long; <br />
Else the Puck a liar call; <br />
So, good night unto you all.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">Give me your hands, if we be friends, <br />
And Robin shall restore amends. (5.1.2275-2290)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Normally, when I hear this, I find myself thinking there’s no offense to mend, nothing to pardon, no amends to restore. It has been a happy dream, and I’m more than willing to extend my hands to Robin Goodfellow in friendship.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Not so at the University of Portland’s production of <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>. By the end, as much as I wished it possible, I was sure that no amount of pardoning could mend such an atrocity. I realize that this is a college production, and nowhere near in the same league as “professional” theatre… but even with that consideration, I give it a D-. I can’t remember seeing another play where I spent the first half wondering if I should stay for the second. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It would be one thing if it were just a play, poorly done, badly interpreted and ineptly staged. But this was the product of a college drama department, where students ought to be learning theatre skills and techniques – how to do things right, how to look and act appropriately to their parts and, most of all, how to be true to the script. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The purpose of all aspects of theatre is to advance the story and help the audience feel like they’re there, not to draw attention to themselves. Theatre is storytelling, and the minute we forget that is the minute we stop being true to the script. All departments would do well to remember this – costuming, make-up, lighting, sound, set design, and certainly the actors themselves. A drama program that neglects to teach its students this has grievously neglected their education.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Stage make-up, for example, is there mainly to make sure we can see the facial expressions of the actors under the lights. Oh sure, there are some characters whose make-up is part and parcel with their costuming – the odd scar here or there, the 1940’s glamour-girl make-up or, in this case, the fairies with their other-worldly face paint. And that’s fine, as long as it helps to define the character and stays true to the text. But that’s not the kind of make-up I’m talking about for the moment. The audience doesn’t want to see that the guys are wearing make-up. Deep down inside, we all know they are, but unless it’s part of their character (say, a clown or a cross-dresser), the make-up shouldn’t draw attention to itself. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It did. Distractingly. You see, not all stage make-up is created equal. And the amount of make-up you use for one venue and lighting scheme is different than the amount you use for another. This is what makes stage-make-up artists earn their living. Their job is to put just the right amount on so that the audience can see the facial expressions and the actors can look “normal” under the lights… but not more. I can see a drama department giving its students experience with a wide variety of types and styles of make-up… but if they don’t also give them the wisdom to know what is appropriate when, they’ve missed the mark. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Costuming, also, should enhance and help explain the characters. It should be consistent. It should look good on the stage. And it should have a reason for being the way it is. It is never OK to try something new with a costume just because you’ve always wanted to. It must help the story telling. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Megan La Fleur, senior at U. of P. and costume designer for <i>Dream</i>, has yet to learn this. Why in the world did she put Theseus (played by Clarke Orr, arguably one of the tallest people on that stage) in a suit coat with shoulders reminiscent of Lady Gaga or Romulans from the early 1990’s? They had no purpose, did not help define his character, and weren’t consistent. And it wasn’t like his entire world (because there are four worlds present in <i>Dream</i>) had the same look. He was the only one. And it looked weird. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">She also needs to realize that it’s her job as costume designer to make sure that everyone’s costumes look right on the stage. Poor Cobweb’s costume was a pale yellow leotard with a black, sheer, cobwebby overlay, but under the stage lights she looked naked under the overlay. It was distracting and inappropriate. I’m guessing that in the costume shop it looked fine, but the costume designer’s job is to design for the theatre, not the costume shop. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I could go on, but I haven’t even come to the most problematic part: Puck. Whether the lion’s share of the blame goes to the director, Andrew Golla, or to the actress, Jessica Hillenbrand, is academic. But Puck was all wrong. From the moment she came on stage, I wondered if I had come to a strange mash-up of <i>Midsummer Night’s Dream</i> and <i>Macbeth</i>, because Hillenbrand was certainly channeling all three of the weird sisters, if nothing else. Her voice and physicality suggested pure evil, not a mischievous but good-hearted fairy. And if that wasn’t enough, she heaped on layers of completely inappropriate gestures – inappropriate to the play (because they didn’t go with her words at all, but distracted from them) and inappropriate to polite society in general (to my mind, at least, she was far across the line between physical and pornographic). Her best moments were when she dropped the act and stomped off stage in response to something Oberon told her to do. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">If costuming and make-up, and indeed all aspects of theatre, should be drawn from the play itself and should enhance the story telling not detract from it, how much more, then, should the actors’ performances be drawn from the text. Hillenbrand’s wildly inaccurate and inappropriate representation of Puck was a huge distraction from the play itself. Puck is such a central character. Get him wrong, and practically the whole play is ruined. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I have to say “practically” because there were a few bright spots on the stage, even with everything that was so awful. The four young lovers – especially Helena (played by Eleanor Johnson) – were fairly well done. But then, Shakespeare is such genius, that no matter what you do with the two couples, it leads to hilarity. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The other bright spot was the Rude Mechanicals – especially Bottom (Charles Lattin). When they were on, I felt like I was finally seeing the play I had paid for. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But it wasn’t enough. The whole production was such a shambles that it was unredeemable, even though it was Shakespeare. And by that, I mean they used Shakespeare’s words… but they didn’t draw everything from the play itself, and that’s where they fell down. Drama is not license to do whatever you feel like, whether you are a costume designer, lighting tech, actor or even director. It’s a responsibility to be true to the play. And by doing a production like this, I feel that the drama department at University of Portland has let its students down. Perhaps they’ve gone through the steps and are working on their technical skills, but if all of that comes at the cost of actually producing the play whose text you are using, they’ve failed. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2