The Theatre/Drama/Performance Discussion Thread

[Spinal]

I went to a production of Two Gentlemen of Verona last night. It was pretty awful.

One of Shakespeare's worst plays. I never need to see it again in my lifetime.

[Mara]

One of Shakespeare's worst plays. I never need to see it again in my lifetime.

I saw it once in London about twelve years ago, an RSC production, and it was problematic.

The production last night (by the usually-reliable Shakespeare Theatre Company in DC) was just abysmal. I was in the third row, and about six feet away from the actors, and I kept having to avert my eyes in embarrassment. Bad choices, all around. They were trying for edgy and youthful, and just came across as out-of-touch and condescending.

The set was all corrugated metal and partial glimpses of famous corporate logos. I guess they wanted hard-edged and urban, but instead it looked ugly and cheap. And... sponsored.

They had a ridiculous electronic scrolling text thingy at the top of the stage that was trying to be folksy and informal but was stupid and poorly written. ("Next night, 4 a.m. When nobody should be up. Seriously.")

And they replaced all the actual Shakespeare songs with having the actors spontaneously belting out pop ballads... that were all about ten years old. No joke. After the final lines, the four main characters onstage started singing "Desert Rose" by Sting and I just felt awful for them. Really, the young actors were doing their best, but they were put in such an ill-conceived production that it was pretty much doomed from the beginning.

When they focused on comedy, it wasn't too bad. The two servants and the dog were all cute. (The dog had one ear permanently up and one permanently down, which was adorable. He seemed really pleased to be onstage and watched by everyone.)

But whenever they got into the sad stuff, it just came across as silly. There's one scene where Julia is heartbroken at being betrayed, so they had her tearfully collapsed on her bed, cutting her arm with a scalpel and singing U2. That is just... so... ridiculous. Everyone around me was trying to hide their snickers.

Yikes. Yikes all around. This could be used as a textbook example to theater directors and producers on how to squander talented people and money.

[Thirdmango]

The best edgy and youthful rendition I've ever seen was in Stratford-upon-avon at the shakespeare company there. They did Romeo and Juliet but they decided to not do it in the traditional youthful edginess and instead only Romeo and Juliet were youthful and edgy where as everyone else were Shakespearean. It was great because it really added this division between the kids and their parents. It was the only time I'd ever seen that play where they decided to really make Romeo and Juliet look like 14 year olds.

[Spinal]

I love re-conceptualized Shakespeare, but that just sounds horrible, Mara. Was this directed by Baz Luhrmann?

[Mara]

I have no problem with re-conceptualized Shakespeare as long as it is somehow related to the themes of the play that they want to emphasize, or else possibly deconstruct. In other words, thoughtful; not random. Romeo and Juliet ON THE MOON is stupid. The Tempest re-conceptualized as a colonizing force shipwrecked on a foreign planet... could be interesting. (Especially if you want to point out the cultural imperialism of the humans over the magical native spirits.) Hey, I was typing this at random, but I would totally pay money to see that.

[Spinal]

Whenever someone goes to see a play, their reaction tends to go in Random Thoughts. So I'm starting this up. Feel free to discuss plays that you have read, as well as live performances that you have seen (or participated in, if that comes up).

[Irish]

Whenever someone goes to see a play, their reaction tends to go in Random Thoughts. So I'm starting this up. Feel free to discuss plays that you have read, as well as live performances that you have seen (or participated in, if that comes up).

Heh! Good call. Was wondering why there wasn't a theater thread already after reading this last exchange between you & Mara.

Edit: Check out this series from Oxford University. 10 lectures, each on a different Shakespeare play:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/...re/id399194760

[Li Lili]

Yes, that's cool!

Tonight, I'm actually going to see Romeo and Juliet, an Odeon Theatre production (Paris Theatre), it lasts over 3 hours, but just heard some mixed reactions...

[Spinal]

Here's reviews of the show I'm currently doing:

http://www.portlandmercury.com/portl...nt?oid=5419610

http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-18670-hunter_gatherers_%28theatre_ve rtigo%29.html

http://www.opb.org/artsandlife/weeke...robert-hanson/

http://www.oregonlive.com/performance/index.ssf/2012/01/hunter_gatherers_review_biolog .html

[Fezzik]

The last acting I did was The Prisoner of Second Avenue back when i went to Florida International University (1992).

My depression spurred me into looking for answers, and one of the things i was told was to find something not in anyway related to work that I could find fulfillment in, and dive in.

So, I decided to try acting again. Tallahassee has a local theatre with a good reputation, so I figured...why not?

I auditioned for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and while I didn't get the part, I got some very good and positive feedback from director Chip Chalmers (he's a professor at FSU, and has directed episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation).

It was enough to give me confidence to try again, and the second time, I struck oil, as it were.

I'm playing Verges in the theatre's production of Much Ado About Nothing. We've been in rehearsal for a while, and our first show is next Thursday, Feb 2.

I'm as nervous as hell, especially since the production seems snake-bitten. It took a while for us to get all the minor roles cast, and then our director fell down the stairs and cracked his skull and one of his vertebrae on the evening of Friday the 13th.

He's recovering now, and is improving...and we have a new director. We started blocking late because of it all and I'm concerned about the overall production. As an actor, I am ready, and I have to be sure I don't let my worry affect me on stage.

Well, that was long winded

We have a photo call after one of the shows. I will post a picture of the cast in costume when I get it.

[Mara]

RE: Hunters Gatherers

That sounds pretty interesting, tonally. I'm not familiar with the play.

