Much Ado About...
A pretty mediocre production, actually.
One thing I've noticed about working for a theater of this scale...few people are prone to truly critique a production. And those theater critics or season subscribers who do are usually dubbed as old codgers or misers whom nothing can please.
Sadly, that's not true. At time it feels as though the theater is too big to fail. Riding on its past glory days it is free to put on work of only average quality. Money is poured in. Sets and costumes are crafted in superb detail. Talent is scored from near and far.
But the end result?
Meh.
This particular show I was highly looking forward to. Much Ado has been one of my favorites of the Shakespeare cannon for a while (I never saw what the big deal about Twelfth Night or All's Well, was....)
Perhaps they assumed they were taking a risk by casting much older characters, and a risk it was. But personally I did not find it was one that worked. While the worldliness of (post) middle age did add greater sting to the banter of Beatrice and Benedick, it lost it's youthful charge and energy. It was no longer flirtatious, biting foreplay. You felt there was more serious a history between the two to spur on such animosity. And that supposed history is what made the outcome all the less likely...
For all their worldliness, for the depth that this sparring comes from...why would two smart older characters so set in their ways be so easily duped by a bit of gossip? While Benedick clearly shows signs of insecurity and a deep longing to be liked and approved of by the other charactors, Beatrice did not. So in a way he may be more inclined to the fall. I wish I could say Benedick's gesture to avenge Beatrice's cousin pushed her thoughts more in Benedick's favor, but alas...even through that...it all felt flat. She didn't care for him in that moment. Her thoughts were solely on her cousin.
The pacing was horrendous.
The set...incredibly beautiful but lacking and grounding of location between one scene and the next. Oh...the orchard and church were pretty clear. But for the rest, good luck discerning if the white drop and green marble floor inset with russet tiles was meant to be a street at night, a cell, a ballroom, an apartment or the sexton's office.
Too many moments were played for cheap laughs. I found Dogberry's insertions of dog-like woofing and leg twitching insulting to the audience's intelligence. It overshadowed the character's butchering of language and self importance. It cheapened an already humorous character.
I stopped caring.
And it seems, as I read reviews, tweets and facebook statuses that I am in a very small minority.
One thing I've noticed about working for a theater of this scale...few people are prone to truly critique a production. And those theater critics or season subscribers who do are usually dubbed as old codgers or misers whom nothing can please.
Sadly, that's not true. At time it feels as though the theater is too big to fail. Riding on its past glory days it is free to put on work of only average quality. Money is poured in. Sets and costumes are crafted in superb detail. Talent is scored from near and far.
But the end result?
Meh.
This particular show I was highly looking forward to. Much Ado has been one of my favorites of the Shakespeare cannon for a while (I never saw what the big deal about Twelfth Night or All's Well, was....)
Perhaps they assumed they were taking a risk by casting much older characters, and a risk it was. But personally I did not find it was one that worked. While the worldliness of (post) middle age did add greater sting to the banter of Beatrice and Benedick, it lost it's youthful charge and energy. It was no longer flirtatious, biting foreplay. You felt there was more serious a history between the two to spur on such animosity. And that supposed history is what made the outcome all the less likely...
For all their worldliness, for the depth that this sparring comes from...why would two smart older characters so set in their ways be so easily duped by a bit of gossip? While Benedick clearly shows signs of insecurity and a deep longing to be liked and approved of by the other charactors, Beatrice did not. So in a way he may be more inclined to the fall. I wish I could say Benedick's gesture to avenge Beatrice's cousin pushed her thoughts more in Benedick's favor, but alas...even through that...it all felt flat. She didn't care for him in that moment. Her thoughts were solely on her cousin.
The pacing was horrendous.
The set...incredibly beautiful but lacking and grounding of location between one scene and the next. Oh...the orchard and church were pretty clear. But for the rest, good luck discerning if the white drop and green marble floor inset with russet tiles was meant to be a street at night, a cell, a ballroom, an apartment or the sexton's office.
Too many moments were played for cheap laughs. I found Dogberry's insertions of dog-like woofing and leg twitching insulting to the audience's intelligence. It overshadowed the character's butchering of language and self importance. It cheapened an already humorous character.
I stopped caring.
And it seems, as I read reviews, tweets and facebook statuses that I am in a very small minority.
posted by Unknown at
10:09 PM
1 Comments:
I was right; you are a gifted writer.
As both a director and critic myself, I applaud your decision to voice an opinion in the minority - especially when the majority stands against you.
But you state an intelligent and experienced opinion, and if you cause just one person to reach for a higher standard, it will be worth it.
At the least, you will be able to sleep at night.
j
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