Like an imperfect actor on the stage

[pameladean]

It's funny, I don't recall Shakespeare going on very much about imperfect audiences, except for those comments in Hamlet about most people's not having the good sense to appreciate "The Mousetrap." There's the bit about Troilus and Cressida's not having been clapper-clawed with the palms of the vulgar, but he didn't write that.

Anyway, I've been to two theatrical productions recently and not appreciated them as I ought to have. I'm still glad I went, and had some very fine moments, but I was in a picky, cranky mood for both.

I'm not sure what the reason was for that when Eric and I, provided with very good seats by the extremely kind auspices of clindau, saw Macbeth at the Guthrie. The opening montage -- I can't think of a better word for it -- was very clever and arresting; and it's completely standard to open the play with a bloody and often much more protracted battle scene. They swapped Scene i and Scene ii, so it flowed more naturally than when you get a huge battle scene and then suddenly the witches, but I like things to start with the witches LIKE GOD INTENDED. There, you know I am becoming irrational when I employ such phrases.

In any case, I did like the witches, who were played by some very venerable long-time actors at the Guthrie and were quite different from one another; except that for the first time I was forcibly struck with how goofy the entire idea was. Sheesh, Master Will. This has nothing to do with the acting or costuming, which were very good indeed. The rest of the costuming, though, started to annoy me soon. The nadir of it came when I decided that there was simply no way that anybody clad in a silky ivory pantsuit and high heels would ever say, "Come, you spirits of the air, unsex me now." I did not believe it. I don't know why. I doubt there was anything wrong with the actor, since her subsequent scenes were riveting. She was especially good during the banquet and during the sleepwalking scenes. I think I was just cranky. I also refused to believe in how kingly Duncan was when he turned up in a general's uniform. Just no. Lady MacDuff's twin-set and pearls and high heels -- if I never see another pair of high heels in any production of anything, it will be too soon -- upset my gravity, though the kids were good enough in that scene that it was still frightening and horrible.

Isabel Monk as the Doctor, however, was superb, even in a suit.

The second production was the BFA Actor's performance of Love's Labour's Lost. I had never seen a live performance of that at all, and had avoided the Branagh movie because it sounded more likely to appeal to people who had seen a mort of them. Eric and I were both under the weather -- he very short on sleep and I with a migraine -- which didn't help. The show was set in the 1920's -- more high heels; totally gorgeous beaded clothing that made it impossible to suspend disbelief in the scene where the women wear masks and exchange tokens so that their suitors won't recognize them; gratuitous business with cigarettes, apparently mostly because they had some wonderful cigarette holders to show off.

The actors were all very good, and, as is usual with the BFA people, excellent at physical comedy that explicates the more obscure lines. Moth and Armado and Costard were all excellent. We were sorry that they cut Holofernes's scenes so much, but they left in a lot more of the romance than usual, so I guess something had to go. He and Nathaniel were good too. All of the women did very well with their somewhat flimsy parts. However, the hunting scene with the high heels also annoyed me, even though it was probably supposed to be funny.

The transformation of mood at the end was really brilliantly done. The Princess bears the brunt of this, and she almost changed the quality of the lighting with her body language. Armado's one line of sympathy also worked very well, and everyone did a very good job of instant sobering. The Parson had a similar moment earlier when he rebuked Berowne and Company for making fun of the enactment of the Nine Worthies. I felt bad for laughing at the Nine Worthies myself, as I sometimes do during parts of the tedious brief story of Pyramus and Thisbe. For some reason, they interpolated parts of Henry V into Maria's farewell scene with her swain. This made me laugh at the time but shake my head afterwards, which may in fact be a fairly good version of the play in miniature.

A pleasant note was that we ran into pegkerr and Fiona. We had an enjoyable chat during intermission, mostly their telling us how the production of Arcadia that they'd seen at Southwest High School had gone. Fiona told us that there was a real turtle, and that the actors were charged with making sure it didn't fall off the table, since it was a loan. Peg remarked to me that whenever she thinks of Septimus in that play, she thinks of Mike's rendition, and I admitted that I did too.

