The Play's the Thing... · 8:53pm Aug 23rd, 2023
Twilight sampled two shows while in Merry Old; one very good, and one... it's complicated.
The Good: (Hardly any explanation needed, really.)
The Complicated:
As You Like It... or not in this case. A good, if slight comedy ruined by "concept poisoning." There are several of Shakespeare's plays that could be very intriguing with a completely gender-fluid approach to the cast. But in a work that depends on cross-dressing and homoeroticism for most of the tension, it really doesn't work. The climactic reveal that Roseline is... Roseline (with no change of costume, mind you) has no impact, and none of the actors react as if it should, so we're left with... Okay, so what? Costumes seemingly chosen at random and modern pop-songs stuck in for... reasons unknown? I'm no purist; the best Much Ado About Nothing I ever saw was set in just post-WWII America,* and the best Richard III was envisioned as a rather surreal 1920's South American banana republic with a gender-blind cast. Heck, the best Tempest I ever saw was Forbidden Planet! But this one just didn't work for me.
Still, the experience of witnessing a play in The Globe was enjoyable in and of itself. I'm sure Luna would have loved it, if only because everyponybody was speaking sensibly!
---------------------------------
* No really, Dogberry as a Boy Scout troop leader was screamingly funny!
Well, half isn't bad? Definitely disappointing to hear about As You Like It.
Can't speak to the play you saw there, but I've actually been to the Globe! One of several venues I saw a play at on my college's drama society tour of London at the end of 1st year.
Twas also my first experience with The Merchant of Venice too, which was obviously a corker. Less of a corker was
standingfloating for the whole thing without getting to sit, but hey, that's cheap tickets for you. And a throwback to what going to the theatre was like for most of London way back when.That trip is all old enough now that my memories of the it are faint, but it was a good time, though the only other play I can even remember the name of was the then-recent book-to-stage adaption of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
5743564
I would have loved to experience being a "groundling,"* but we splurged for a sit-down experience, and paid extra for cushions... thank Celestia!** What impressed me most about the building was the acoustics of the place. I expected that oak timbers and plaster would really soak up the sound, but not so much!
-----------------
*That's a lie.
** Solid oak benches aren't inherently comfortable. Who knew?
Shame the Billy Shakes show didn't work out. But all the reviews I read all said The Ocean At The End Of The Lane is the most magical thing ever put on a stage (I'm not jealous), so it's awesome that you got to see it
I've been to the Globe myself, and saw King Lear
Well, half of it. I saw it with my mother, and the weather was terrible, and it is an outdoor stage... she wasn't really up to the whole night and we left during intermission. Was a shame, would love to go again.
5743569
That's a shame about Lear! But forsooth, you got a real Elizabethan experience!
Yeah, Ocean is that rare combination of utterly magical events in perfect service to a terrific text. I'm sure it will tour for years, so you might get to see it yet!
I'm probably going to be the only person here for whom the first show's location is more striking than the second's! I don't know what it's like now as I haven't been for years, but I have lovely memories of the Bristol Hippodrome from childhood days. My grandparents took me to see several pantos there, and I remember being somewhat in awe of the place and finding it rather magical. I also remember it being seriously high up in the balcony where we generally sat!
5743651
Yes, the Hippodrome is still an ornate and magical place all on its own, so much so that I took a couple of pictures of the inertior:
That's awesome!
i.ibb.co/K5XpjMv/1drome.jpg
The picture is more washed out than the reality. Phone cameras suck!
What an awesome opportunity! Shame about the adaptation decay. It's always at least a little heartbreaking when someone tries to riff on a great work without sufficient reflection on what made it great, and therefore creates something which is in the shape of something awesome and yet completely hollow.