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Drunk homeless guy staggers into a basement dive bar, rants incoherently for a bit, passes out on the floor. Bunch of guys with a sick sense of humor think it'd be funny to fuck with his head, make him think that he's actually a rich nobleman who's gone crazy and only THINKS he's a drunk homeless guy. At the same time, a bunch of actors can't pay their bar tab, and, in exchange for not having the bouncer beat the shit out of them, agree to put on a Shakespeare play to entertain the "nobleman." Unfortunately, they suck -- partially because there just aren't enough of them, so they're doubling so many roles that it's incoherent. Until the *cough cough* nobleman makes all the other folks at the bar take some roles -- and he ends up with the male lead. Playing against an actress who is an absolute raving bitch.
As is typical for my "reviews", this will be partly a review of the Actors' Shakespeare Project's opening play of their new season, and partly a general essay on the issues around it.
The Taming of the Shrew is one of the two most difficult Shakespeare plays for me to watch, the other being The Merchant of Venice, which, somewhat ironically, was directed last season by Melia Bensussen, who directed THIS Shrew.
So, where to start? With what I find so difficult and problematic about the play, or with what Bensussen does with that? Let's start with the problem, and then talk about ASP's solutions.
You could do worse as a starting point than this essay, which explains, among other things, that a man who doesn't respect a woman's boundaries in normal social discourse is pretty likely to not respect her boundaries at all -- or, in fact, to respect HER at all -- which means that he's a danger to her.
I just read that essay a couple days ago, and then Lis brought An American in Paris home from the library. We were enjoying it immensely, marveling at Gene Kelly's dancing, and loving the characters, and then Kelly, as the leading man, met the girl that he fell for (and she was nineteen, so I feel comfortable calling her a "girl" rather than a woman), and stalked her and pressured her until she agreed to go out with him.
At this point, Lis and I both realized just how uncomfortable we were with this, and turned off the movie. Of course, just for the record, Jerry Mulligan does end up with Lise, which goes to show you that stalkerish oppressive behavior gets rewarded, at least in Hollywood movies of the 1950s.
And in London stage plays of the 1590s.
Heck, in Shrew, it's worse. Lise gives in to Jerry because Gene Kelly is the hero, and is just so charming and sweet that she just falls for him because of his creepy obsessive stalkerish behavior, after only two or three days of him following her to work and stuff. Petruccio, on the other hand, uses starvation, sleep deprivation, and separation from familiar surroundings and control of social contact as brainwashing/torture methods. The most obvious way to read the play is of a domineering man using methods explicitly forbidden by the Geneva convention to inflict a Stockholm Syndrome condition on a woman, breaking her will and making her servile to him. To me, this is not the stuff that wonderful, frothy, lighthearted comedy is made of. And that's the challenge that a director coming to this play faces.
Mostly, you want to distance the audience somewhat from the uncomfortable bits, but not distancing so much that you've lost the point of the play. And Shakespeare gives directors a couple tools to do this. The most significant distancing tool is the Induction -- that the whole Taming of the Shrew isn't really happening -- it's just a play that the actors are putting on for the drunk homeless Christopher Sly.
But Bensussen has a couple other angles as well. Not only is the story actually a play-within-a-play -- but none of the people PLAYING in it are people that you want to identify with. Is the play deeply misogynistic? Yeah, sure it is -- but it's being played for, and by, a bunch of people who you wouldn't want to hang out with anyway, at least initially. So there's THAT distancing, as well.
But the most important thing that Bensussen does is choose to have Kate portrayed as a genuinely unpleasant person, played by a genuinely unpleasant actress (played in turn by the genuinely pleasant Sarah Newhouse). As such, Kate's "taming" doesn't feel like breaking the spirit of Woman, but rather a specific transformation of one unpleasant person into a better person. While Petruccio, in transforming her, is also somehow transforming himself (something which isn't supported by Shakespeare's words, but is done entirely by Ben Evett's portrayal).