Before the play, we had a lovely meal at the Hard Times Cafe. I am always a bit befuddled there because they have so much that I can eat. Both of the soups of the day were vegan; I got the peanut soup, on the grounds that I can make red lentil soup myself any time. Eric kindly asked me if I wanted a banh mi, which I didn't, but I ended up getting the seitan gyro, which is just below the banh mi on the menu, and it went really well with the peanut soup. This was really peanut-butter soup, with a generous admixture of ginger, hot peppers, potatoes, onions, and tofu. We ended up eating most of it by scooping it up in the blue corn chips. The Hard Times gives you blue corn chips and a dill pickle with every sandwich, no matter how oddly they may sort with its taste or origins.

We went straight home on the bus afterwards, to cosset our infirmities. The full moon on the snow was very pretty, and Mars and Sirius were not swallowed by the moonlight.

P.

Comments

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I have not seen Love's Labours Lost live, and I still liked the Branagh pretty well, which is saying something, because mostly I want to kick him. His Hamlet, for example, struck me as having far too many moments of, "Look at meeeeeee! Ma, look! LOOK! I am playing HAMLET! Now I am doing a really famous scene in HAMLET! Is this not AWESOME?" And I said, "No. No, not awesome." But I liked LLL just fine.

[pameladean]

That is a valuable data point.

I loved the Branagh Hamlet except for a few scenes that made me roll my eyes.

P.

[willshetterly.livejournal.com]

Also liked the Branagh LLL, except for poor old Keanu. And I liked his Hamlet, except for the fondness for swirly cam.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I didn't like the Branagh LLL and I like his other Shakespeare's. Though I did like the last two minutes of it, where it gives a montage of the actors going through WWI. That worked.

I saw a very good Dawson drama program production of it a few years ago that made it really funny and really human, which is hard with something that mannered.

Macbeth

[markiv1111.livejournal.com]

Do you remember going to see that with me, about 28 years ago? I have now seen it either three times or four -- I have a sense that I may have seen it in high school and forgotten it, though this is a bit unlikely as I saw *Hamlet* while in high school (Seattle Repertory Theater) and it is in my mind clear as a bell. I saw it with you and once with Jean Messer (now Mornard) the same week, and then alierajean and I went to a show at the Theater in the Round ten or twelve years later I think one thing, that people who aren't into Shakespeare don't realize they are missing, is that Shakespeare did the best characters of all time (everything from superficial traits to the deepest motivations) and the people who don't want to bother getting behind the archaic language don't have a clue just how three-dimensional everything is as a result of the characterization. Note that the late Jack Williamson once asked a friend what he should study to become a better writer, the friend said, "Take a class in Shakespeare," and it worked. More on that if Jack Williamson ever comes up as a topic, here on LJ. In any event, thanks for the review.

N.

Re: Macbeth

[pameladean]

Yes, that was a Guthrie production too, and it was quite amazing -- they had Ross, Seaton, and the Nurse as the witches, and had them hovering in the shadows and nodding to one another if they were all on stage at once. Very creepy.

I do recall going with you, and I think a handful of other Minn-Stffers too. I wrote up a Minneapa zine about it, which will be somewhere around here in a box.

P.

About Macbeth

[markiv1111.livejournal.com]

Sorry about some of the punctuation. I was in a hurry because I need to get back to work.

N.

Re: About Macbeth

[pameladean]

All is forgiven!

I'm thinking about what you said about Shakespeare's characters. He certainly was a genius at them, and, as you say, could do a whole range of depth, as the part required. I'm just balking a little at the idea that they were the best of all time. Really, though, I think that just means that he didn't have all the types of character I'd have liked to see, not that he didn't do the ones he did have superbly.

P.

[avengangle.livejournal.com]

I have a friend who works in the costume department for the Guthrie (I think) but as far as I know, the only thing he did for this show was make acres and acres of chainmail. I intend to see Macbeth at some point, I think mostly because it's been eons since I've seen live theatre and I'm hoping to con the aforementioned friend out of a discount ticket or two.

I do adore Hard Times. I should eat there sometime soon. (I live at the law school, mere blocks away.) I pretty much always get the same burrito, though, because it tastes SO GOOD and I'm always in the mood for it when I'm there.

[pameladean]

It's really a perfectly good production.

I got in a rut with brunch at Hard Times for a while, but so far for dinner I've always had something different, BECAUSE I CAN.

I'll have to wave at the law school next time I'm there!

