A Colin fan's review of "The Tempest" DVD vs. the live performance
[In which Rockn blathers on about stuff probably no one even cares about...]
So, this week I finally received my copy of The Tempest and got a chance to watch it through. I cannot wait to hook up my DVD player to my big screen TV so I may gawk in hi-def, but in the meantime...
I couldn't help but notice some of the similarities and, most notably, differences between what was on the DVD versus what it was like to see this play live.
I'd read a few comments/reviews by other people who had seen both the live show and the movie of it in theatres or on the DVD who said it was very much like being a groundling in the theatre itself. And I thought, it was and yet it wasn't.
Yes, having all the close up shots did lend to that feeling of being close to the action, but yet, because the camera chose what we were seeing, it also felt rather different. For example, I remember Ariel's part as being quite a bit bigger than what we saw on film, and part of the reason for that must inevitably be that my eyes were drawn to Colin whenever he was onstage. There were many scenes where he didn't have an active speaking role, but played the part of the observer (as he had been charged to do by Prospero). In person, we got to see him enter and exit, watch and hover, whereas the camera was, of course, following the main action and so, we missed out on these little side encounters.
Colin's performance of Ariel in the DVD was, on the whole, lovely, sweet, and enchanting. It's great to have a record of him performing a very different role from that of Merlin. But it was almost a pale replica of the much richer, fuller, and more flighty Ariel I was lucky enough to witness on stage in person at the end of June.
It is, I think, important to note that the filming of the play was done over two nights in August. This was during the time when Colin was sick, and he was, in fact very ill for one of the two recording nights. For those who might not remember or have been aware, Colin missed the majority of the performances after they came back from hiatus in early August, starting just after the performance on 9 August (the first recording night). There was no understudy for his role, so for him to not perform, you can imagine how awful he must have felt. He'd been out sick for a week before he came back for the one performance that was being recorded on 14 August. That evening was his last performance as Ariel, as he missed the rest of the shows, as well as closing night. It was later revealed that he was hospitalized for a short period of time for treatment of what was reported to be tracheitis.
I mention this so that you can be amazed anew at how well he was able to perform under such difficult conditions. If you were not already aware of his illness and had not seen him perform when he was well, I'm sure it would be very hard to tell there was anything amiss, such is his dedication to his role.
But the Ariel I saw in June was much more flighty and energetic, more chaotic and manic. Every entrance or exit was bouncy, with quick, sharp movements. His voice was more jaunty and light. And certainly there was a lot more of the parkour elements than what we saw in the DVD. For example, I was disappointed that we did not get to see his leap to the stage from the railing of the seating area, famously shown in the photos from his parkour training:
But, I suspect that Colin was probably not well enough to make the jump regardless, which might explain its absence.
Another big difference between the DVD and the live performance was the parts where Colin sang. In the live performance, Colin's voice in the scene where he lures Ferdinand to Prospero is front and center, with the voices of the other spirits there as support only. On the DVD, their voices took a more active role, blending with Colin's into one harmonious sound. It was impossible to pick out his voice from the group. It was a lovely effect, but was probably done to mask the lack of power in Colin's voice due to his illness.
Another part of the scene that didn't play off the same was when Ferdinand was creeping closer to where Prospero's living quarters were. In the live play, Ariel actually follows Ferdinand step for step just behind him, looks where he looks, and turns when he turns to great comedic effect. It is as if Ariel is attempting to understand this human he follows by mimicking him.
Instead, the cameras focused on Miranda's reaction to seeing Ferdinand and this little exchange between Ferdinand and Ariel is marginalized.
In my mind, the differences between what I watched in June and what is recorded (as far as Colin's performance goes) occurs in the second half. It appears that most or all of this footage came from the second recording day, when Colin was extremely ill.
The harpy scene, while still brilliantly played, did not have the same powerful impact as it did live. Imagine instead that the harpy moves swiftly and sharply as he descends on each of the three sinners in turn and hovers over them menacingly, and when he speaks it is with a booming voice most closely associated with Merlin's Dragonlord voice. In parts of the harpy's speech, it sounds as if Colin is fighting against going hoarse and (if you look beyond the harpy mask) his face looks particularly ashen, even behind the pale makeup. Honestly, how he performed that scene at all, with as much power as he did whilst being so sick--and on stilts besides--is pretty amazing when you think on it.