I found myself surprised by how uncomfortable I wasn't, watching this version. I didn't feel that Bensussen had done violence to the message of the play -- but, she'd managed to make The Taming of The Shrew more into a taming of Kate specifically than a general condemnation of "uppity women".
In the Director's Notes, Bensussen talks about how her route into the play was to look at the theme of "transformation", and how various characters changed throughout the play. Related to that are questions of what people are REALLY like, and, in fact, what's real at all. As a cute way of bringing this message home -- Christopher Sly's clothing includes a Real Madrid t-shirt. Which just says "REAL" across the front. When Petruccio and Kate leave at the end, and Petruccio exits with his wife -- he's wearing the shirt again. Is Petruccio leaving with Kate? Is Sly leaving with the actress? Both?
Neither?
This is a production worth seeing, partially for seeing how ASP manages to deal with the textural challenges.
But mostly because it's a hell of a lot of fun.
Playing downstairs at the Garage in Harvard Square -- and they use the awkwardness of the space to their advantage -- through November 8. Tickets and details available at http://www.actorsshakespeareproject.org/ Blogger Gift Disclosure: actually, we didn't get press tickets this time -- this year, we bought a season subscription. But they DID make up an extra press kit for Lis and me. |
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Flat Earth Theatre announces open auditions for the hilarious comedy, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) by The Reduced Shakespeare Company to be held October 12th and 14th from 7 - 9 PM at the Factory Theatre, 791 Tremont St, Boston.
Originally produced in 1987, The Complete Works attempts to condense all of The Bard's works into a single two hour performance with varying levels of success. While scripted, the play requires performers who are quick on their feet and not afraid to improvise when necessary. No prior experience with improv comedy is required, though may be helpful. Flat Earth seeks to fill all three roles that make up the cast; both male and female actors are encouraged to audition. This first round of auditions will consist of improv games led by the director as well as selected readings from the script. Headshots and resumes are accepted, but not required. Those auditioning are encouraged to arrive promptly at seven. Rehearsals for The Complete Works will be held weekday evenings in Watertown.
The Complete Works will be performed January 8th through the 16th at the Factory Theatre. For more information, contact auditions@flatearththeatre.com |
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The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) in conjunction with the Moscow Art Theater Institute for Advanced Theater Training presents The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare, its first production of the 2009-2010 season. The production is performed by the Institute Class of 2010 and directed by Elliot Norton Award-winning David Gammons, who distills the play’s action down to its bare essentials. He crafts two distinct worlds, leading the audience from Sicilia, a Victorian-tinged land of string quartets, midnight wanderings and week-long chess matches, to Bohemia, a 1960-ish world of petty thieves and perpetual parties.
Bostonians won’t want to miss this classic Shakespeare production! The Winter’s Tale is also an opportunity for audiences to brush up on their Shakespeare before seeing Best of Both Worlds, Diane Paulus and Randy Weiner’s R&B and Gospel adaptation of The Winter’s Tale, which begins performances on November 21st.
Show Times
Thursday October 1 at 7:30pm
Friday October 2 at 8:00pm
Saturday October 3 at 2:00 & 8:00pm.
All performances are at the Loeb Drama Center at 64 Brattle St, Cambridge, Mass.
Tickets are $10 for general public, $5 for students & seniors, and free to A.R.T. subscribers. They can be purchased online at www.amrep.org, by phone at (617) 547- 8300 or in person at the A.R.T. box office.
For more information please visit www.americanrepertorytheater.org/events/show/winters-tale-art-institute
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Also, the ART production of The Donkey Show is going on now, and seems to have shows listed through the rest of the year. It's a 70s disco version of Midsummer.