P.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I've seen LLL four times now, including the movie. Twice, it was done as a musical. Once, it was done with a three-person cast, which was a deeply impressive technical feat. And once, I saw it done straight, without gimmicks.

Before I saw that one, I thought that the character of Holofernes was unplayable straight. I mean, the idea of a character who is pompous and boring? And the comic thing about him is that he's boring?

But the actor who played him really found the funny. I was amazed, and that production is my favorite.

[pameladean]

I hit the wrong button, and the reply to your comment is about two down from here; sorry.

P.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

What is it with directors' obsession with doing Shakespeare in modern dress? No, not exactly MODERN dress, just distractingly inappropriate clothing. Like, say, mixing women in high heels with guys in chain mail?

It was actually a Guthrie production of Macbeth that was the last straw that made me stop going to the Guthrie for what turned out to be at least 20 years. Not only did that director put all the actors into randomly assorted costumes ranging from Edwardian to modern, he thought it necessary to surround the thrust stage with a moat full of blood. Subtle.

It betrays a profound distrust in the power of the original material, IMHO. Or maybe it's just that theater people think that everybody else is as bored with Shakespeare as they are, not realizing that most people are only going to see Macbeth live on stage once in their lives and might like to see it played straight.

[pameladean]

Sometimes it works, but in my experience, mostly with comedies. Two Gentlemen of Verona was perfect set in the 1950's, for example (a recent Guthrie production). And I've yet to see the era you couldn't put A Midsummer Night's Dream into. But I think some plays are much touchier.

I think part of the rationale is that when Shakespeare did historical plays, he didn't put people in authentic costume anyway, so his own are fair game. After all, the historical Macbeth wouldn't have worn a doublet, either.

P.

[thedragonweaver.livejournal.com]

I've only seen one Macbeth, and that was a most excellent high school production (the director is known for saying that "If they call it a good high school production, I've failed." And he's right— usually better than many of the adult companies hereabouts.) The set was white— high-gloss white, no less— and in the round. The guys wore suits for the castle scenes and camo for the battle scenes, with a tartan sash denoting kingship, and Lady Macbeth wore a sleeveless white dress with a red kimono.

Oh, and the witches were also in white, almost Victorian, with parasols and round sunglasses. Very modernist, actually, with musical cues by Mickey Hart. And they did the dagger scene with the entire cast ringing the stage and passing a red-draped katana hand to hand. Of course, the final person to hold the sword was Lady Macbeth.

He did cut Hecate. That's just a little weird to have in the production.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Mixing eras in costuming is accurate.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Oh -- in case you don't recognize the picture I posted:

That's a drawing by Henry Peacham, from his notebook where he's talking about seeing TITUS ANDRONICUS, during its original run. That's his sketch from the opening scene. Titus is in a toga, so you know he's Roman. The soldiers are dressed like contemporary soldiers, so you know they're soldiers.

So using modern dress in things set historically is something that Shakespeare's company did. So there's no reason NOT to do it when you're doing a modern production.

[pameladean]

Wow. I once saw Winter's Tale done with six people, but three for LLL? Just wow.

I'd love to have seen the straight Holofernes, too. I do think his speeches are in themselves funny, or some are, but it's hard to get there with no footnotes.

P.

[melusinehr.livejournal.com]

I like LLL, but I've seen it on stage multiple times and I've never once found the mask scene to be plausible. Some of that is casting, but I refuse to believe that Shakespeare had four identical men for those characters, either.

...and yet I usually have no problem with Viola and Sebastian not looking particularly alike. Hmm.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I recently saw a 1969 TV play of Twelfth Night where Viola and Sebastian were both played by Joan Plowright, which worked extremely well.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

I thought Hard Times was only here, but clearly I'm wrong. I go by myself every so often because I like their barbecue, but one of the guys in the bookgroup keeps the group from going because it upsets him that he can't smell the barbeque in the dining room. I figure if you can't hear the pool tables, you don't have to smell the barbeque.

[pameladean]

I don't think they're connected -- this is a vegetarian restaurant.

I think your guy who won't go because he can't smell the barbecue is a little odd.

P.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, you're right. There's 16 locations here, but they are all here. Interesting that they have the same name and such different menus.