There were also marked differences in the wedding celebration scene. In June, Ariel's Juno was much more campily played, and again, with more bounce and vigor in Juno's steps as time and again, she pulls Ferdinand away from Miranda. This is especially true in the first half of the dance, although in the second half, Colin seems to rebound a bit. It still played almost as funny as when I saw it live, though, and it was still thoroughly amusing. (Another moment (in my opinion) in which Colin looks particularly unwell is at the beginning of the dance, where his head pops up behind Prospero's and then slowly sinks behind him.)
Every scene Colin is in from there on out, the poor dear's face is dripping in sweat (while no one else's is), though he still performs his scenes flawlessly. During his last solo "Where the bee sucks", he is at times noticeably struggling for breath, though it does not affect his song.
His final dance does not have the same vigor and pep as I've seen in many videos as well as what I saw for myself, but again, performed flawlessly.
For all that I found lacking from the recording versus the live performance, there were parts that I thought were better than my recollection as well. Ariel's first scene, where he describes what he did during the tempest at Prospero's behest, was particularly well done by Colin. His voice and mannerisms really sold the point that he is not human and was better played here than I recall when I saw it live.
The next scene, where Ariel asks for his freedom and Prospero then recounts Ariel's sad tale back to him so that he remembers is masterfully played by both Roger Allam and Colin. All the subtle voice raises of Prospero as he is pointedly reminding Ariel of his fate and Ariel's escalating alarm as he at last remembers his own torment was lovely to behold, as was Ariel's abrupt about face and earnest eagerness to do Prospero's bidding.
Also, the scene near the end, where Ariel speaks of the men that Prospero torments, Ariel's tone is sorrowful and moving and really gives the impression that even the air sprite's flighty feelings have been touched by their plight.
And, for the "Where the bee sucks" scene, perhaps because Colin is physically struggling for breath, Ariel's face and song is simultaneously cheerful, poignant, and sad. His actual song was more tunefully done than when I saw him live as well. :)
All in all, I am very glad to have the DVD as a fond remembrance of my time at the Globe, but am gladder yet for having seen the production in person.
Anyone else who experienced both have opinions on the matter? Agree? Disagree? I would love to hear your thoughts!
So, this week I finally received my copy of The Tempest and got a chance to watch it through. I cannot wait to hook up my DVD player to my big screen TV so I may gawk in hi-def, but in the meantime...
I couldn't help but notice some of the similarities and, most notably, differences between what was on the DVD versus what it was like to see this play live.
I'd read a few comments/reviews by other people who had seen both the live show and the movie of it in theatres or on the DVD who said it was very much like being a groundling in the theatre itself. And I thought, it was and yet it wasn't.
Yes, having all the close up shots did lend to that feeling of being close to the action, but yet, because the camera chose what we were seeing, it also felt rather different. For example, I remember Ariel's part as being quite a bit bigger than what we saw on film, and part of the reason for that must inevitably be that my eyes were drawn to Colin whenever he was onstage. There were many scenes where he didn't have an active speaking role, but played the part of the observer (as he had been charged to do by Prospero). In person, we got to see him enter and exit, watch and hover, whereas the camera was, of course, following the main action and so, we missed out on these little side encounters.
Colin's performance of Ariel in the DVD was, on the whole, lovely, sweet, and enchanting. It's great to have a record of him performing a very different role from that of Merlin. But it was almost a pale replica of the much richer, fuller, and more flighty Ariel I was lucky enough to witness on stage in person at the end of June.
It is, I think, important to note that the filming of the play was done over two nights in August. This was during the time when Colin was sick, and he was, in fact very ill for one of the two recording nights. For those who might not remember or have been aware, Colin missed the majority of the performances after they came back from hiatus in early August, starting just after the performance on 9 August (the first recording night). There was no understudy for his role, so for him to not perform, you can imagine how awful he must have felt. He'd been out sick for a week before he came back for the one performance that was being recorded on 14 August. That evening was his last performance as Ariel, as he missed the rest of the shows, as well as closing night. It was later revealed that he was hospitalized for a short period of time for treatment of what was reported to be tracheitis.
I mention this so that you can be amazed anew at how well he was able to perform under such difficult conditions. If you were not already aware of his illness and had not seen him perform when he was well, I'm sure it would be very hard to tell there was anything amiss, such is his dedication to his role.