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Actors' Shakespeare Project has announced their 2009-2010 season, which includes:
- The Taming of the Shrew
Directed by Melia Bensussen
October 14th - November 8th
Downstairs at The Garage
38 JFK Street, Harvard Square
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
Directed by Benjamin Evett
December 30th - January 24th
Midway Studios
15 Channel Center Street
Fort Point Channel, Boston
- Othello
Directed by Judy Braha
March 10th - April 4th
(location not yet determined)
- Timon of Athens
Directed by Bill Barclay
May 19th - June 13th
Midway Studios
15 Channel Center Street
Fort Point Channel, Boston
Tickets tend to be in the $40-$50 range, though there are always deals and subscriptions and such.
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| » Love's Labour's Lost |
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Brandeis has announced its 2009-2010 season, which includes a production of Love's Labour's Lost this spring, April 29 – May 2, 2010, directed by Steven Maler.
Performance Schedule and Prices
Thursday at 8 p.m. - $18
Friday at 8 p.m. - $20
Saturday Matinee at 2 p.m. - $18
Saturday at 8 p.m. - $20
Sunday Matinee at 2 p.m. - $20
Sep. 10th, 2009 @ 01:14 pm
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| » The American Repertory Theater presents "Sleep No More" |
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*Production start times have been updated!*
The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) and pioneering British theater company Punchdrunk are collaborating this fall on a theater experience the likes of which North America has never seen. Sleep No More is an immersive multi-sensory theater installation inspired by Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Hitchcock’s classic thrillers. The OldLincolnSchool in BrooklineVillage is being transformed into a supernatural landscape that will give audiences the experience of traveling through a hybrid theatrical-cinematic world.
Sleep No More runs October 8, 2009 through January 3, 2010 with start times on Tuesday - Sunday at 7:00, 7:20, and 7:40pm. The OldLincolnSchool is located at 194 Boylston Street (Route 9 Eastbound), near BrooklineVillage, Brookline, Mass., which can be reached from Green Line stations Brookline Village and Brookline Hills. Parking is also available in the 10 Brookline Place Garage for $5 on weekdays and $7 on weekends with a ticket stub.
Tickets are $25-39 and can be purchased online at americanrepertorytheater.org, by phone at 617-547-8300, or in person at the A.R.T. box office. Group rates and $25 student discounts are also available.
Production not recommended for persons younger than 16 as it contains nudity and may be disturbing to minors. Also, the production involves walking so patrons are advised to wear sensible footwear.
For more information, please visit americanrepertorytheater.org/sleepnomore
Sep. 8th, 2009 @ 02:41 pm
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| » [free] Complt Shkspre, Abridged, and Comedy of Errors |
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Going on right now is Orfeo Group's The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), outside at the Publick Theatre, 1175A Soldiers Field Road, Brighton, MA. It runs through August, with shows Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at 6:45 pm. Tickets are $15, with Fridays free for students with valid ID and Thursdays free for everyone.
Starting next Friday is the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's Comedy of Errors, on Boston Common. It runs July 31 - August 16, 2009, with Tuesdays - Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 7pm. Donations are always appreciated.
Additionally, this Sunday Orfeo Group is having a day-long festival, including Romeo and Juliet & A Midsummer Night's Dream by Kids4Kids, and a lecture on music and astronomy in Shakespeare's time, plus other, less thematically appropriate, offerings
Jul. 24th, 2009 @ 01:15 pm
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| » ASP's Much Ado About Nothing |
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I highly recommend this show. It has a great night club vibe, and it's just a lot of fun, with strong dramatic and comedic performances and jazzy musical interludes. I particularly enjoyed Doug Lockwood's renderings of Don John and Dogberry. My only criticism is that I wasn't 100% convinced Beatrice really fell for Benedick.
As usual, I was drawing; here's a link to the sketches: http://www.garethhinds.com/blog/?p=324
Jun. 1st, 2009 @ 11:02 am
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| » Shakespeare and Racial Politics in America TONIGHT |
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Commonwealth Shakespeare Company & The Federalist Society invite you to the ninth season of
Shakespeare and the Law
SHAKESPEARE AND RACIAL POLITICS IN AMERICA
THE WIMBERLY THEATRE
May 4, 2009 @ 5:30pm
FREE
Hosted by Ralph Boyd; Featuring Wayne Budd
Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, The Federalist Society, McCarter & English LLP, and the Massachusetts Bar Assocation invite you to come to see Boston's best and brightest legal minds enact a staged reading of Shakespeare's Othello and then join a discussion and debate on the politics of race in America under President Obama.
