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Oct. 19th, 2008 09:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
albadgerQuick report from Ashland, whither ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bigredpaul and I pranced for 3 plays. Already this weekend...
a Midsummer Night's Dream
the Most Overproduced Play in the World. But here, directed by Mark Rucker, nailed. Most interesting feature was the fairies, Titania's assistants with names like Cobweb and Mustardseed. Here, they're real fairies, effeminate young men who squeal, roll their eyes, and mouth "Oh, Mary!" at every opportunity. Weirdly delightful. Oddly, the only scenes that fell flat were the Bottom/Titania bits, perhaps because the normally wonderful (and always sexy) Ray Porter was a bit bored at the end of a very long run.
Coriolanus
an Oakland of a production: no there there. Great set design, costumes, wonderful support work from the Menenius and Volumnia, but without a charismatic Caius Marcius, it's hard to care. We were impatiently wondering when somebody would put this bland, athletic jerk out of his and our misery. The final scenes were so well done, I was willing to forgive a lot. Ashland did this in 1996, with Derek Lee Weeden in the lead; charisma makes all difference.
Today, the Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler. Then home. I will post the picture of the guy in the bunny suit soon, I promise.
bigredpaul and I pranced for 3 plays. Already this weekend...a Midsummer Night's Dream
the Most Overproduced Play in the World. But here, directed by Mark Rucker, nailed. Most interesting feature was the fairies, Titania's assistants with names like Cobweb and Mustardseed. Here, they're real fairies, effeminate young men who squeal, roll their eyes, and mouth "Oh, Mary!" at every opportunity. Weirdly delightful. Oddly, the only scenes that fell flat were the Bottom/Titania bits, perhaps because the normally wonderful (and always sexy) Ray Porter was a bit bored at the end of a very long run.
Coriolanus
an Oakland of a production: no there there. Great set design, costumes, wonderful support work from the Menenius and Volumnia, but without a charismatic Caius Marcius, it's hard to care. We were impatiently wondering when somebody would put this bland, athletic jerk out of his and our misery. The final scenes were so well done, I was willing to forgive a lot. Ashland did this in 1996, with Derek Lee Weeden in the lead; charisma makes all difference.
Today, the Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler. Then home. I will post the picture of the guy in the bunny suit soon, I promise.
