Catch-up 1

Hey guys, sorry I've been so out of it for awhile, I've been sick in the midst of five midterms and just haven't had a lot of extra time. So, to begin catching up, I will begin by analyzing the performance of The Tempest that we went to, as well as the Grassroots Shakespeare company production of Macbeth. 

So Friday night, my roommate and I double-dated to Macbeth, which was at an outdoor theater built to look like a castle. We all walked together from campus, which made the date almost into more of an adventure, filled with shortcuts and wrong-turns. But eventually, we came to a tree-infested hill with small lights guiding our way. As we trudged up the paved slope, it felt almost as if we were entering some sort of fairy-tale world. We walked into the castle and took our place in front of the stage as groundlings. I had never been in an outdoor performance of a Shakespeare play, let alone stand in the theatrical splash zone in front of the stage, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The actors moved all through the crowd, talked to us as if we were part of the play, even used us as props at some points. Yet even though the over-all mood of the play was very light-hearted and amusing, they still managed to keep the more serious parts emotionally gripping. It was really a fantastic date.

Then the next day, we all saw The Tempest. Unfortunately, my car did not arrive in time to see the big shipwreck in the very beginning, which I heard was spectacular. But that was not my only complaint. One thing that I thought was somewhat bizarre was Ariel's clashing costuming. Sure, she looked really cool and I loved her costume by itself, but in the context of the actual play, I'm not sure what they were trying to accomplish. Her metallic colors and suspenders almost made her look steampunky, which I am all for, but didn't have much place in with the rest of the play. It simply didn't convey the nimble spirit of the air feeling.

There were certain other elements that seemed to not quite belong as well. Like the bicycle up in the right corner that spun when Prospero was showing off his magic to his daughter and son-in-law. In fact, that whole scene was rather disappointing to me. I was rather excited for the goddesses to come out and perform their marriage ritual, but they completely skipped over it and replaced it with some random Prospero magic.

Speaking of Prospero magic, I was quite pleased with how they illustrated Prospero's power. Because there are such few stage directions actually in the play, it was hard to envision the moments when Prospero's power would become apparent other than the shipwreck scene and the harpy scene. Even in moments when Prospero wasn't making spectacular use of his power, they would throw in little movements and gestures that would make it difficult to forget just the kind of magic Prospero could control.

To sum up, both performances were very cool. I really quite enjoyed them both and look forward to my next Shakespeare play!