All The World's a Stage
Jul. 12th, 2010 10:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaitouI took myself of to Stratford Ontario this weekend, and had a lovely time. I even wore a dress and everything. I got to Stratford, and realized that everything was metered parking and I still had no Canadian money. So then I went to a coffee shop a ways from down town and got coffee and a banana muffin from the sweetest gay man in all of Canada. (I asked whether to get the blueberry or banana muffin and his eyes widened and said I had picked his two very favorite and there was no way he could decide. Then later when I went to get sugar for the coffee he patted me on the shoulder and said 'dear, there's sugar on the table, it's ok.')
I wandered around Stratford, and even found a yarn store. It didn't have anything suitable for my super seekrit project though. :(
I checked into my Bed and Breakfast, which was amaaaazing. The lady was so nice, and the room was gorgeous. And there was a doggie that came up to my door when I parked the car. He waited expectantly, and when I opened the door I saw he'd put his ball down for me to throw. Smart dog.
I really enjoyed Kiss Me Kate, though it wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be. I thought I remembered someone telling me that it mitigated some of the misogyny in Taming of the Shrew (which I don't really have a problem with as a period piece, I just get less and less comfortable with it the closer you bring it to modern times) and it didn't. So I was a little disappointed there.
The actors were all good. Especially the male lead, Graham...he was exactly the right kind of Ham. The actress that played Lilli played her shrewishness a little too broadly for my taste (lots of stuck out tongues and pulling faces), but she was still pretty good. The two goons were awesome.
The costumes were really cool, and I almost bought the brochure just to have more pictures of them. The musical numbers were also really great. 'Too Darn Hot' was really really hot. And during one number Lois and Bill did a great dance piece involving a clothes rack on wheels, where she stood on the coat rack and he swung it and twirled it all over the stage.
The funniest part though, was actually a lady sitting behind me. During the intermission she complained about all that sexual humor Cole Porter had in the modern bits. She liked the nice Shakespeare stuff, but not this crude modern humor. I wanted to say 'Lady, don't you know that every other word in Shakespeare is a vagina pun?'
After the first play I wandered around some more and tried to find a place to get dinner. I ended up in a place that was completely empty. So I left as soon as I could down a grilled cheese sandwich (I figured that would be safe enough) and then I got dessert at a coffee shop and headed back towards the theater. I was still pretty early so I wandered around the bank of the Avon and took pictures of all the swans.
I hadn't read this play when I got my ticket, so I spent last week reading it. (had to make sure I get all the vagina puns, don't you know) It was funny because the book said the play was a bit problematic because Touchstone's jokes aren't funny to a modern ear, and Orlando risks looking like he's not worthy of Rosalind by the end of the play, but that the play's still worth it because Rosalind is so awesome.
Well, the Rosalind in this production graduated from the Billy Mays school of acting. Everything was just too dramatic and loud and childish from her. On the other hand, Orlando was awesome and dreamy, and Touchstone had everyone LOLing. Jaques was REALLY good, and so were Phebe and Silvius. Amiens didn't have much of a part, but he was really handsome and I wanted to take him home with me.
The staging was based on Magritte paintings. Jaques in particular was dressed in the standard suit and bowler hat, and there were lots of green apples all over. It made for a really neat set. There was even one really surreal moment, while Touchstone and Audrey are talking, and Jaques is also on stage.... or rather, his head is, poking up from a hole in the floor.
There was a shocking amount of violence in this production. Before the play even started a few actors came to stand in strategic places around the theater, dressed up like nazis. And only one of them looked human. One had a wolf's head, and two others were decked out like mummies. The wolf headed guy was really unnerving to be honest. Then they had Orlando's servant Adam die of hunger and cold. And it was obvious that Duke Frederick's court wasn't some place you want to be. When a line says that they're going to question Celia's handmaiden, you see them dragging said woman off kicking and screaming. And when the Duke questions Oliver about Orlando's whereabouts, it's obvious that he's been tortured. They also have Charles the Wrestler being tortured with him, and then the Duke shoots him in the head on stage.
It was also really funny. After Rosalind yells at Phebe, Phebe and Silvius hang out on a sheep with couch legs, and at one point Silvius appears to be...uh...having a *moment* with the sheep. Then Phebe has his own moment and Silvius gets her a cigarette. And everyone dances the Charleston at the end!
