Bard in Boston

[Duplicated from riba_rambles]

In the program for Brandeis Theater Company's production of As You Like It, the Assistant Director's Note reveals:

Before rehearsals began, [director] Adrianne [Krstansky] gave us a bit of homework: to fall in love or do something that feels like falling in love.

That exercise certainly paid off as we watched each character succumb to Cupid's sting.

What more can I say? It's funny, it's romantic -- it would make a great Valentine's Day date...

On Thursday, February 14, join Professor of English and American Literature William (Billie) Flesch for a post-show discussion about the history, context and themes in 'As You Like It.' Professor Flesch is a noted Shakespearean scholar and well-loved professor here at Brandeis University. The actors will join the discussion too.

[I want to go, but that could run awfully late for a work night...]

( Further details on the choreography )

• Thursday, February 14 and February 28 at 7pm
• Friday, February 15 and February 29 at 8pm
• Saturday, February 16 and March 1 at 2pm and 8pm
• Sunday, February 17 at 2pm and 7pm
• Sunday, March 2 at 2pm

Tickets for season ballets can be purchased by phone through Telecharge at 800.447.7400, online at www.telecharge.com, or in person at the Citi Performing Arts Center (SM) Wang Theatre box office, located at 270 Tremont Street in Boston's Theatre District, open Monday- Saturday from 10am - 6pm. Prices for Romeo & Juliet range from $25 - 110. ($25 price available in person only) Discounted group tickets (10 or more) are available by calling Boston Ballet's Group Sales at 617.456.6343. Rush tickets are available. Contact the Boston Ballet box office at 617.695.6955 or visit www.bostonballet.org for details.

[Cross-posted from riba_rambles]

Reading theatrical histories (such as Nigel Cliff's The Shakespeare riots), one often hears how acting styles have changed over the centuries. The great actors of each generation are lauded for playing roles more naturally than their predecessors.

But reviews and descriptions can only go so far in conveying what that means. Furthermore, most of this discussion focuses on the male actors: David Garrick, John Kemble, Edmund Kean, William Macready, Edwin Forrest... It's a never-ending chain of dominance; even Kenneth Branagh seemed compelled to take on all Lawrence Olivier's best-known roles.

The actresses generally get far less attention, even though they often earned equal acclaim in their day.

“There are five kinds of actresses: bad actresses, fair actresses, good actresses, great actresses -- and then there is Sarah Bernhardt.”

— Mark Twain

In her seventy-minute one-woman show, Rebekah Maggor portrays sixteen actresses in eight roles from seven of Shakespeare's plays, re-enacting performances in three languages from over a century of stage and screen.

According to the program, Ms. Maggor is a voice coach and "associate editor of the International Dialects of English Archive." She used historical voice recordings and prompt books to recreate the roles in this show.

Of the few actresses whom I've seen perform (Claire Danes, Elizabeth Taylor, and Kathleen Turner), Ms. Maggor's renditions seemed spot on.

Most of the play is narrated in the persona of actress and director Margaret Webster (1905-1972). You don't need to know much Shakespeare to enjoy the production, because she provides context for all the speeches.

Boston trivia aside: Paul Robeson was the first black actor to play Othello in the United States. Fearful of the controversy, no Broadway theater wanted to stage the play. So the American premiere took place at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge. Reaction was so positive that the New York theaters which initially refused the show were soon clamoring to bring it to their stages.

I actually would've liked more of history. Listening to some of the more affected styles of 19th century acting (such as the rrrolled R-r-r's), I can't help wonder what role they played in projecting unamplified voices to audiences of thousands.[Contrast the early crooners, who relied upon microphones, to someone like Al Jolson.]

This is a show that can be enjoyed in at least three levels: hear some of Shakespeare's greatest soliloquys, learn a lesson in theater history, and marvel at a virtuouso one-woman performance.

PS: On the subject of minimalist Shakespeare, Actors' Shakespeare Project's five-person Henry V closes February 3rd.

THE HUNTINGTON PRESENTS "SHAKESPEARE'S ACTRESSES IN AMERICA"
Acting tour-de-force stars local actress and playwright Rebekah Maggor

WHAT:
The Huntington Theatre Company presents "Shakespeare's Actresses in America," a one-woman acting tour-de-force created and performed by Rebekah Maggor, and directed by Karin Coonrod.

WHEN:
8 performances only - Jan. 27-29; Feb. 3-5, Feb. 10-11, 2008

• Sun., Jan. 27 @ 7 pm
• Mon., Jan. 28 @ 7:30 pm
• Tue., Jan. 29 @ 7:30 pm
• Sun., Feb. 3 @ 7 pm
• Mon., Feb. 4 @ 7:30 pm
• Tue., Feb. 5 @ 7:30 pm
• Sun., Feb. 10 @ 7 pm
• Mon., Feb. 11 @ 7:30 pm

WHERE:
Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont Street, Boston

TICKETS:
$50 ($5 discounts for student, seniors, and military personnel).
Patrons 35 years and younger may purchase $25 tickets through the Huntington's "H_tix Program," available online with code 1723.
Limited $15 student rush and back-row tickets.

Purchase online at huntingtontheatre.org,
 by phone at 617 266-0800,
 in person at the Calderwood Pavilion Box Office (527 Tremont St.)
 or the Boston University Theatre Box Office (264 Huntington Avenue). Call for hours.

• Coppélia Kahn, Professor of English and Gender Studies at Brown University and author of Man's Estate: Masculine Identity in Shakespeare and Roman Shakespeare: Warriors, Wounds, and Women.
• Diana Henderson, Professor of Shakespeare, Renaissance Literature, Drama, Women's Literature, Media Studies at MIT and author of Collaborations with the Past: Reshaping Shakespeare Across Time and Media.
• Fred Marchant, Director of Creative Writing at Suffolk University and teacher at the William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences and at The Veterans Writing Group.
• Normi Noel, Director of ASP's Henry V and longtime member of Shakespeare and Company.
• James R. Siemon, Professor of Renaissance Drama at Boston University and author of Word Against Word, Shakespearean Utterance and Shakespearean Iconoclasm.