Regent's Park in London :). Yes, it's really beautiful, especially the roses there. I watched a performance of The Tempest at the open air theatre there yesterday.
Wow. You sorta had blue sky. We've only had rain. Oxford has lots of garden productions but it's so soggy (and I have to work so late at the moment) that I haven't reached any yet. Was Prospero good? A convincing Prospero makes such a difference.
Ha - bet the person who asked where this was doesn't realize that you can more or less hear the zoo from there! Very appropriate for a magical island. I shouldn't be here (LJ) but I started very early and my stomach's decided that it's lunchtime - and who am I to quarrel with it?!
Well, 'sorta' is the right word to describe it. There's not much rain at the moment, but it's very cloudy and gloomy... not at all summer weather.
As my friend said, Prospero wasn't statuesque enough. The performance was a 're-imagining' though, aka it's for kids, so it was more comical than anything. Still loads of fun, especially when they got the audience to join in making sound effects and all.
I was a little disturbed by Ariel's costume at first, especially when he changed into his blue sea nymph costume, but I soon became quite fond of him. He was shimmering up and down the ropes, distracting the audience during scene changes, so I guess he has to be quite solid for that!
I think we musta swapped - I managed to nip out and mow the grass last night cos the rain stopped!
Prospero's a really tricky part to play - because it's intrinsically unsympathetic (he can looks like an autocratic, know-it-all duffer with an over-protection of daughter problem!). Personally, I think that the relationship with Ariel is key: I see Ariel as the ghost of Prospero's youth (when he was light of foot and before he had too much wisdom and learning to be frivolous) so - when Prospero releases Ariel - the sadness seems to be that Prospero is resigning himself to the reality of his old age; he's letting go of the last dream/fantasy. I've got that interpretation not so much from Shakespeare's words (though they do help!) but from a couple of brilliant portrayals of Prospero on stage.
blue sea nymph costume sounds good. Oh, if he goes shimmering and shimmying on ropes the solidity is allowed - don't want him coming a cropper in front of the audience
( ... )
Ah, I've not thought of it that way (actually, I was not even very familiar with the story before this!) but it does make sense. Well, maybe one day I'll watch a proper performance of it at the Globe and I'll keep an eye out for the Ariel/Prospero dynamics then.
No no no, the blue sea nymph costume was a bit disturbing. Thank god he only wore it in one scene. I'm curious to see how the costumes for a Globe performance would be though...
True, true, if it busted during my exam period it'll really throw me off. And at least my appointment with the shop is after the tube strike. Which, talking about that, I'm glad they did not strike during my exams.
PS Thanks for posting so many good pics. In No 4, I love the expression of the kid's face: "What the h*ll is that Thing??? Do I run?" [ Neat feathers but he's a bit solid for my idea of an Ariel though. Shame on me - I'm even picky about spirits! ]
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where were they taken?
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I watched a performance of The Tempest at the open air theatre there yesterday.
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Ha - bet the person who asked where this was doesn't realize that you can more or less hear the zoo from there! Very appropriate for a magical island. I shouldn't be here (LJ) but I started very early and my stomach's decided that it's lunchtime - and who am I to quarrel with it?!
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As my friend said, Prospero wasn't statuesque enough. The performance was a 're-imagining' though, aka it's for kids, so it was more comical than anything. Still loads of fun, especially when they got the audience to join in making sound effects and all.
I was a little disturbed by Ariel's costume at first, especially when he changed into his blue sea nymph costume, but I soon became quite fond of him. He was shimmering up and down the ropes, distracting the audience during scene changes, so I guess he has to be quite solid for that!
Reply
Prospero's a really tricky part to play - because it's intrinsically unsympathetic (he can looks like an autocratic, know-it-all duffer with an over-protection of daughter problem!). Personally, I think that the relationship with Ariel is key: I see Ariel as the ghost of Prospero's youth (when he was light of foot and before he had too much wisdom and learning to be frivolous) so - when Prospero releases Ariel - the sadness seems to be that Prospero is resigning himself to the reality of his old age; he's letting go of the last dream/fantasy. I've got that interpretation not so much from Shakespeare's words (though they do help!) but from a couple of brilliant portrayals of Prospero on stage.
blue sea nymph costume sounds good. Oh, if he goes shimmering and shimmying on ropes the solidity is allowed - don't want him coming a cropper in front of the audience ( ... )
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No no no, the blue sea nymph costume was a bit disturbing. Thank god he only wore it in one scene. I'm curious to see how the costumes for a Globe performance would be though...
True, true, if it busted during my exam period it'll really throw me off. And at least my appointment with the shop is after the tube strike. Which, talking about that, I'm glad they did not strike during my exams.
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