a fan, not a literature or drama critic
Aug. 29th, 2018 08:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lauradi7dwIn 2010, I saw a production of "As you like it" at the Globe in London that left me (emotionally) flying. I still am not sure why. I had seen the 2005 touring version in Boston, directed by Peter Hall (with his daughter Rebecca as Rosalind), and liked it, but it didn't really stay with me.
I follow Shakespeare's Globe on twitter, and months ago was intrigued to see that the 2018 season (Michelle Terry's first as artistic director) was scheduled to include a production of AYLI with Jack Laskey as Rosalind. JL was Orlando in the magical 2010 production, and while he was fine, it was Naomi Frederick as Rosalind that remained in memory. In the meantime, though, I've become an admirer of his TV work. Most of the same cast were doing Hamlet, in repertory. Last Sunday (the 26th) was the final day for both shows, a double header of sorts (with a couple of hours of break in between). After months of wishing and wishy-washy-ing about it, I was there (one is tempted to say "of course," because I'm both lucky and self-indulgent). Arthur had originally planned to be in London for a day on the way to a conference, but stretched it out so that we could have a vacation together, and we stayed for about five days. I booked groundling tickets on two different days for AYLI, on the theory that something might happen and I really didn't want to miss it. I was glad to have done so, because now I can compare a bit. As far as I can tell, there are always school groups at Globe performances, often European (ie people whose first language is not English). Some of them have seemed to be interested in the experience in general, but not really the play. But in the Sunday night crowd, there were lots of boisterous teenagers (I think) who were heavily involved in the romance and bawdy bits, with noise levels to match. It made Sunday's performance different from Thursdays, as an experience. It also presumably gave energy to the actors, who had already had a busy day, doing Hamlet in the afternoon. A not-teenager enthusiast was the guy about my age in the very middle of the stage-leaners on the front of the stage (I tend to be a leaner on stage right, which has more shade in the daytime). He was there in exactly the same spot during both AYLI shows I saw, and his bald head was touched each time, when the dialogue line made it relevant. I thought about walking up to him as we were exiting on Sunday evening to ask how many times he had seen it, but it seemed unreasonable to bother him.
A difference between my usual experience and late August is that there were lots of families there. During the interval, parents were trying to explain the plot to fairly young children, and in the interactive way of the Globe, Jaques could make eye contact with a school-aged boy audience member while saying
"the whining schoolboy, with his satchel and shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school,"
making the kid briefly part of the cast, because we all turned to look at him. (one each time).
Jaques as played by Pearce Quigley (and/or directed by Federay Holmes) was a revelation to me. Was it tone of voice? Posture? Before I ever saw the play, I had read (decades ago) Alan Rickman's essay in "Players of Shakespeare 2" about playing him. AR felt that Jaques had more depth than he was usually given credit for, and I agree.
http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on-2018/as-you-like-it
Arthur and I saw the Hamlet matinee in the afternoon, for the first time seated, under a roof. Just as well, as it was pouring the whole time (someone on twitter remarked that the standing folks should be renamed the "drowndlings.") I've been there in the rain before, but this was really extreme.
It was fine. I have seen it often enough in various ways (live theater, movie theater, video) that I know parts of it by heart, which is just as well, because it seems to us that the actors are almost always speaking too fast in Hamlet. There was one artistic choice that we disagreed with (also mentioned in this review, https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/may/18/hamlet-as-you-like-it-review-michelle-terry-globe-shakespeare) and I was sad that the pirate folks were not there, as my daughter once played the Pirate Queen in a kid version, but it was fine.
With Hamlet, I find myself falling back on the snippets seen in the first season of "Slings and Arrows" or "Midwinter's Tale."
Not at the Globe, but at the recently built Bridge Theatre, I saw Alan Bennett's new play "Alleluia," without any foreknowledge except knowing it was AB. It had a lot of problems, but I liked it mostly, and it was good to see two of the original History Boys (Sacha Dhawan and Samuel Barnett) back in a Bennett play 14 years later. I thought about hanging about to tell SB that in addition to both of the Bennett plays, I had admired his performance in "Twelfth Night," which I saw in NYC, but decided that seemed too stalkerish.
https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2018/allelujah-alan-bennett-review-bridge-theatre-london/
The other ladies in my tiny cramped slightly obstructed row (not surprised about the seats, considering they were the cheapest) and I agreed that we had trouble hearing the dialogue when someone's back was to us, but that we were glad that they didn't have mics. Someone in the audience had hearing assist headphones, and the whole theatre (being new) was supposed to be accessible in many ways, but there were oddities, based partly on the shape of the space, I guess. Some people seemed to have problems finding the elevator. Also, restroom inequality. The line for the ladies and transgender ladies room was way longer than that for the gents and transgender gents. I asked a worker whether the trans symbol on the door meant that anybody could use either one, and was told no. [edit - I understand that they are trying to emphasize “pee with people you identify with, rather than being confined to your assigned at birth cohort” but] It’s a new building - why not just have all the restrooms be a free-for-all, so to speak?
