(no subject)
And so the Globe season is over for another year :-(
It's been a strange one really. It started very early with all the fabulous Globe to Globe performances but then the season proper had a lot fewer productions than normal (Henry V, Taming of the Shrew, Richard III & Twelfth Night plus the 2 touring shows Hamlet & As You Like It). I actually really missed having a new show- in fact a non-Shakespeare at all! On the otherhand Globe to Globe was so brilliant and so unusual I guess that filled that need a bit. And I did LOVE having the Original Practices performances back ♥
[Detour- Original Practices rambling]Every now and then I wonder if I should feel guilty about how much I adore the OP stuff given it's all-male and then general lack of awesome roles for women in the West End but I think it's silly to feel guilty when there is such a good reason for them to be like that and I do think we gain something from them. Not to mention the fact that a large part of the team behind them IS made up of women including the amazing Claire van Kampen's music and Jenny Tiramani's costumes.
I guess I find it fascinating to see some of the lines said by men playing at being women because that's how they were WRITTEN and no I don't want it always to be like that but sometimes it's interesting. The double meanings in lines, the comedy where you weren't quite expecting it, the amazing degree to which our minds will stop seeing a man even when you KNOW that's Mark Rylance right there.
Really there just ought to be more all-female shows to balance and then it would be fine. Speaking of which I really should have booked Julius Caesar WEEKS ago. FAIL.
I can't wait to see what they put on next year (PLEASE let it be Henry VI...) and then soon after that we're going to have the utter JOY that is a summer AND WINTER season when the indoor theatre is done ♥
Onto the play itself.
Twelfth Night @ The Globe (take 2)(or is that 3)
I was, incidentally, quite amused by the girl next to me who was busy telling her friends she saw this production ten years ago "at the Globe" and she'd recently seen in the programme that it starred Eddie Redmayne... reading comprehension not 100% because he was only in it at the Middle Temple Hall.
ANYWAY
I still love this production (surprising NOBODY) but... well Stephen Fry has (imo) got worse not better. For starters he stumbled over lines at least twice and OBVIOUSLY that happens to everyone sometimes but it's not great. Also I think he's got more confident and in doing so he's playing up the comedy and ridiculousness of Malvolio even more and I liked it better just a tad... I don't know it was never subdued it was just about the right level of self importance and this time it felt like he was going "look at how cleverly I'm acting this" which was what I was afraid of the first time.
*shrugs*
Really though the rest of it is so fab I don't care.
Sam Barnett remains AMAZING and born to play that stage and I just love the way he and Johnny play the last scene as they can't quite believe their eyes and then are just so overjoyed to see each other <3 and Johnny's only got better AGAIN as the run has gone on. Growing in confidence and therefore the ability to play some things more subtly and some more OTT and making perfect choices.
I will never ever get over how beautiful the Cesario/Orsino scene is. Peter Hamilton Dyer sings Come Away Death so sweetly and then there's the ridiculousness of Orsino who is clearly falling in love and in denial meanwhile "Cesario" is in love but knows all to well she can't let it show and as they get closer and closer Feste's face ♥ and then the outburst of anger from Liam Brennan's Orsino is perfect for a man so confused before they come right back to the almost kiss (which I'm sure went on for longer this time). They're so visibly fighting feelings that, for different reasons, they don't understand or can't express and I LOVE it.
Other things- Mark Rylance does petulant so very beautifully <3 I can't help feeling Sebastian is going to be driven mad VERY quickly but then if you will marry a woman only hours (days?) after you've met her when she's calling you by the wrong name then you sort of get what you deserve!
But OH Paul Chahidi's Maria is so utterly perfect he might be my favourite (except that so is Olivia and so is Feste and so is...) She clearly has a wicked sense of humour but equally is visibly upset at the thought she'll be in disgrace with her mistress and clearly is in love with Toby and I love the switch from proper to scheming and I love her litte "hooray" when it comes out that Toby's married her and I just ♥ I also sort of ship her with James Garnon's Fabian just because.
What else? James Garnon is shamefully underused but having great fun. Peter Hamilton Dyer is practically a part of the Globe now but I do ADORE his Feste who is a fool but not ott and who sings so beautifully (I really would like a recording of his songs)
Oh and the end for Antonio still makes me sad.
I keep wondering whether I should have tried to get tickets for the show in the West End but it wouldn't be the same.
In conclusion- more Sam Barnett at the Globe please *g*
At the end of the show (as the war of the actual Roses raged between the audience & the cast with white roses flying off stage and yellow roses onto the stage <3) Dominic Dromgoole did his whole "thank you to the whole world" speech which it was really nice to hear <3 He singled out Mark & Claire for their absolute dedication to their craft and to storytelling in, what he described as, "a bruising summer". I still can't believe that they were both able to carry on and stick to what they'd promised after losing their daughter but it was amazing ♥
And then just in case it all got too emotional Mark Rylance sashayed across the stage (still dressed as Olivia) and snogged Dominic Dromgoole.
Which is a sentence I never DREAMED I'd write *G* Mark slipped back to his place in the cast and then mimed to our side of the audience that there had been no tongues!
