yes! I’ve just been busy and my post’s not finished yet. plus I think I’ll be Internet-absent all weekend, so I’ll probably not post about it till Monday — but I am still going to post.
Here’s a relevant question I was wondering about– we know “To be or not to be…” and “What light through yonder window breaks…” are parodied and joked about a lot, but which line from Shakespeare do you think is most often quoted seriously? I think “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio…” is probably up there.
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them” is probably my favorite because people like quoting it out of context so it sounds really fancy and profound.
I think it’s probably something Polonius — I’d say “brevity is the soul of wit,” but I don’t think people know they’re quoting Shakespeare when they say that? So probably really it’s “to thine own self be true.” (Like the Malvolios of the world, the Polonii of the world don’t know they’re Polonii.)
Last summer (2013), I saw an excellent production of “Hamlet” at the American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin. (The next afternoon the same cast performed “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” — a perfect combination, packed with extra inside jokes.)
One of the best things about it was the characterization of Hamlet himself. You could see that sometimes, in a strange way, he was enjoying himself — getting an aesthetic jolt out of manipulating others with his crazy act. The interpretation was absorbing to watch.
This Hamlet is visiting every country in the world over the course of two years. They have twelve actors touring, and there are slightly fewer than that acting in any particular production. The cast I saw had Ladi Emerwua as Hamlet, Amanda Wilkin as Ophelia, and Tom Lawrence as Horatio. There was a lot of doubling — I think everyone except Hamlet doubled; Gertrude and Ophelia were both players, and even Horatio was Reynaldo. Claudius doubled as the Player King; I wouldn’t have thought that would work, but it really does. During the Mousetrap, there’s a curtain on stage that Hamlet draws back and fourth, and it works better than I think it sounds. (Claudius/Player King also played the Ghost, so all the kings were played by the same actor; Gertrude played the Player Queen.)
Horatio was the best. This is partly a statement about the cast and partly a statement of my life philosophy. Horatio was always — watching, is the only thing I can think to say. I think I noticed him more than when I saw it on stage before; not because I was paying more attention (I always pay attention to Horatio) but because this Horatio was more noticeable. There was also lots of affection, I suppose, between him and Hamlet; I hadn’t noticed that as much before either.
It was very funny. Hamlet always surprises me when it’s funny, since a lot of the parts I see played for humor didn’t come through as well for me when I first read the text. (Like: “Methinks I see my father.” “WHERE” “oh my god horatio i meant i’m THINKING about my father”) So I’m never sure if a production is unusually funny or if it’s just me. Some of the reviews I’ve read of this say, not approvingly, that it’s unusually funny, though. I liked that but other people obviously don’t.
(Some things that made me smile: Ros & Guil were carrying tennis rackets when they came on stage, and had them in tow all through their first scene with Hamlet. After Hamlet’s “let your clowns speak no more than is set down for them” to the players, one of the clowns says “aw, just a couple,” which I found UNSPEAKABLY HILARIOUS. There was also a vowel shift joke: when Polonius reads aloud Hamlet’s poem for Ophelia, he pronounces everything else in his natural accept, but adjusts the final “love” so it rhymes with “prove,” and makes a face.
–Polonius actually was brilliant. Rawiri Paratene played him and the gravedigger, and was so great.)
Lots of music, also. The actors sing and play instruments when they first come on stage: the song is “A-Begging I Will Go,” although they sing “Roving” instead of “Begging.” When the Players first enter later in the play, they sing a little bit of this song. Some reviewers thought it was overly light-hearted, but I liked it a lot. There are also actors onstage playing incidental music during some scenes, and there’s music during the dumbshow, and the players dance the dumbshow in time to it. Also, the scenery is mostly steamer trunks which they apparently pack all their props and costumes into before leaving. (At one point Horatio and Marcellus pack Hamlet into a trunk and it’s fantastic.)
tldr I’m not getting across at all how much I loved it but I loved it a lot.
I got a chance to see Sweeny Todd on Saturday! My cousin was in the chorus, it was a high school production, but they did a really good job with it.
I never really understood why everybody loved the show so much, it sounded gruesome and weird every time I’ve heard it described, and it kind of was. I still loved it.
Oh dear, now I’m having a Situation about Macbeth. Has anybody else seen the Patrick Stewart Macbeth? We watched part of it in English class. I’ve since seen the whole thing and it is so good — Stalinist & gory & terrifying, and you’ll feel more things about the Ross than you have probably ever felt. (There’s an interrogation scene, which is incredible. Ross is played through the whole play as scared and confused and, as things get worse, really really traumatized — and, especially during the Banquo’s ghost scene, trying to cover up with a sort of desperate brittle cheeriness; I ended up feeling for him rather a lot.)
