Comments | amelia_eve: Shakespeare in the Park

amelia_eve

Shakespeare in the Park - Twelfth Night

Jun 20, 2009 15:34

The weather has been so dreadful that I'd kind of given up on seeing Shakespeare in the Park this year. But yesterday was sunny when we woke up, so we trooped off to stand in line for tickets. We were quite lucky -- we got the very last of the vouchers for seating. (After all the available tickets are distributed at 1:00 pm, 50 vouchers good for ( Read more... )

new york, theater

Comments 10

wickedjaw June 20 2009, 20:15:04 UTC

I love Twelfth Night so much. Viola's "willow cabin speech" makes me swoon; for me it has some of the frustrated passion of Jane Eyre's outburst to Mr. Rochester in the garden.

I really like this film version, with Parminder Nagra as Viola. It's not at all traditional but very well done.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364717/

amelia_eve June 20 2009, 21:23:13 UTC

That looks marvelous!

And yes, I really did feel for the misguided lovers this time around, everybody obsessed with the wrong person for the right reasons. It helped that the actors playing the twins really did look a good deal alike, so when they finally appeared together the confusion was understandable.

going_not_gone June 20 2009, 20:21:59 UTC

Oh, that sounds wonderful. I've seen Shakespeare in the park here in Boston, and long ago I saw Pirates of Penzance in Central Park, with Linda Ronstadt and Kevin Kline in the lead roles. AMAZING.

And I really love the idea of this becoming a romantic tradition for you and Leit.

amelia_eve June 20 2009, 21:27:18 UTC

Summer performances in Central Park really are delightful -- that production of Pirates of Penzance is very well known, and I'm always hoping I'll stumble on another show that leaves the same lasting imprint. We weren't able to make it to a performance of Hair when it was in the park last year, but we did hear almost an entire dress rehearsal from outside on the Great Lawn. I love New York moments like that.

f4f3 June 21 2009, 01:35:43 UTC

I'm determined to get to The Bard in the Botanics this year (Glasgow's own al fresco Shakespeare festival). For one thing I'm fascinated to see how they play "The Taming of the Shrew" which has one or two, um, problematic, aspects...

amelia_eve June 21 2009, 02:39:55 UTC

It is definitely problematic, and yet it has some of my favorite dialogue in all of Shakespeare. It's really witty.

And without it, we'd never have Kiss Me, Kate.

chelseagirl June 22 2009, 12:35:45 UTC

Goodness -- for awhile it seemed like I couldn't *not* see Twelfth Night -- I'm pretty sure it's been an even half-dozen productions. Very popular these days.

amelia_eve June 22 2009, 15:56:08 UTC

I get so tired of modern gender politics applied to historical vehicles. This one was just silly and fun!

tofty June 28 2009, 22:38:44 UTC

What a lovely article, so easygoing and positive. I'm a little bit of a philistine when it comes to Shakespeare, but I was totally sold on wanting to see this particular production. I'm glad you got to see it, and that it was as rewarding as the article implied.

amelia_eve June 29 2009, 02:09:40 UTC

The Times finally got around to a full review, which was just as exuberant as I was. Last year we saw Hamlet there, a play I've never really liked, but I got a lot out of it. I guess it does make a difference to see a high quality performance with good actors and thoughtful staging. I really appreciated both of these plays a lot more after seeing them performed in this series.