Hello hello,
It is 1am and I just got back from my second play in Stratford-upon-Avon at the Royal Shakespeare Theater. For those of you who remember my Merchant post, be not alarmed, tonight was much better and offers a happier review. For the final excursion of the summer, we went to see Midsummer Night's Dream. Since the last play I saw from the RSC lead to a ranting blog post, devastation of my all time favorite character and a mini tangent in my midterm essay, I was cautious and curious when the lights went dim.
To my surprise and delight, my overall feel for the play was a positive one. It was a 1940s era mob scene in what looked like a large warehouse for the opening act and then it took off into the woods to create a land of fairies with chairs hanging from the ceiling. I enjoyed the overall feel of magic and mystery and completely loved the suave actor who portrayed Puck. His outfit consisted of a coat lined with ties, both attached and dangling. He was great. I had only a few qualms with the performance, so I will offer then to you now.
DISCLAIMER! If you have never read or seen this play and care not for reading about it, please jump to the next bold word so you can continue reading what you enjoy. Thank you.
As I was saying,the first was the relationship between Theseus and Hippolyta. In the opening scene of the play, the relationship was cold and one-sided, as it should be. Since Theseus won Hippolyta against her will and stole her away from her home, she should loathe him. Yet since its typical in this certain play for the actors who play Theseus and Hippolyta to also play Titania and Oberon, there was some overlap of character emotion. My issue was that the actors' time as the fairy kinf and queen carried over into there human role and Theseus and Hippolyta ended lovey-eyed and kissy towards each other which I thought was very off. No one wants a man who says "I won thee by doing thee injuries". Not appealing.
My other qualm was with Hermia and Helena. For some reason, the plays I have seen this summer have all of the females, no matter what her written part, as either crying or crazy. In Midsummer, Hermia is supposed to be a little fire ball. "Though she be but little, she be fierce' is not on all of those pink t-shirts in the gift shop for nothing. In the opening scene when she is given the choice of marriage to Demetrius or death, instead of being defiant for her love Lysander, she is weepy like a lost mouse. Disappointing. And then you had Helena, the mental case, love-crazed redhead who ran around the stage with wide eyes and fumbling feet. Now don't get me wrong, it was very entertaining, but I'd like to see at least one strong woman now and again. Despite the critiques that I will always have to offer, I thoroughly enjoyed the play and am thrilled to have seen 3 live Shakespeare plays in England. And on a random side note which I hope you find humorous, my new favorite word is 'alack'. Thank you, Nick Bottom.
REJOIN THE CONVERSATION HERE! :)
So next I must sleep because it has been a long day and a bigger day follows tomorrow. My last weekend in Cambridge is upon me and we have our program talent show and pizza party tomorrow evening. Should be exciting. Before that though, more homework must be done!
Until tomorrow, or today I guess, Cheers.
No comments:
Post a Comment