Ugh. I was in a production of Macbeth two summers ago and it left me with far too many feelings. Far too many. (I was Lennox, and am considering changing my avatar to a drawing I did of myself in costume, since the Homura is now Very Old Art)
Our theatre class is currently doing a translation of Jean Anouilh’s Antigone, which, when I first read through it, I thought was a bit overdramatized. But actually reading the foreword and the historical context of the play, it’s very interesting! It was originally performed in Vichy France, and the conflicts presented in the play definitely fit the setting and there’s definitely a lot of quibbling about femininity. Very different from the Antigone I read in sophomore English, but still very interesting.
This edition has Creon saying, “It’s not all beers and skittles.”
So I feel like I kind of skipped a whole experience by putting my real first name in my username I’m the very beginning, so here goes.
Also, I saw the Book of Mormon in Eugene a few days ago. It was really good, but… not exactly what I thought it would be.
Also, we definitely have a few folks using their real first names on-blog, but I kind of like the blognames–they’re fun. For a while there in high school I think I scanned for “Tess” in written things just as much as my real name (which is Abby, for the curious).
Have you seen it? I guess my first thought was,”Mormons. Must be clean, right?” Nope. Turns out it was made by the same people who do South Park. I don’t necessarily have a PROBLEM with that, but when you’re sitting between your parents in a Broadway show and it gets to that level of interesting… well, it gets interesting.
Also we had waffles that day. They were REALLY GOOD waffles.
Can confirm, watched The Book of Mormon Thanksgiving 2014 on Broadway with my parents. Heard it was funny and witty but had no idea how R-rated it would be. Did not make eye contact with parents the entire time. It’s absolutely hilarious, though! I would absolutely watch it again. It was kind of awkward watching it with my parents but luckily they also found it hysterical.
Trust me, dyi usernames are overrated. I didn’t wanted to change mine and confuse people, so I still have one that says “I’m a thirteen year old internet-noob with poor impulse control” even though I’m- holy frak!- turning 21 in a few months.
((Admittedly, I’m still waiting on a few of the promised adulthood toolkit items. But I’m stopped hitting people with sneakers even if they really, really deserve it, so that’s progress.))
Ahoy, ZNZ! Are you going to tell us about Hamlet?
yes! I’ve just been busy and my post’s not finished yet. plus I think I’ll be Internet-absent all weekend, so I’ll probably not post about it till Monday — but I am still going to post.
Here’s a relevant question I was wondering about– we know “To be or not to be…” and “What light through yonder window breaks…” are parodied and joked about a lot, but which line from Shakespeare do you think is most often quoted seriously? I think “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio…” is probably up there.
Sounds plausible to me. Another contender: “What fools these mortals be!”
I might nominate “If music be the food of love, play on!”
(Hearing that line quoted seriously becomes hilarious if you happen to know the next line)
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them” is probably my favorite because people like quoting it out of context so it sounds really fancy and profound.
The Malvolios of the world are not aware of being Malvolios.
I think it’s probably something Polonius — I’d say “brevity is the soul of wit,” but I don’t think people know they’re quoting Shakespeare when they say that? So probably really it’s “to thine own self be true.” (Like the Malvolios of the world, the Polonii of the world don’t know they’re Polonii.)
“Polonii.” ♥
The one I think I hear the most is “The lady doth protest too much, methinks,” although it’s typically with the methinks in front.
Last summer (2013), I saw an excellent production of “Hamlet” at the American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin. (The next afternoon the same cast performed “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” — a perfect combination, packed with extra inside jokes.)
One of the best things about it was the characterization of Hamlet himself. You could see that sometimes, in a strange way, he was enjoying himself — getting an aesthetic jolt out of manipulating others with his crazy act. The interpretation was absorbing to watch.
ZNZ, what about the production you saw?
This Hamlet is visiting every country in the world over the course of two years. They have twelve actors touring, and there are slightly fewer than that acting in any particular production. The cast I saw had Ladi Emerwua as Hamlet, Amanda Wilkin as Ophelia, and Tom Lawrence as Horatio. There was a lot of doubling — I think everyone except Hamlet doubled; Gertrude and Ophelia were both players, and even Horatio was Reynaldo. Claudius doubled as the Player King; I wouldn’t have thought that would work, but it really does. During the Mousetrap, there’s a curtain on stage that Hamlet draws back and fourth, and it works better than I think it sounds. (Claudius/Player King also played the Ghost, so all the kings were played by the same actor; Gertrude played the Player Queen.)
Horatio was the best. This is partly a statement about the cast and partly a statement of my life philosophy. Horatio was always — watching, is the only thing I can think to say. I think I noticed him more than when I saw it on stage before; not because I was paying more attention (I always pay attention to Horatio) but because this Horatio was more noticeable. There was also lots of affection, I suppose, between him and Hamlet; I hadn’t noticed that as much before either.