But the Ariel I saw in June was much more flighty and energetic, more chaotic and manic. Every entrance or exit was bouncy, with quick, sharp movements. His voice was more jaunty and light. And certainly there was a lot more of the parkour elements than what we saw in the DVD. For example, I was disappointed that we did not get to see his leap to the stage from the railing of the seating area, famously shown in the photos from his parkour training:
But, I suspect that Colin was probably not well enough to make the jump regardless, which might explain its absence.
Another big difference between the DVD and the live performance was the parts where Colin sang. In the live performance, Colin's voice in the scene where he lures Ferdinand to Prospero is front and center, with the voices of the other spirits there as support only. On the DVD, their voices took a more active role, blending with Colin's into one harmonious sound. It was impossible to pick out his voice from the group. It was a lovely effect, but was probably done to mask the lack of power in Colin's voice due to his illness.
Another part of the scene that didn't play off the same was when Ferdinand was creeping closer to where Prospero's living quarters were. In the live play, Ariel actually follows Ferdinand step for step just behind him, looks where he looks, and turns when he turns to great comedic effect. It is as if Ariel is attempting to understand this human he follows by mimicking him.
Instead, the cameras focused on Miranda's reaction to seeing Ferdinand and this little exchange between Ferdinand and Ariel is marginalized.
In my mind, the differences between what I watched in June and what is recorded (as far as Colin's performance goes) occurs in the second half. It appears that most or all of this footage came from the second recording day, when Colin was extremely ill.
The harpy scene, while still brilliantly played, did not have the same powerful impact as it did live. Imagine instead that the harpy moves swiftly and sharply as he descends on each of the three sinners in turn and hovers over them menacingly, and when he speaks it is with a booming voice most closely associated with Merlin's Dragonlord voice. In parts of the harpy's speech, it sounds as if Colin is fighting against going hoarse and (if you look beyond the harpy mask) his face looks particularly ashen, even behind the pale makeup. Honestly, how he performed that scene at all, with as much power as he did whilst being so sick--and on stilts besides--is pretty amazing when you think on it.
There were also marked differences in the wedding celebration scene. In June, Ariel's Juno was much more campily played, and again, with more bounce and vigor in Juno's steps as time and again, she pulls Ferdinand away from Miranda. This is especially true in the first half of the dance, although in the second half, Colin seems to rebound a bit. It still played almost as funny as when I saw it live, though, and it was still thoroughly amusing. (Another moment (in my opinion) in which Colin looks particularly unwell is at the beginning of the dance, where his head pops up behind Prospero's and then slowly sinks behind him.)
Every scene Colin is in from there on out, the poor dear's face is dripping in sweat (while no one else's is), though he still performs his scenes flawlessly. During his last solo "Where the bee sucks", he is at times noticeably struggling for breath, though it does not affect his song.
His final dance does not have the same vigor and pep as I've seen in many videos as well as what I saw for myself, but again, performed flawlessly.
For all that I found lacking from the recording versus the live performance, there were parts that I thought were better than my recollection as well. Ariel's first scene, where he describes what he did during the tempest at Prospero's behest, was particularly well done by Colin. His voice and mannerisms really sold the point that he is not human and was better played here than I recall when I saw it live.
The next scene, where Ariel asks for his freedom and Prospero then recounts Ariel's sad tale back to him so that he remembers is masterfully played by both Roger Allam and Colin. All the subtle voice raises of Prospero as he is pointedly reminding Ariel of his fate and Ariel's escalating alarm as he at last remembers his own torment was lovely to behold, as was Ariel's abrupt about face and earnest eagerness to do Prospero's bidding.
Also, the scene near the end, where Ariel speaks of the men that Prospero torments, Ariel's tone is sorrowful and moving and really gives the impression that even the air sprite's flighty feelings have been touched by their plight.
And, for the "Where the bee sucks" scene, perhaps because Colin is physically struggling for breath, Ariel's face and song is simultaneously cheerful, poignant, and sad. His actual song was more tunefully done than when I saw him live as well. :)
All in all, I am very glad to have the DVD as a fond remembrance of my time at the Globe, but am gladder yet for having seen the production in person.
Anyone else who experienced both have opinions on the matter? Agree? Disagree? I would love to hear your thoughts!