[17catherines.livejournal.com]

Another data point - I saw the Branagh Love's Labour's Lost before ever reading the play (or at least, before ever reading it and understanding it - I read it first when I was quite young and all the comedy when straight over my head), and I absolutely loved it, once I got past my initial stunned and appalled reaction to everyone suddenly bursting into 1930s-style song and dance routines. I think I've watched it about four times since, and we've read it once in my Shakespeare group, and I think our knowledge of the musical helped... I'd say it's a good and entertaining introduction to the salient points of the play (though I am, admittedly, addicted to musicals).

I do think the eavesdropping scene in the Branagh version is staged absolutely magnificently, and the choice of dances instead of poetry is quite a good one for a modern audience, who, according to my [slightly patronising, but in my case, accurate] edition of the text, will never get all the references anyway...

[ryrostad.livejournal.com]

I've been to one show at the Guthrie-- A Christmas Carol-- a couple years ago, and it was pretty good. Although, I haven't seen many professional plays. My only experience is my own involvement with high school theatre.

Some kids from my high school went to see Macbeth because they're reading it right now in English. I heard the beginning was all action, with machine guns and fighting-- it was set during WWI or WWII or something like that? Interesting idea, although I'm not sure how I would have felt about it while watching it.

[pameladean]

The Guthrie's execution is almost invariably wonderful. Sometimes I do quarrel with their concepts.

I've often been astonished at the high quality of high-school productions -- they don't have as many resources, but they can be amazing. I was won over to Shakespeare by my own high school's senior production of Twelfth Night. Do you act, or do lovely technical stuff?

As for the Guthrie's Macbeth, yes, there were machine guns and vaguely WWI uniforms and so on in the opening. It certainly got one's attention. I just prefer the witches to open. The point of the book is not battle, it's destiny, or the imitation thereof, and the havoc it wreaks.

P.

[ryrostad.livejournal.com]

I act. :) Right now we're doing a musical called "Once On This Island", if you've heard of it. Last month, our school's play made it to state with in the MN One Act Competition-- we performed at St. Cate's, which was a really fun experience.

[arkuat]

In the Macbeth, I particularly liked the kids getting to ride up and down the elevator for the armed head and the bloody child and suchlike apparitions. It seemed like a lot of fun in retrospect, but was very spookily effective in the moment.

And in the LLL, like you, I appreciated the physical comedy from Moth and Armado and Costard. I've never seen the Holofernes of my dreams yet: this one was cut so much, and the BBC one I've seen didn't do justice to the lines as well as this one did to the few lines he was allowed to deliver.

[pameladean]

Oh, yes, I forgot about the Bloody Child and other apparitions! Those were excellent. I should edit the entry.

Alas, I doubt the Holofernes of your dreams is in the Branagh movie, but we could give it a try.

P.

[http://users.livejournal.com/inkista_/]

Pam, it's Kathy Li here. :) For Macbeth, you have to find the [Region 2, alas] dvd for the Gregory Doran RSC production. Face it: Harriet Walter was born to play Lady Macbeth (she is Christopher Lee's niece, after all). And she's partnered by Tony Sher.

I'm scribbling in your comments because I wanted to spread word-of-mouth about something every anglothespianphile should know: NTLive. The National's videotaping plays in HD and then b'casting them around the world for very short runs (in the UK, the venues are getting it live). They just did Ravenhill's adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Nation, and the next one up is the new Alan Bennett, The Habit of Art (Hytner directing, Crowley designing). The lone Minnesota venue is the Guthrie (they're doing The Habit of Art on May 1-2), so I figured you probably already knew, but given how small the window of opportunity is, I thought I should mention it, just in case.

[pameladean]

Hey! How's by you? Watch out, or I'll hug you.

I will look for that Macbeth. I adore Harriet Walter. One of the great theatrical experiences of my life was seeing her play the Duchess of Malfi at the Pit in the Barbican, at a distance of, at most, fifteen feet.

I don't know yet about the Guthrie production, but I'm on their mailing list.

However, you may scribble in my comments whenever you like.

P.

[http://users.livejournal.com/inkista_/]

I refuse to watch out, as I much like being hugged on. :) [hugs!] I am... er.. ok-ish.

