We Happy Few

[sistermagpie]

Everytime I've tried to update today I got distracted by these people. My friends are much more interesting than I am, really.

Last night petitesoeur was nice enough to stand on line so we could get tickets to Shakespeare in the Park. She used the time to her advantage, getting us a voucher for possible seats while simultaneously making even more friends named Frank.



We got in--go us. It was Liev Shrieber in Henry V. I have a real soft spot for this play. I saw the Kenneth Branaugh version like 15 times, own it and have the poster on my wall. I know it so well I found myself noticing lines he'd cut out in his version and usually thought he had the right idea. Having the three traitors announce how glad they are to be caught because Henry's such a damned great guy is a little over-the-top, imo. Much better to just let us think that on our own while they're led off to die. Bronson Pinchot was also in this production. I spent the whole play looking for him because I love him, wondering where he was while at the same time thinking how much I liked the guy playing Pistol. Um, okay it turns out that was him. I'm an idiot. But in my defense the guy is a very good actor who is therefore different in everything (last night he was quite the Shakespearian goombah). Part of me, though, worries that I failed to recognize him because I secretly believe he speaks like Balki the strangely-accented immigrant he played on Perfect Strangers. Yes, I'm a total plebe.

Anyway, the production was really fun. In general I didn't think it was hurt by the requisite "why the hell are they doing this?" moments SitP always has. Things like having Princess Catherine shower onstage...why? I mean why other than we want to see the beautiful woman naked in front of us? Really, there are other ways to show me that the same actress is playing Catherine and the boy besides having her take off all her clothes and turn around for me. God knows what they would have done with Twelfth Night. The absolute worst moment was at the end when the Chorus is doing his last speech. For some reason they decided to drag poor Catherine out on a gurney and have her fake labor only to give birth to what I could only guess was supposed to be another play, Henry VI. WTF??? This is like the type of thing you'd expect in a parody of bad directorial ideas. ::shudder::

But these things didn't stop from the actors from just playing their roles in a straightforward, likeable way. Balki Bronson Pinchot as Pistol, as I said, was great. I also really liked Fluellen and Mistress Quickly's tacky-ness was funny and sweet. Oh, and Liev--yes, I really like Liev Shreiber. Thought he made an excellent Henry. He was particularly good in the woo-ing scene and the scene where he goes around and talks to the soldiers (but then I love those scenes). Oh, and I liked Catherine/Boy as well. See what happens when you take her clothes off? I remember her boobs instead of her acting.

Most unintentionally funny moment came when the herald comes to ask for ransom. Sprinklers turn on over his head to indicate it is raining on the fields of Agincourt, which was rather unnecessary given that it had started raining 20 minutes into the first act and we were all pretty well soaked by then, with the herald being the only person allowed to put up an umbrella (can't put up an umbrella or other people can't see). The rain was pretty light for the first act, steady but not too distracting. Then it got heavier during the battle so they announced a break and said they'd wait to see if they should continue. A lot of people left (they were leaving anyway during the show, which just makes me feel badly for the actors).

It's weird that something that should have been a glitch really makes the experience better. Something about seeing SitP in the rain makes you feel all bonded to the actors and the rest of the audience. They announced this time that the actors were willing to take off their body mikes (apparently the reason it's dangerous for them to act in the rain) and finish but we all had to come down real close so we could hear them! Which was just kind of nice, despite the seats being so wet it soaked you right through. So we all ran down into the first few lines and they finished the play and it's really quite nice hearing it without mikes. It's kind of intimate. Just we few, we happy few, getting soaked together.

So that was the evening--a very very good time, all thanks to petitesoeur.



Tonight I am going to see a staged reading of new musical my friend wrote that has gotten good reviews but is causing him copious amounts of stress. Insanity gallops through the chorus, apparently, and the director is a psycho. This should be fun. It is raining again with excellent thunder and lightning. Flash. Boom.

Comments

[ginzai.livejournal.com]

Somehow I doubt that very little is better than Shakespeare in the rain. Henry V isn't one of the plays that I've seen, I regret to say, but all in all, it does sound to be a marvelous experiance.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

It was really really fun.:-)

The other one I saw in the rain (started late but they went on) was a Richard III with Denzel Washington. I can still remember him wearing (since they didn't put on their costumes because of the weather): a black poet-y type shirt, a crown over his long hair, thigh-high black suede boots and red Adidas shorts. He looked pretty kingly to me!

[ginzai.livejournal.com]

Denzel Washington in a black poet shirt? Oh yes, this would work for me. *grin*

I rather wish that there were more plays where I'm about - or perhaps that I'd more time to see them. Everyone should have the chance to see Shakespeare. It should be made a law or such.

[malsperanza.livejournal.com]

the requisite "why the hell are they doing this?" moments SitP always has

My personal favorite was the time the fairies Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth and Mustardseed
in Midsummer arrived by helicopter. Helicopter. Oh, and they were naked. Everyone is always naked in SitP. If I thought Liev Schreiber would get naked I might go to this one. Wonderful actor (singlehandedly rescued a bizarre, terrible production of Hamlet at the downtown Public once). But I think the nationalism and warmongering in Henry V would just get on my nerves these days.

Most unintentionally funny moment came when the herald comes to ask for ransom. Sprinklers turn on over his head to indicate it is raining on the fields of Agincourt, which was rather unnecessary given that it had started raining 20 minutes into the first act and we were all pretty well soaked by then...

Wahahaha! Oh, for a Muse of fire, or at any rate one with some towels.

I love SitP, but I do sometimes wish they would slash the production budgets and make everyone perform in plain black shirts and jeans on a bare stage, with just the little pond and the trees in the background and the fireflies and ducks. Nothing better than Shakespeare out of doors, if people will only have the sense to just let the man do his job.

a log time ago in a galaxy far far away...