It was very funny. Hamlet always surprises me when it’s funny, since a lot of the parts I see played for humor didn’t come through as well for me when I first read the text. (Like: “Methinks I see my father.” “WHERE” “oh my god horatio i meant i’m THINKING about my father”) So I’m never sure if a production is unusually funny or if it’s just me. Some of the reviews I’ve read of this say, not approvingly, that it’s unusually funny, though. I liked that but other people obviously don’t.
(Some things that made me smile: Ros & Guil were carrying tennis rackets when they came on stage, and had them in tow all through their first scene with Hamlet. After Hamlet’s “let your clowns speak no more than is set down for them” to the players, one of the clowns says “aw, just a couple,” which I found UNSPEAKABLY HILARIOUS. There was also a vowel shift joke: when Polonius reads aloud Hamlet’s poem for Ophelia, he pronounces everything else in his natural accept, but adjusts the final “love” so it rhymes with “prove,” and makes a face.
–Polonius actually was brilliant. Rawiri Paratene played him and the gravedigger, and was so great.)
Lots of music, also. The actors sing and play instruments when they first come on stage: the song is “A-Begging I Will Go,” although they sing “Roving” instead of “Begging.” When the Players first enter later in the play, they sing a little bit of this song. Some reviewers thought it was overly light-hearted, but I liked it a lot. There are also actors onstage playing incidental music during some scenes, and there’s music during the dumbshow, and the players dance the dumbshow in time to it. Also, the scenery is mostly steamer trunks which they apparently pack all their props and costumes into before leaving. (At one point Horatio and Marcellus pack Hamlet into a trunk and it’s fantastic.)
tldr I’m not getting across at all how much I loved it but I loved it a lot.
I got a chance to see Sweeny Todd on Saturday! My cousin was in the chorus, it was a high school production, but they did a really good job with it.
I never really understood why everybody loved the show so much, it sounded gruesome and weird every time I’ve heard it described, and it kind of was. I still loved it.
Oh dear, now I’m having a Situation about Macbeth. Has anybody else seen the Patrick Stewart Macbeth? We watched part of it in English class. I’ve since seen the whole thing and it is so good — Stalinist & gory & terrifying, and you’ll feel more things about the Ross than you have probably ever felt. (There’s an interrogation scene, which is incredible. Ross is played through the whole play as scared and confused and, as things get worse, really really traumatized — and, especially during the Banquo’s ghost scene, trying to cover up with a sort of desperate brittle cheeriness; I ended up feeling for him rather a lot.)
Ugh. I was in a production of Macbeth two summers ago and it left me with far too many feelings. Far too many. (I was Lennox, and am considering changing my avatar to a drawing I did of myself in costume, since the Homura is now Very Old Art)
SFTDP, but there. Now it is Less Old Art of which I’m not mildly embarrassed.
Our theatre class is currently doing a translation of Jean Anouilh’s Antigone, which, when I first read through it, I thought was a bit overdramatized. But actually reading the foreword and the historical context of the play, it’s very interesting! It was originally performed in Vichy France, and the conflicts presented in the play definitely fit the setting and there’s definitely a lot of quibbling about femininity. Very different from the Antigone I read in sophomore English, but still very interesting.
This edition has Creon saying, “It’s not all beers and skittles.”
So I feel like I kind of skipped a whole experience by putting my real first name in my username I’m the very beginning, so here goes.
Also, I saw the Book of Mormon in Eugene a few days ago. It was really good, but… not exactly what I thought it would be.
What did you think it would be like?
Also, we definitely have a few folks using their real first names on-blog, but I kind of like the blognames–they’re fun. For a while there in high school I think I scanned for “Tess” in written things just as much as my real name (which is Abby, for the curious).
Have you seen it? I guess my first thought was,”Mormons. Must be clean, right?” Nope. Turns out it was made by the same people who do South Park. I don’t necessarily have a PROBLEM with that, but when you’re sitting between your parents in a Broadway show and it gets to that level of interesting… well, it gets interesting.
Also we had waffles that day. They were REALLY GOOD waffles.
Can confirm, watched The Book of Mormon Thanksgiving 2014 on Broadway with my parents. Heard it was funny and witty but had no idea how R-rated it would be. Did not make eye contact with parents the entire time. It’s absolutely hilarious, though! I would absolutely watch it again. It was kind of awkward watching it with my parents but luckily they also found it hysterical.
Trust me, dyi usernames are overrated. I didn’t wanted to change mine and confuse people, so I still have one that says “I’m a thirteen year old internet-noob with poor impulse control” even though I’m- holy frak!- turning 21 in a few months.
((Admittedly, I’m still waiting on a few of the promised adulthood toolkit items. But I’m stopped hitting people with sneakers even if they really, really deserve it, so that’s progress.))
SFTDP:
I really like your new username!
Thank you!