And with that the evening was done.
It's been a strange one really. It started very early with all the fabulous Globe to Globe performances but then the season proper had a lot fewer productions than normal (Henry V, Taming of the Shrew, Richard III & Twelfth Night plus the 2 touring shows Hamlet & As You Like It). I actually really missed having a new show- in fact a non-Shakespeare at all! On the otherhand Globe to Globe was so brilliant and so unusual I guess that filled that need a bit. And I did LOVE having the Original Practices performances back ♥
[Detour- Original Practices rambling]Every now and then I wonder if I should feel guilty about how much I adore the OP stuff given it's all-male and then general lack of awesome roles for women in the West End but I think it's silly to feel guilty when there is such a good reason for them to be like that and I do think we gain something from them. Not to mention the fact that a large part of the team behind them IS made up of women including the amazing Claire van Kampen's music and Jenny Tiramani's costumes.
I guess I find it fascinating to see some of the lines said by men playing at being women because that's how they were WRITTEN and no I don't want it always to be like that but sometimes it's interesting. The double meanings in lines, the comedy where you weren't quite expecting it, the amazing degree to which our minds will stop seeing a man even when you KNOW that's Mark Rylance right there.
Really there just ought to be more all-female shows to balance and then it would be fine. Speaking of which I really should have booked Julius Caesar WEEKS ago. FAIL.
I can't wait to see what they put on next year (PLEASE let it be Henry VI...) and then soon after that we're going to have the utter JOY that is a summer AND WINTER season when the indoor theatre is done ♥
Onto the play itself.
Twelfth Night @ The Globe (take 2)(or is that 3)
I was, incidentally, quite amused by the girl next to me who was busy telling her friends she saw this production ten years ago "at the Globe" and she'd recently seen in the programme that it starred Eddie Redmayne... reading comprehension not 100% because he was only in it at the Middle Temple Hall.
ANYWAY
I still love this production (surprising NOBODY) but... well Stephen Fry has (imo) got worse not better. For starters he stumbled over lines at least twice and OBVIOUSLY that happens to everyone sometimes but it's not great. Also I think he's got more confident and in doing so he's playing up the comedy and ridiculousness of Malvolio even more and I liked it better just a tad... I don't know it was never subdued it was just about the right level of self importance and this time it felt like he was going "look at how cleverly I'm acting this" which was what I was afraid of the first time.
*shrugs*
Really though the rest of it is so fab I don't care.
Sam Barnett remains AMAZING and born to play that stage and I just love the way he and Johnny play the last scene as they can't quite believe their eyes and then are just so overjoyed to see each other <3 and Johnny's only got better AGAIN as the run has gone on. Growing in confidence and therefore the ability to play some things more subtly and some more OTT and making perfect choices.
I will never ever get over how beautiful the Cesario/Orsino scene is. Peter Hamilton Dyer sings Come Away Death so sweetly and then there's the ridiculousness of Orsino who is clearly falling in love and in denial meanwhile "Cesario" is in love but knows all to well she can't let it show and as they get closer and closer Feste's face ♥ and then the outburst of anger from Liam Brennan's Orsino is perfect for a man so confused before they come right back to the almost kiss (which I'm sure went on for longer this time). They're so visibly fighting feelings that, for different reasons, they don't understand or can't express and I LOVE it.
Other things- Mark Rylance does petulant so very beautifully <3 I can't help feeling Sebastian is going to be driven mad VERY quickly but then if you will marry a woman only hours (days?) after you've met her when she's calling you by the wrong name then you sort of get what you deserve!
But OH Paul Chahidi's Maria is so utterly perfect he might be my favourite (except that so is Olivia and so is Feste and so is...) She clearly has a wicked sense of humour but equally is visibly upset at the thought she'll be in disgrace with her mistress and clearly is in love with Toby and I love the switch from proper to scheming and I love her litte "hooray" when it comes out that Toby's married her and I just ♥ I also sort of ship her with James Garnon's Fabian just because.
What else? James Garnon is shamefully underused but having great fun. Peter Hamilton Dyer is practically a part of the Globe now but I do ADORE his Feste who is a fool but not ott and who sings so beautifully (I really would like a recording of his songs)
Oh and the end for Antonio still makes me sad.
I keep wondering whether I should have tried to get tickets for the show in the West End but it wouldn't be the same.
In conclusion- more Sam Barnett at the Globe please *g*
At the end of the show (as the war of the actual Roses raged between the audience & the cast with white roses flying off stage and yellow roses onto the stage <3) Dominic Dromgoole did his whole "thank you to the whole world" speech which it was really nice to hear <3 He singled out Mark & Claire for their absolute dedication to their craft and to storytelling in, what he described as, "a bruising summer". I still can't believe that they were both able to carry on and stick to what they'd promised after losing their daughter but it was amazing ♥
And then just in case it all got too emotional Mark Rylance sashayed across the stage (still dressed as Olivia) and snogged Dominic Dromgoole.
Which is a sentence I never DREAMED I'd write *G* Mark slipped back to his place in the cast and then mimed to our side of the audience that there had been no tongues!
And with that the evening was done.