Further Shakespeare
So I've been on a minor Shakespeare jag lately, it seems. Friday night I followed up the Shakespeare in the Park production of Romeo and Juliet with Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film version, which I've watched many times previously. It was interesting to watch it right on the heels of a production that included much more of the play's text, because it was more obvious what was cut. I mostly really like the cuts in the film, and one of the things I think is very artful is the way that some long speeches are reduced to a single perfect line. I love the production design, too, and the way that Shakespearean text is used in billboards and logos and graffiti as a visual element.
Yesterday I finally rented the 1968 film of A Midsummer Night's Dream with a cast featuring Helen Mirren, Diana Rigg, Judi Dench, Ian Holm, and David Warner. Again, it includes much more of the text than the 1999 version with Kevin Klein and Michelle Pfeiffer, which I've watched several times. Amazingly enough, this is the first time it has ever sunk in that both Lysander and Demetrius' affections switch from Hermia to Helena, before then settling on the "proper" lover. I've always had it in my head that they essentially swapped partners and then swapped back. Uh, Shakespeare-comprehension fail. Just goes to show that I've never found the lovers all that interesting and have always focused more on the fairies and the mechanicals.
Which is sort of what Benjamin Britten did in his opera version of the play, which I've been listening to constantly for the past week or so. I haven't really read through the libretto yet, but the focus is on the fairies, with a much reduced role for Theseus and Hippolyta and a fair amount of cutting of the lovers as well. In fact, the entirety of Act I is cut. The performance of Pyramis and Thisbe is done as a parody of opera conventions. Commentators point out that Britten uses a different musical style for the three groups of characters: the fairies, the lovers, and the mechanicals. The fairy music is eerie and lyrical (Oberon is sung by a counter tenor), the mechanicals music is bumptious and comedic, but I haven't really worked out what the style is for the lovers. I guess it's a romantic style. I'm really enjoying the opera so far, and I may write more about it when I've had a chance to read the libretto.
One thing I wondered while watching the 1968 film yesterday is whether Oberon ever makes it clear why he wants the Indian boy that he's feuding with Titania about. I see that he tells her he wants the boy to be his henchman, but it seems a flimsy thing to cause such epic anger. Fickle fairies, I guess. Always getting their weeds in a twist about something pointless.
Yesterday I finally rented the 1968 film of A Midsummer Night's Dream with a cast featuring Helen Mirren, Diana Rigg, Judi Dench, Ian Holm, and David Warner. Again, it includes much more of the text than the 1999 version with Kevin Klein and Michelle Pfeiffer, which I've watched several times. Amazingly enough, this is the first time it has ever sunk in that both Lysander and Demetrius' affections switch from Hermia to Helena, before then settling on the "proper" lover. I've always had it in my head that they essentially swapped partners and then swapped back. Uh, Shakespeare-comprehension fail. Just goes to show that I've never found the lovers all that interesting and have always focused more on the fairies and the mechanicals.
Which is sort of what Benjamin Britten did in his opera version of the play, which I've been listening to constantly for the past week or so. I haven't really read through the libretto yet, but the focus is on the fairies, with a much reduced role for Theseus and Hippolyta and a fair amount of cutting of the lovers as well. In fact, the entirety of Act I is cut. The performance of Pyramis and Thisbe is done as a parody of opera conventions. Commentators point out that Britten uses a different musical style for the three groups of characters: the fairies, the lovers, and the mechanicals. The fairy music is eerie and lyrical (Oberon is sung by a counter tenor), the mechanicals music is bumptious and comedic, but I haven't really worked out what the style is for the lovers. I guess it's a romantic style. I'm really enjoying the opera so far, and I may write more about it when I've had a chance to read the libretto.
One thing I wondered while watching the 1968 film yesterday is whether Oberon ever makes it clear why he wants the Indian boy that he's feuding with Titania about. I see that he tells her he wants the boy to be his henchman, but it seems a flimsy thing to cause such epic anger. Fickle fairies, I guess. Always getting their weeds in a twist about something pointless.