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Stratford 2010
I had planned on liveblogging my trip this year, but that was before the ipod touch accepted the B&B network and the netbook didn't. Typing on that teeny screen is Just Not Worth It. (On the other hand, like the palm pilot before it, the Touch went from toy to tool in about 10 minutes; checking weather, keeping my schedule, holding play texts, etc. It certainly was lighter to carry than the netbook and a hardback book - I really see the appeal of ebooks now - and with wireless in the theaters I kinda got into the habit of doing a quick email check at intermission. Perhaps when the rumored smaller ipad comes out, I'll have something that will be better for typing on the fly as well as a better reading screen.)
The trip: We took a new route that was supposed to save 90 minutes. It added 90 minutes. *insert BLEH! icon*
The town: Two things of note for the tourists.
1) The County Food Company is now selling picnic pails. For $25, you get two big sandwiches, three small containers to fill with your pick from the dozen-item salad bar, 2 cans of soda or bottles of water, and a Secret Picnic Map (read: hand-drawn map of the Avon river), all in a bucket. It's a lot of good food, and a reasonable price for two.
2) Downtown businesses have grouped together to form the Chocolate Trail. For $20, you get 8 tickets, which you have 3 days to redeem at your choice of 16 businesses (repeats allowed). The woman at our B&B was giving us all the good hints - "Chocolate Barr only gives you two truffles, while Rheo Thompson gives you a box of 9 mixed cremes and Rocky Mountain gives you your choice of half pounds of fudge." (We chocolate trailed slices of turtle cake at Let Them Eat Cake for Mo's birthday.) Even non-candy stores were getting into the act - P'Lovers gave away chocolate mint bath salts, two tea shops gave away chocolate teas, Fosters gave away chocolate martinis, Kitchen Connoisseur gave away jars of mocha ice cream topping, and Bradshaw's gave away a plastic stemless wine glass with a couple pieces of chocolate and the promise that you could get the glass filled at a restaurant across the street.
PETER PAN:
It was visually stunning... but no matter how boyish the actor playing the boy who never grew up is, he's still a thirty-seven year old! I have Opinions on this sort of thing. Making it creepier, most of the actors were also in Dangerous Liaisons. (And costuming should have used a thicker union suit or strapped the actress down, because every time Michael threw "his" shoulders back to crow, the outline of small but unmistakable breasts were highlighted by the fabric.)
On the other hand, now I understand why the woman selling me the tickets said she'd put me in the sixth row "so you don't get a pirate ship in the face."
One thing amused me - they dodged the whole Indian controversy by turning it into Tiger Lily and her tribe of Amazons. That allowed them to indulge to the hilt in fantasy warriors without stepping on the sensibilities of the First Nations.
TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
Well, now I can say I've seen it. (This is up on Titus Andronicus, about which I say I've seen it and I want that three hours back.) They did what they could - setting it in Vaudeville in the 40s and playing up the slapstick - but there's only so much you can do with that text.
WINTER'S TALE
I've seen this one twice before, so I liked comparing it to previous productions. Scott Wentworth's version at the NJ Shakespeare worked like clockwork - all the exits and entrances were made clockwise. The DC Shakes did a horrible version that was supposed to be set inside the snowglobe Time held, so there were mirrors all along the back wall - meaning the ushers had to stand perfectly still, because the audience could see them. Being an usher, that was not pleasant.
This one was more organic, with the costumes pushing the national differences fairly hard. Sparse, but nicely done - and I wish they'd do a CD of the medieval/middle eastern music sometime, because it was very excellent.
Speaking of excellent, I've kept the best for last: THE TEMPEST
This was the centerpiece of the season - Christopher Plummer as Prospero.
Do I really need to say more? Actually, I thought the King of Naples was a little shouty and Miranda flung her arms around too much, but other than that - that was some damnfine theater. Bruce Dow and Ger Wyn Davies knocked the clowns out of the park, Ariel did better wire work than Peter Pan (and the costumes and lighting really made that actress seem like animation among flesh).
They really pushed the humor in this production, which was apparently the wish of Mr. Plummer. (For instance, in the scene where Prospero tells his daughter and Ferdinand to talk, they eventually start necking and he breaks them up with a loudly cleared throat.) They also pushed the magic, making it extremely clear that Prospero was making everyone dance to his tune - including using heavy magic on Miranda and Ferdinand.
Plummer gave every indication of enjoying the heck out himself. He certainly gave a heck of a performance.
Things are going well for Stratford. After a year of them begging me to renew my membership and a bad exchange rate (from the American point of view), I thought things would be bad for them. Instead, every show was filled to the brim.
On the personal side, I was devastated to discover that the Aspidistra is changing - it is turning into a guest house with no provided meals. As the breakfasts were the biggest draw, I'm looking for new Stratford lodgings.