[Mara]

I'm playing Verges in the theatre's production of Much Ado About Nothing. We've been in rehearsal for a while, and our first show is next Thursday, Feb 2.

That's awesome! Congrats.

I don't act. I'm strictly an audience member, though I've dabbled, of course, in writing. I've never directed, but I would totally love to give that a shot some day.

[Fezzik]

That's awesome! Congrats.

I don't act. I'm strictly an audience member, though I've dabbled, of course, in writing. I've never directed, but I would totally love to give that a shot some day.

While doing this play, I got hit between the eyes with the whole 'what I really want to do is direct' thing that actors seem to get hit by.

So many times while the director is talking, I catch myself thinking 'that's not how'd I'd do this scene at all' or 'I don't think that's what the character's trying to say here' - and was like

I'm directing in my head. And now I want to give it a shot. Maybe not immediately, but at some point down the road.

[Mara]

One of the reasons I've moved away from writing for theater was how crazy it made me to hand over so much creative control to a director. They have, like, their own thoughts and stuff.

[Fezzik]

One of the reasons I've moved away from writing for theater was how crazy it made me to hand over so much creative control to a director. They have, like, their own thoughts and stuff.

Oddly, this is one of the things that drove me crazy when i was writing storyline adventures for Wizards of the Coast (D&D - Living Greyhawk). I hated knowing that other DMs were running my adventures because I was afraid that they'd miss or misinterpret a crucial plot point.

It was worse when it was being run at conventions that I attended. I wanted to go over and be like "nono..thats ok, I'll do it" but I couldn't. I had other responsibilities. It drove me nuts.

[Mara]

We are not very collaborative people. It happens.

[Mara]

Saw a production at Baltimore Center Stage yesterday called Gleam, which is an adaptation of Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Now, tell me, if you have a name as evocative (and famous) as Their Eyes Were Watching God, why would you change it to something as boring as Gleam? I am stumped.

The other major problem was that it is simply not a novel very conducive to theatrical adaptation. If you're trying to cover thirty years of a woman's life in two hours, it's just going to feel like a bunch of disconnected scenes, without the real time you need to develop core characters.

Despite those problems, though, the overall experience wasn't negative. The characters were deftly played, and surprisingly funny for such grim subject matter. The set was lovely, and they had some nice musical moments (both from the score and with the characters singing spirituals at certain intervals.) Overall, I'd rate it "interesting."

[Fezzik]

I'm playing Verges in the theatre's production of Much Ado About Nothing. We've been in rehearsal for a while, and our first show is next Thursday, Feb 2.

Opening Night tonight!

Right now I'm vacillating between ritch: and :frustrated:

[Kurosawa Fan]

Opening Night tonight!

Right now I'm vacillating between ritch: and :frustrated:

Break a leg!

[Fezzik]

What a fun evening. Opening night went off without a hitch. At the meet and greet afterwards, I got compliments for turning Verges into a "real character for once" instead of just a presence on stage.

That felt nice.

Then we all went drinking and I didn't get home till 3. I'm tired

One show down, seven to go.

[Mara]

What a fun evening. Opening night went off without a hitch. At the meet and greet afterwards, I got compliments for turning Verges into a "real character for once" instead of just a presence on stage.

Yay! I'm glad it went well. It's a character with comic potential, depending on how he is played.

[Fezzik]

I finally got some house shots of me in costume. Here are two of the better ones:

[Mara]

Nice. I like the goatee and the draping on the coat.

[dreamdead]

We went and saw Irishman Conor McPherson's The Weir over the weekend at the university theatre. It's an engaging enough piece, juggling character and themes of ghostly loss over drinks at a pub, but the thing never cohered into anything truly haunting. One or two great lines, but it meanders too long in its wrap-up.

We're excited to see The Ascent of F6, by W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood, in a few weeks, though.

[Spinal]

I was just down in the basement and found my collection of theatre programs from my trip to London in 1994. I did a term abroad my junior year of college. Here's some of the stuff I saw when I was there:

Angels in America (Daniel Craig, David Schofield, Stephen Dillane, Jason Isaacs)
The Life of Galileo (Richard Griffiths, Michael Gough)
An Absolute Turkey (Felicity Kendal, Griff Rhys Jones)
She Stoops to Conquer (Miriam Margolyes, David Essex)
Relative Values (Sarah Brightman)
Wildest Dreams (Brenda Blethyn, Sophie Thompson)
Peer Gynt (Michael Sheen)
Macbeth (Derek Jacobi)
Machinal (Fiona Shaw, Ciarán Hinds, directed by Stephen Daldry)
Footfalls (Fiona Shaw)
The Madness of George III (Nigel Hawthorne, directed by Nicholas Hytner)
Carousel (directed by Nicholas Hytner)
Sunset Blvd. (Patti LuPone)
Piaf (Elaine Paige)
The Tempest (David Bradley, directed by Sam Mendes)
King Lear (Robert Stephens, David Bradley, directed by Adrian Noble)
An Inspector Calls (Kenneth Cranham, Julian Glover, directed by Stephen Daldry)
The Birthday Party (directed by Sam Mendes)
Medea (Diana Rigg)
Blood Brothers (Stephanie Lawrence)
Tamburlaine the Great (Anthony Sher)
Travesties (Anthony Sher)

Plus ...
The Merchant of Venice
Crazy for You
The Skriker (original production)
The Phantom of the Opera
The Iron Man (Pete Townshend's Rock Opera)
Miss Saigon
The Mousetrap
Sweeney Todd
Starlight Express
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Les Miserables
The Woman in Black
Forever Plaid (original cast)