I have Mal de Debarquement Syndrome. I kid you not, that's what it's called. Essentially, my vestibular system switch is stuck, and my brain thinks I'm in constant motion. Guess it got tired of me being motion sick all the time. My inner ear and balance are just fine. The kicker symptom is that I feel perfectly normal while riding in the car, until I hit a stop light. Most commonly presents with peri-menapausal women prone to motion sickness. Usually after a cruise. My (second) neurologist finally nailed the diagnosis by asking me the key question of whether I'd ever suffered landsickness (which is this condition when it only lasts a few days). I'd been landsick for about a week when I got back from Antarctica--after having been seasick the whole way across and back the Drake Passage). Apparently, once that happens, MdDS becomes more of a likelihood.

The MdDS started at Worldcon/Anaheim--probably caused by a combination of sleepless nights, high stress, the drive, and the rides at Disneyland :). The up-and-down/constant-motion thing one eventually becomes accustomed to (gravity gained a continually variable directional component, but on good days it's minimal). The accompanying fatigue, however, is the lifestyle-killer. (Did you know you actually can get 16 hours of sleep in one night? It is astonishing). I've worked my way back from needing 10 hours a night to mostly needing 8, with the occasional 10-hour night. :)

And, of course, I have the dumb of brain not work so good. [yawn].

MdDS is a "self-correcting" condition. It's supposed to get better and go away on its own. For me, it gets better, almost goes away, and then it comes back. I'm definitely far better off now than when it started, though. The biggest upshot of the MdDS for me these days is that I cannot a) see movies in theaters, b) travel, or c) easily watch anything that's shot handheld or with a rapidly moving camera (which is apparently everything these days) as these tend to cause relapses in my condition (Yes. I had a whole other reason to be sorry I chose to see Speed Racer).

Other than that, I do well. I can still work. I can still go out and take pictures. I can still restore a fountain pen. And I have begun using the gym at work, which seems to help ease the MdDS (along with all the other middle-age-aches-and-stress-stuff that's wrong with me).

But with travel off the table, having the NT pipe the inside of the Olivier into a local movie house is greatly welcome. :)

[pameladean]

That is a packet of news and no mistake.

If you must have a condition, I guess a hilarious name is helpful. I'm glad it settles down much of the time, but very sorry about the travel ban. I wish we could send you Fourth Street.

P.

[http://users.livejournal.com/inkista_/]

Yes, the hilarious name is helpful. And, I also wish I could be sent Fourth Street, and much regret not being able to show. But at least next year, World Fantasy (with Neil and Connie Willis) is being sent to my doorstep, so I do not despair. :) Plus, y'know, we get to see all those sleep-deprived manic youngsters going through writing bootcamp whenever Clarion's in town.

[pameladean]

Okay, I have friended you just in case I ever make any locked posts, though it's unlikely; and bookmarked your blog.

P.

[http://users.livejournal.com/inkista_/]

Coolness! Not that anything goes on there. :) The madwoman's list that I maintain for my own amusement, however, might be useful. I keep forgetting who I told when Great Performances is getting the RSC David Tennant/Patrick Stewart/Penny Downie Hamlet (and the Patrick Stewart Macbeth. Somehow, I am not looking forward to that one).

linkage for you!

[http://users.livejournal.com/inkista_/]

Habit of Art. It's not listed under plays, but under 'Concerts/Events'.

What one does not get from the promo copy is that it's a play-within-a-play. The inner play is the Britten/Auden one. The outer play is the actors/playwright in rehearsal at the Olivier. [grin].

[lcohen]

The nadir of it came when I decided that there was simply no way that anybody clad in a silky ivory pantsuit and high heels would ever say, "Come, you spirits of the air, unsex me now."

DO NOT WANT

but as usual, i love reading when you talk about shakespeare. i feel that i have seen the branagh movie and if it is the movie i think i saw, i enjoyed it--but i knew almost nothing about the play going in--i wonder if that helps? (i may have read a charles and mary lamb story from it--i think they did stories from most of them and if they did one, then i read it at some point. does anyone else know that book?)

[pameladean]

I've heard of the Lamb book, which is pretty famous in some circles; but did not have it in childhood, and feel that would have been the best time for it, for me. I actually live in minor fear that someday a character of mine will need to have read it.

P.

[lcohen]

i agree that it's best read in childhood--i think it was a lovely introduction to shakespeare, as i just wrote in my LJ, but i don't think that once you've had the real thing, it would satisfy, as it were.

if you have a character who needs to have read it, you can always ask me questions, if it would help ;-) .