Boy, Thou Speak'st Masterly: A Very New Yorky Afternoon
Two local theater companies have joined forces to do three Shakespeare plays in Central Park (Taming of the Shrew, Richard III, the Scottish play), the gimmick being that the actors get cue scripts, nothing is rehearsed except the fight scenes, and there's a prompter who yells out lines when someone dries. I went to yesterday afternoon's McB, and left at intermission, because I thought they were Doing it Rong in some crucial ways. (Cut for length)
For one thing, the prompter didn't wait for someone to be in obvious distress, or even to want a prompt, with the result that the actors spent most of the time playing Beat the Clock just so they could get the line out before the prompter. And, although I can understand the difficulties of memorizing a role for only two performances, you'd think that anybody who went to the trouble of actually being an actor would have spent a bit of time thinking about what ze'd do if given the chance to play Macbeth or Lady M. The Bleeding Sergeant remembered which leg she was limping on (most of the time). I thought it was cool that the witches looked like they have a lot of martial arts background, and Malcolm was a nice-looking tall blond drink o'water. But I think it would have been a lot better for everyone to be frankly on book (and a real book, not a scroll they had to keep fumbling with) and give more attention to precisely *why* it's a tragedy and not just a campfire ghost story.
Also, the actors went too far "offstage" (they had a hillock in front of some park benches), so anyone who didn't actually miss an entrance tended to be out of breath from running on for it. In lieu of costumes, the actors' own black shirts and pants were dressed up with various items of tartan scarfery. Lady Macbeth's bustle was not, I think, well-chosen, but her very pointy-toed kitten-heeled patent knee boots were quite the thing.
Anyway, en route to getting a late lunch, my friend and I passed a church that had a huge notice board for "Madama Butterfly." I remarked that it would be a shame if my friend had actually wanted to see it, because the last performance was that very afternoon. He said that not $25 worth, he didn't. And just at that moment, someone popped out of the church and asked us if we wanted to see the end for free.
The performance was in the sanctuary itself, and the bare ruined choirs pews were far from full, which I suppose is why they were giving out samples. I'm not much for opera, but Mrs. Pinkerton was on stage so I knew it was the last scene. I was a bit shocked that Pinkerton's last appearance was in the pulpit, and that Butterfly turned toward the altar when she stabbed herself--I don't know if I was shocked because she was, so to speak, committing a mortal sin in church, or because she was in effect turning the Catholic altar into a Buddhist one. I don't know if they've ever done Tosca there--it would be really meta not to have to set up the church scenes...I was also surprised that they had not just a piano but an orchestra, albeit an attenuated one.
When I first got Netflix, I looked to see if they had "Playing Shakespeare" and they did not! But now they do! So I hold it as a thing enque'd and sainted. (I found it when I put the McKellen/Dench Macbeth in my queue.) I still remember (not-yet-Dame) Judi Dench and Richard Pascoe doing the patience-on-a-monument scene. They also have Claire Bloom doing monologues and talking about them--her Volumnia is really scary (I mean that as a compliment).
For one thing, the prompter didn't wait for someone to be in obvious distress, or even to want a prompt, with the result that the actors spent most of the time playing Beat the Clock just so they could get the line out before the prompter. And, although I can understand the difficulties of memorizing a role for only two performances, you'd think that anybody who went to the trouble of actually being an actor would have spent a bit of time thinking about what ze'd do if given the chance to play Macbeth or Lady M. The Bleeding Sergeant remembered which leg she was limping on (most of the time). I thought it was cool that the witches looked like they have a lot of martial arts background, and Malcolm was a nice-looking tall blond drink o'water. But I think it would have been a lot better for everyone to be frankly on book (and a real book, not a scroll they had to keep fumbling with) and give more attention to precisely *why* it's a tragedy and not just a campfire ghost story.
Also, the actors went too far "offstage" (they had a hillock in front of some park benches), so anyone who didn't actually miss an entrance tended to be out of breath from running on for it. In lieu of costumes, the actors' own black shirts and pants were dressed up with various items of tartan scarfery. Lady Macbeth's bustle was not, I think, well-chosen, but her very pointy-toed kitten-heeled patent knee boots were quite the thing.
Anyway, en route to getting a late lunch, my friend and I passed a church that had a huge notice board for "Madama Butterfly." I remarked that it would be a shame if my friend had actually wanted to see it, because the last performance was that very afternoon. He said that not $25 worth, he didn't. And just at that moment, someone popped out of the church and asked us if we wanted to see the end for free.
The performance was in the sanctuary itself, and the bare ruined choirs pews were far from full, which I suppose is why they were giving out samples. I'm not much for opera, but Mrs. Pinkerton was on stage so I knew it was the last scene. I was a bit shocked that Pinkerton's last appearance was in the pulpit, and that Butterfly turned toward the altar when she stabbed herself--I don't know if I was shocked because she was, so to speak, committing a mortal sin in church, or because she was in effect turning the Catholic altar into a Buddhist one. I don't know if they've ever done Tosca there--it would be really meta not to have to set up the church scenes...I was also surprised that they had not just a piano but an orchestra, albeit an attenuated one.
When I first got Netflix, I looked to see if they had "Playing Shakespeare" and they did not! But now they do! So I hold it as a thing enque'd and sainted. (I found it when I put the McKellen/Dench Macbeth in my queue.) I still remember (not-yet-Dame) Judi Dench and Richard Pascoe doing the patience-on-a-monument scene. They also have Claire Bloom doing monologues and talking about them--her Volumnia is really scary (I mean that as a compliment).