[petitesoeur.livejournal.com]

In 1957, Public Theater/NYSF founder Joseph Papp parked his Mobile Theater in Central Park and invited audiences in for free. Five years later, the Delacorte Theater, an open-air amphitheater, was erected as The Public's permanent summertime home. Since that time, free performances in Central Park during the months of June, July, and August-including at least one Shakespeare production each season-have become one of the City's most beloved cultural traditions, a fixture in the lives of both New Yorkers and visitors. [info taken from: http://www.joespub.com/]

i started going to SitP with my parents back in the sixties and, since then have continued going with friends almost every summer.

SitP has gotten steadily fancier & star-studded but it remains as one of new york's great summer pleasures as well as being a wonderful excuse for taking a day off from work to hang out in central park for most of the day waiting to get tickets.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

But I think the nationalism and warmongering in Henry V would just get on my nerves these days.


The scene where everybody comes up with a reason to attack France, I admit, is almost too resonant these days. As silly as the whole Salic (sp?) law thing is, it's more straightforward than what we live with today!

Nothing better than Shakespeare out of doors, if people will only have the sense to just let the man do his job.

That is so true. Badly done Shakespeare is excrutiating but good actors and strong direction needs very little else to grab you. Too often you're just distracted by weird things they stick in. Or, even worse, they cast celebrities that are funny in theory but can't really do anything with the material.

the post-modern peculiarities of SitP

[petitesoeur.livejournal.com]

i really liked the acting but found the pomo stuff pretty out of control in this production. all the little "additions' were nothing but annoyances & distractions. the wonderfulness of watching HENRY V during a really storm just highlighted the unnecessary silliness of the director's "high concept."

a thought: right after we kill the lawyers let's get rid of "high concept" pomo directors.

Re: the post-modern peculiarities of SitP

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Exactly! Just them, sans body mikes, and us in the rain was so wonderful. But everytime they stuck in some little idea you were just pulled out of it. Like what was with the occasional music in the battle scenes etc.? You just wanted to bat all that stuff away so you could concentrate on the play. Not that I haven't gotten used to that in the park.

The thing is setting S's plays in other places/times can be really interesting as long as you play it straight. A lot of times people modernize something or whatever to the point where they lose a lot of what's really going on. Like Romeo and Juliet only works if you believe these two kids can't just run away together. (I thought Leonardo DiCaprio was great in Baz L's R&J for that reason and Claire Danes totally was not.)

[malsperanza.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't mind modernized productions per se--sometimes they are swell. (I remember a modern dress production of Richard II at the Public with Andre Braugher that involved a billiard table and was nevertheless brilliant.) But for some reason, the park productions often wander into silly, distracting gimmickry. Still, Agincourt in a downpour would be worth seeing. A new sort of realism, in its own way.

And after all, we are getting drenched every day in NYC anyway; might as well be watching Shakespeare while we wring out our sneakers.

Shakespeare

[(Anonymous)]

I don't really have a fixed opinion on modern vs period Shakespeare; I've seen both, and much more depends on the quality of the direction given the actors, as well as the costuming, props, light etc.

There is a brilliant production of The Merchant of Venice running in repertory in Chichester (UK) that is done in modern business dress, and the minimal props and staging (a few chairs and tables, and boardwalks on a water covered stage) were very effective. I also saw Coriolanus in London, set in imperial Japan. The acting was very impressive, but I found the costumes (and therefore the setting) very distracting - the costumers had been told what a hakama looked like, but obviously had never seen one.

I suppose my real opinion is that, whatever is done, make sure the focus is on the actors and the tale, not on the cute effects.

Leshii

Re: Shakespeare

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Yup, that always seems to be the best thing. I remember in college I saw a production of Twelfth Night set in the Old West that worked surprisingly well so you never know. Sometimes elaborate sets etc. can be fun--Shakespeare probably would have been thrilled to have some real effects (didn't the globe burn down because they went for a canon fire effect in Henry VIII?) but other times it just pulls you out of the story and leaves you scratching your head trying to figure out why.

[cuppatea.livejournal.com]

In general I didn't think it was hurt by the requisite "why the hell are they doing this?" moments SitP always has.

Agreed. I'm glad they played it more straight, though the guys turning around to show their bathrobes spelling out "Vive la guerre" or whatever was a bit much. The "why?" play that I shall always remember will be Troilus and Cressida, with the Greek soldiers in fatigues watching broadcasts on Bosnia on TV, the orgy onstage, and Pandarus hanging himself and swinging over the stage in the final scene.

I thought Liev Schreiber was hands-down the best part of the play. Everyone else would be reciting Shakespearean dialogue quite clearly and serviceably, and I didn't see anything to improve until Liev got onstage — and proceeded to deliver his lines not just cleanly and understandably but also with more nuance and emotion than anyone else.

Um, and until you pointed it out, I didn't realize that Katherine and Boy were played by the same person. Am clearly unobservant, ignorant idiot.

I miss the days when there would be two plays a summer. :-( Want more SitP!

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to remember if I saw that Troilus and Cressida. I know I saw the one with Neal Huff in it--his parents are friends of his parents so whenever he's in a show I usually get to it. He played Troilus one year and I saw that one. I seem to remember it being very distracting in the ways you describe.

I definitely agree about Liev. He was just so in control of everything you felt very relaxed with him. Frankly, I don't think I'd have figured out the queen/boy either if they hadn't done the shower thing (unless it wasn't Boy who went under the water originally, but I just couldn't imagine why they'd do it otherwise!). The actress was so different in each role you'd never have known it was the same person.