The reading, directed by CSC's Artistic Director Steve Maler, features former U.S. Attorney and Goodwin Procter partner Wayne Budd as Othello.
The post-play discussion is moderated by Ralph Boyd, former head of the Department Justice's Civil Rights Division and now Chairman and CEO of the Freddie Mac Foundation.
The Virginia Wimberly Theatre, 527 Tremont St., Boston (Directions) Monday, May 4, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. Free Admission. No tickets required. Questions concerning the event please call Dottie: 617.449.6617
For more information *click*
May. 4th, 2009 @ 01:43 pm
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| » Theatre@First's production of The Winter's Tale |
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Let me start with the most critical. Any production of The Winter's Tale lives or dies on its portrayal of King Leontes. Leontes has to be someone who you can believe is so blindingly jealous that he can imagine his wife and best friend sleeping together, and then believe that everyone who tries to convince him that he's deluded is plotting against him -- someone whose jealousy edges into paranoid schizophrenia, drives him to be willing to murder his friend, execute his wife, kill his daughter. And yet, he simultaneously has to be fundamentally a good person, and a good king -- genuinely sympathetic while being monstrous.
That's a nearly impossible task.
Jason Merrill nails it.
That's partially because Merrill isn't left to carry that task by himself. Leontes is surrounded by honorable, decent people with integrity, who believe that their king is better than he shows himself. And when those characters are played believably -- played as people who are smart, perceptive, and decent -- we as the audience are willing to accept that, perhaps, their opinions might have merit. So long as Leontes is played so that such a thing COULD be possible.
It's a very difficult task, and it requires Camillo (Joshua Nicholson) and Antigonus (Doug Miller) to be spot-on, as well. Leontes' monstrosity in giving both of those men unbearable tasks is met by those characters' integrity and love of their king -- which, when done right, leaves the audience somehow believing in both the king's monstrosity and his worthiness of their love.
The set, lighting, and sound design help, too. Sicily is present as bare and austere, with harsh, cold lighting, Bohemia, in earth tones -- browns and yellows, with warm light.
And the music deserves a mention or two. We didn't buy the CD of the music Michael J Veloso wrote for it, but now I'm thinking that maybe I should have.
We've seen The Winter's Tale three times now, and two of the productions were good. And, of those two -- Actors' Shakespeare Project and Theatre@First -- I think I liked this one somewhat better.
Remaining shows:
Thursday April 30 8:00pm
Friday May 1 8:00pm
Saturday May 2 8:00pm
Unity Church of God
6 William Street, Somerville, MA 02144
$12/ticket
Apr. 30th, 2009 @ 10:41 am
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| » Winter's Tale in Davis Square |
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Theatre@First, a Somerville Community Theatre, opened the Winter's Tale this weekend in Davis Square, and it runs Wednesday through Saturday this coming week.
www.theatreatfirst.org/shows/winters_tale/winters_tale.shtml
Apr. 26th, 2009 @ 08:53 pm
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| » Hamlet |
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Harvard's Hyperion Shakespeare Company is putting on a production of Hamlet. Performances are 7:30 pm, April 23, 24, 26, 30, and May 1 and 2, in the Leverett House old library (which is not handicap accessible). Tickets are $12, $8 with student ID. Note that the online ticketing system adds about 50% to the ticket price; they're available at face cost at the Harvard ticket office in Harvard Square (by Au Bon Pain).
Running approximately concurrently is The Tragedy of Hamlet: the Prince of Denmark. Performances are
Thursday, April 30th, 8:00 PM
Friday, May 1st, 8:00 PM
Saturday, May 2nd, 2:00 PM (Matinee)
Saturday, May 2nd, 8:00 PM
Sunday, May 3rd, 2:00 PM (Matinee, Closing)
in Harvard's New College Theatre, and tickets are $10.