https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2018/allelujah-alan-bennett-review-bridge-theatre-london/
I follow Shakespeare's Globe on twitter, and months ago was intrigued to see that the 2018 season (Michelle Terry's first as artistic director) was scheduled to include a production of AYLI with Jack Laskey as Rosalind. JL was Orlando in the magical 2010 production, and while he was fine, it was Naomi Frederick as Rosalind that remained in memory. In the meantime, though, I've become an admirer of his TV work. Most of the same cast were doing Hamlet, in repertory. Last Sunday (the 26th) was the final day for both shows, a double header of sorts (with a couple of hours of break in between). After months of wishing and wishy-washy-ing about it, I was there (one is tempted to say "of course," because I'm both lucky and self-indulgent). Arthur had originally planned to be in London for a day on the way to a conference, but stretched it out so that we could have a vacation together, and we stayed for about five days. I booked groundling tickets on two different days for AYLI, on the theory that something might happen and I really didn't want to miss it. I was glad to have done so, because now I can compare a bit. As far as I can tell, there are always school groups at Globe performances, often European (ie people whose first language is not English). Some of them have seemed to be interested in the experience in general, but not really the play. But in the Sunday night crowd, there were lots of boisterous teenagers (I think) who were heavily involved in the romance and bawdy bits, with noise levels to match. It made Sunday's performance different from Thursdays, as an experience. It also presumably gave energy to the actors, who had already had a busy day, doing Hamlet in the afternoon. A not-teenager enthusiast was the guy about my age in the very middle of the stage-leaners on the front of the stage (I tend to be a leaner on stage right, which has more shade in the daytime). He was there in exactly the same spot during both AYLI shows I saw, and his bald head was touched each time, when the dialogue line made it relevant. I thought about walking up to him as we were exiting on Sunday evening to ask how many times he had seen it, but it seemed unreasonable to bother him.
A difference between my usual experience and late August is that there were lots of families there. During the interval, parents were trying to explain the plot to fairly young children, and in the interactive way of the Globe, Jaques could make eye contact with a school-aged boy audience member while saying
"the whining schoolboy, with his satchel and shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school,"
making the kid briefly part of the cast, because we all turned to look at him. (one each time).
Jaques as played by Pearce Quigley (and/or directed by Federay Holmes) was a revelation to me. Was it tone of voice? Posture? Before I ever saw the play, I had read (decades ago) Alan Rickman's essay in "Players of Shakespeare 2" about playing him. AR felt that Jaques had more depth than he was usually given credit for, and I agree.
http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on-2018/as-you-like-it
Arthur and I saw the Hamlet matinee in the afternoon, for the first time seated, under a roof. Just as well, as it was pouring the whole time (someone on twitter remarked that the standing folks should be renamed the "drowndlings.") I've been there in the rain before, but this was really extreme.
It was fine. I have seen it often enough in various ways (live theater, movie theater, video) that I know parts of it by heart, which is just as well, because it seems to us that the actors are almost always speaking too fast in Hamlet. There was one artistic choice that we disagreed with (also mentioned in this review, https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/may/18/hamlet-as-you-like-it-review-michelle-terry-globe-shakespeare) and I was sad that the pirate folks were not there, as my daughter once played the Pirate Queen in a kid version, but it was fine.
With Hamlet, I find myself falling back on the snippets seen in the first season of "Slings and Arrows" or "Midwinter's Tale."
Not at the Globe, but at the recently built Bridge Theatre, I saw Alan Bennett's new play "Alleluia," without any foreknowledge except knowing it was AB. It had a lot of problems, but I liked it mostly, and it was good to see two of the original History Boys (Sacha Dhawan and Samuel Barnett) back in a Bennett play 14 years later. I thought about hanging about to tell SB that in addition to both of the Bennett plays, I had admired his performance in "Twelfth Night," which I saw in NYC, but decided that seemed too stalkerish.
https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2018/allelujah-alan-bennett-review-bridge-theatre-london/
The other ladies in my tiny cramped slightly obstructed row (not surprised about the seats, considering they were the cheapest) and I agreed that we had trouble hearing the dialogue when someone's back was to us, but that we were glad that they didn't have mics. Someone in the audience had hearing assist headphones, and the whole theatre (being new) was supposed to be accessible in many ways, but there were oddities, based partly on the shape of the space, I guess. Some people seemed to have problems finding the elevator. Also, restroom inequality. The line for the ladies and transgender ladies room was way longer than that for the gents and transgender gents. I asked a worker whether the trans symbol on the door meant that anybody could use either one, and was told no. [edit - I understand that they are trying to emphasize “pee with people you identify with, rather than being confined to your assigned at birth cohort” but] It’s a new building - why not just have all the restrooms be a free-for-all, so to speak?
https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2018/allelujah-alan-bennett-review-bridge-theatre-london/