Then I went back to the B&B and went to bed. It was such a comfortable bed I didn't even wake up once, which I usually do when I'm not in my own bed.
So, Saturday was excellent. And you can see many pictures over here. Click and go see. You know you want to see the Shiniest Shakespeare Statue in the world.
I wandered around Stratford, and even found a yarn store. It didn't have anything suitable for my super seekrit project though. :(
I checked into my Bed and Breakfast, which was amaaaazing. The lady was so nice, and the room was gorgeous. And there was a doggie that came up to my door when I parked the car. He waited expectantly, and when I opened the door I saw he'd put his ball down for me to throw. Smart dog.
I really enjoyed Kiss Me Kate, though it wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be. I thought I remembered someone telling me that it mitigated some of the misogyny in Taming of the Shrew (which I don't really have a problem with as a period piece, I just get less and less comfortable with it the closer you bring it to modern times) and it didn't. So I was a little disappointed there.
The actors were all good. Especially the male lead, Graham...he was exactly the right kind of Ham. The actress that played Lilli played her shrewishness a little too broadly for my taste (lots of stuck out tongues and pulling faces), but she was still pretty good. The two goons were awesome.
The costumes were really cool, and I almost bought the brochure just to have more pictures of them. The musical numbers were also really great. 'Too Darn Hot' was really really hot. And during one number Lois and Bill did a great dance piece involving a clothes rack on wheels, where she stood on the coat rack and he swung it and twirled it all over the stage.
The funniest part though, was actually a lady sitting behind me. During the intermission she complained about all that sexual humor Cole Porter had in the modern bits. She liked the nice Shakespeare stuff, but not this crude modern humor. I wanted to say 'Lady, don't you know that every other word in Shakespeare is a vagina pun?'
After the first play I wandered around some more and tried to find a place to get dinner. I ended up in a place that was completely empty. So I left as soon as I could down a grilled cheese sandwich (I figured that would be safe enough) and then I got dessert at a coffee shop and headed back towards the theater. I was still pretty early so I wandered around the bank of the Avon and took pictures of all the swans.
I hadn't read this play when I got my ticket, so I spent last week reading it. (had to make sure I get all the vagina puns, don't you know) It was funny because the book said the play was a bit problematic because Touchstone's jokes aren't funny to a modern ear, and Orlando risks looking like he's not worthy of Rosalind by the end of the play, but that the play's still worth it because Rosalind is so awesome.
Well, the Rosalind in this production graduated from the Billy Mays school of acting. Everything was just too dramatic and loud and childish from her. On the other hand, Orlando was awesome and dreamy, and Touchstone had everyone LOLing. Jaques was REALLY good, and so were Phebe and Silvius. Amiens didn't have much of a part, but he was really handsome and I wanted to take him home with me.
The staging was based on Magritte paintings. Jaques in particular was dressed in the standard suit and bowler hat, and there were lots of green apples all over. It made for a really neat set. There was even one really surreal moment, while Touchstone and Audrey are talking, and Jaques is also on stage.... or rather, his head is, poking up from a hole in the floor.
There was a shocking amount of violence in this production. Before the play even started a few actors came to stand in strategic places around the theater, dressed up like nazis. And only one of them looked human. One had a wolf's head, and two others were decked out like mummies. The wolf headed guy was really unnerving to be honest. Then they had Orlando's servant Adam die of hunger and cold. And it was obvious that Duke Frederick's court wasn't some place you want to be. When a line says that they're going to question Celia's handmaiden, you see them dragging said woman off kicking and screaming. And when the Duke questions Oliver about Orlando's whereabouts, it's obvious that he's been tortured. They also have Charles the Wrestler being tortured with him, and then the Duke shoots him in the head on stage.
It was also really funny. After Rosalind yells at Phebe, Phebe and Silvius hang out on a sheep with couch legs, and at one point Silvius appears to be...uh...having a *moment* with the sheep. Then Phebe has his own moment and Silvius gets her a cigarette. And everyone dances the Charleston at the end!
Then I went back to the B&B and went to bed. It was such a comfortable bed I didn't even wake up once, which I usually do when I'm not in my own bed.
So, Saturday was excellent. And you can see many pictures over here. Click and go see. You know you want to see the Shiniest Shakespeare Statue in the world.