If you see both, there's a panel discussing the two on Saturday, May 2, at 4 PM, in the Leverett Old Library.
Apr. 21st, 2009 @ 05:00 pm
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| » Come celebrate the Bard's birthday! |
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OK, it's a few days early, still:
The Bard himself has returned to comment on his life, his works, and how the centuries have treated him. Actor J.T. Turner brings Shakespeare to life, and presents an evening filled with stories about Shakespeare, his works, productions through the ages, and passages from many of the Bard's best works.
Shakespeare's Ghost
April 17, 2009 @ 7:30PM
The Ipswich Performing Arts Center
134 High St. Ipswich, MA
Tickets are $12 for adults/$10 for children/seniors
Proceeds to benefit Tiger Tots Daycare Program
Reserve tickets, email eimiayumi@gmail.com
Apr. 10th, 2009 @ 09:19 pm
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| » Actors' Shakespeare Project forum on Coriolanus, Monday 3/30 at the Armory |
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Tomorrow (Monday) night at 7 pm, Actors' Shakespeare Project will hold this event at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave in Somerville:
Coriolanus Conversations: The Politics of Compromise
Moderated by Director Robert Walsh
Panelists:
Ron Goldman, Cast Member & Psychologist
Diana Henderson, Shakespeare Scholar, MIT
Robert S. Ross, Professor of Political Science, Boston College
With scenes and discussion about the play and its relevance to our times, in our lives, today.
Cost: Pay What You Can at the door, all proceeds benefit the Actors' Shakespeare Project
(Coriolanus runs through April 5. x-posted to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) davis_square)
Mar. 29th, 2009 @ 04:57 pm
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| » Coriolanus by the Actors' Shakespeare Project |
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The problem with Coriolanus as a play is that it features a main character whose tragic flaw is that he's unlikable.
Okay, technically that's not it. Technically, his tragic flaw is that he's morally inflexible to a Rorscharch-like degree. But that makes him tactless, angry, cold, ruthless, and heartless. And therefore really hard to like.
And nobody else in the play is any better. Most are worse.
( Continued inside, with spoilers for the play )
( Discussion of this particular production )
Mar. 26th, 2009 @ 10:54 am
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| » Coriolanus review & sketches |
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I went to see (the dress rehearsal of) ASP's Coriolanus, and I've just posted a brief review and a whole bunch of sketches on my blog. The ultra-short version: it's excellent, go see it!
Mar. 13th, 2009 @ 11:41 pm
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| » Pericles at MIT; Coriolanus at Actors' Shakespeare Project |
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You know, this is going to be a great weekend for obscure Shakespeare in Boston. MIT Shakespeare Ensemble's production of Pericles opened tonight, and will be playing Friday and Saturday, and next week on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. (12th, 13th, and 14th, and again on the 19th, 20th, and 21st, at 8 pm in la Sala, in the Student Center.) And the Actors' Shakespeare Project's Coriolanus also opened tonight, and will be playing through April 5.
So it's a fantastic weekend for all you Shakespeare completists out there. If you've got a checklist of the Shakespeare plays that you've been working off of (and, let's face it, who doesn't?), you can knock two of them off your scorecard.
But is it worth doing?
Well, I can't speak for Coriolanus yet, since I can only see one play at a time -- ask me after Sunday -- but, for Pericles, I'd have to say that it's worth it. At nine bucks a pop, six bucks with student ID, it's better than most of the movies out there, and definitely better than anything on TV this weekend.
Nobody's saying this was Shakespeare's best work. Not in the least. Its poetry is clever instead of lyrical, it lacks the emotional complexity of most of his works, and, well, the plot isn't so much "deus ex machina" as "deus ex machina plus pirates ex machina, and, at least once, mad scientist ex machina." Each scene in the play has only the most tenuous connection to the ones before it and after it. It has no Great Insights Into The Human Condition, or Deep Emotional Impact, or anything like that.