On the plus side,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wendymr and I had a wonderful long dinner and chat on Saturday. Great to see you again!
Now I have to go back to real life... and figure out why my feet are swelling. I know I've been walking a lot and I've spent the whole summer in the same shoes, but that shouldn't cause edema, should it?
I'll be catching up with LJ and real life tomorrow after work. Good night, all!
The trip: We took a new route that was supposed to save 90 minutes. It added 90 minutes. *insert BLEH! icon*
The town: Two things of note for the tourists.
1) The County Food Company is now selling picnic pails. For $25, you get two big sandwiches, three small containers to fill with your pick from the dozen-item salad bar, 2 cans of soda or bottles of water, and a Secret Picnic Map (read: hand-drawn map of the Avon river), all in a bucket. It's a lot of good food, and a reasonable price for two.
2) Downtown businesses have grouped together to form the Chocolate Trail. For $20, you get 8 tickets, which you have 3 days to redeem at your choice of 16 businesses (repeats allowed). The woman at our B&B was giving us all the good hints - "Chocolate Barr only gives you two truffles, while Rheo Thompson gives you a box of 9 mixed cremes and Rocky Mountain gives you your choice of half pounds of fudge." (We chocolate trailed slices of turtle cake at Let Them Eat Cake for Mo's birthday.) Even non-candy stores were getting into the act - P'Lovers gave away chocolate mint bath salts, two tea shops gave away chocolate teas, Fosters gave away chocolate martinis, Kitchen Connoisseur gave away jars of mocha ice cream topping, and Bradshaw's gave away a plastic stemless wine glass with a couple pieces of chocolate and the promise that you could get the glass filled at a restaurant across the street.
PETER PAN:
It was visually stunning... but no matter how boyish the actor playing the boy who never grew up is, he's still a thirty-seven year old! I have Opinions on this sort of thing. Making it creepier, most of the actors were also in Dangerous Liaisons. (And costuming should have used a thicker union suit or strapped the actress down, because every time Michael threw "his" shoulders back to crow, the outline of small but unmistakable breasts were highlighted by the fabric.)
On the other hand, now I understand why the woman selling me the tickets said she'd put me in the sixth row "so you don't get a pirate ship in the face."
One thing amused me - they dodged the whole Indian controversy by turning it into Tiger Lily and her tribe of Amazons. That allowed them to indulge to the hilt in fantasy warriors without stepping on the sensibilities of the First Nations.
TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
Well, now I can say I've seen it. (This is up on Titus Andronicus, about which I say I've seen it and I want that three hours back.) They did what they could - setting it in Vaudeville in the 40s and playing up the slapstick - but there's only so much you can do with that text.
WINTER'S TALE
I've seen this one twice before, so I liked comparing it to previous productions. Scott Wentworth's version at the NJ Shakespeare worked like clockwork - all the exits and entrances were made clockwise. The DC Shakes did a horrible version that was supposed to be set inside the snowglobe Time held, so there were mirrors all along the back wall - meaning the ushers had to stand perfectly still, because the audience could see them. Being an usher, that was not pleasant.
This one was more organic, with the costumes pushing the national differences fairly hard. Sparse, but nicely done - and I wish they'd do a CD of the medieval/middle eastern music sometime, because it was very excellent.
Speaking of excellent, I've kept the best for last: THE TEMPEST
This was the centerpiece of the season - Christopher Plummer as Prospero.
Do I really need to say more? Actually, I thought the King of Naples was a little shouty and Miranda flung her arms around too much, but other than that - that was some damnfine theater. Bruce Dow and Ger Wyn Davies knocked the clowns out of the park, Ariel did better wire work than Peter Pan (and the costumes and lighting really made that actress seem like animation among flesh).
They really pushed the humor in this production, which was apparently the wish of Mr. Plummer. (For instance, in the scene where Prospero tells his daughter and Ferdinand to talk, they eventually start necking and he breaks them up with a loudly cleared throat.) They also pushed the magic, making it extremely clear that Prospero was making everyone dance to his tune - including using heavy magic on Miranda and Ferdinand.
Plummer gave every indication of enjoying the heck out himself. He certainly gave a heck of a performance.
Things are going well for Stratford. After a year of them begging me to renew my membership and a bad exchange rate (from the American point of view), I thought things would be bad for them. Instead, every show was filled to the brim.
On the personal side, I was devastated to discover that the Aspidistra is changing - it is turning into a guest house with no provided meals. As the breakfasts were the biggest draw, I'm looking for new Stratford lodgings.
On the plus side,
wendymr and I had a wonderful long dinner and chat on Saturday. Great to see you again!Now I have to go back to real life... and figure out why my feet are swelling. I know I've been walking a lot and I've spent the whole summer in the same shoes, but that shouldn't cause edema, should it?
I'll be catching up with LJ and real life tomorrow after work. Good night, all!