But, you know what? Who cares? It's fun. Isn't that enough every once in a while?
One of the most important characters in the play isn't a character. Anna Krohn (who was also the dramaturg) plays Gower, basically the narrator. In other words, she's playing Exposition Man. Her job is to stand there and feed us large chunks of information. Which is vitally important, since the play around about a half-dozen spots around the Mediterranian, over a period of sixteen years or so.
Fortunately, she's good at it. Without a good narrator, Pericles would be entirely incomprehensible, since it basically makes no sense whatsoever. This isn't a failing in the MIT Shakespeare Ensemble -- it's just that this is one of the "Shakespeare got to get paid, son" plays. As far as I can tell, he threw it together for the paycheck. The fact that it's still fun to watch is what shows that Shakespeare was a genius.
The costumes were gorgeous, the lighting design was clever, and included one of the best "water" effects I've seen.
What are the downsides with the performance? The first one, of course, is that the plot makes no sense. Once things get rolling, you kind of catch the swing of things, and you sorta get it, and it makes no sense in a fun way that you're cool with. Once you accept that, [SPOILER] yeah, of COURSE dead bodies are going to wash up RIGHT next to mad scientists who can ressurect them [/SPOILER] and the like, you can roll with it, and it's not ACTUALLY a problem. But it does mean that the first five minutes or so are a bit confusing, until the "looking for plot holes" part of your brain just sort of whimpers and gives up. After which, you're fine.
The second problem is the one that kind of goes with the territory of "first night performance in a college production", which is getting the sound levels right. In some scenes, where the actors were to the back of the house, and the sound effects were to the front of the house, the sound effects were loud enough to make some of the dialogue hard to hear.
It can be tough to manage to deliver the lines correctly and clearly, and, at the same time, maintain the body language and emotional content of the scene. In this performance, in the cases where that fell down a little, the actors generally managed to keep the body language and emotion, but didn't project their words clearly enough -- speaking too fast, or to quietly, or whatever. But, frankly, of those three things, words, body language, and emotion, if you're going to lose one, "words" are it. It occasionally made it a little tricky to figure out exactly what was going on, but I could follow it well enough.
So: perfect? No, but that's because Pericles isn't a perfect play, and because the actors and crew all have day jobs, like, y'know, "going to MIT", which, rumor has it, can take up a certain amount of your time and brainpower. Worth nine bucks? Hell, yeah.
Mar. 13th, 2009 @ 12:13 am
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| » If you live in Somerville, please act TODAY to help Actors' Shakespeare Project |
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If you live in Somerville, please send an e-mail today to Madeline Masters, MMasters@SomervilleMA.gov, saying that you support the petition by Arts at the Armory to allow matinee performances by Actors' Shakespeare Project (and other organizations). Be sure to include your full name and street address in the e-mail, and put "Zoning Board of Appeals" in the subject line.
Or, better yet, come to the Zoning Board of Appeal hearing tonight at 6 pm at Somerville City Hall and testify in person.
If the ZBA doesn't grant this permit, Actors' Shakespeare Project will be unable to present any of the nine scheduled matinees of Coriolanus this month. So send your e-mail now. Thank you for supporting the arts in Somerville.
Mar. 4th, 2009 @ 11:03 am
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| » William Shakespeare: Poet of the Caribbean |
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The MIT Shakespeare Ensemble, in another caffeinated feat of insanity and back by popular demand, is performing a 24-hour show. It's a show that is written, directed, designed, and performed, all in the span of 24 hours! Last year, we presented you with William Shakespeare: Vampire Hunter. Now, we bring you William Shakespeare: Poet of the Caribbean. The one-time-only performance is tonight at 8pm. All information can be found here: http://mit.edu/ensemble/www/current.html
Feb. 1st, 2009 @ 07:21 am
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