Stratford
Made the annual visit to Stratford last weekend, for As You Like It and their flagship production, The Tempest.
I'm not sure if the festival's obtained new designers, but there have been some changes in the visual part of the plays. The sets and costumes were outstanding. In fact, they almost stole attention from the play itself. They worked around a nearly-empty stage, establishing a location with devices ranging from lighting tricks to a stage-wide printed carpet which disappears into the trap door when a scene changes.
As You Like It used 1920's sets and costumes, and revised the songs into Roaring Twenties versions. The look of the play was part of the entertainment, with the Forest Of Arden suggested by a film-projection leaf pattern across the stage floor, and by human characters with the heads of wild animals wandering through at odd moments. The big laughs came from Ben Carlson as Touchstone and his Audrey, played by Lucy Peacock, who always gets the comic roles. The most applause went to the very popular Brent Carver as Jacques. I never figured out why Carver's such a big favourite, but he always gets more attention from the audience.
The next play was at 8:00. We went for dinner, discovering that the break between plays on a Saturday night is a bad time to look for a table in any restaurant within 50 km of Stratford. We ended up going to a restaurant no one wanted to eat at, which at least solved the crowding problem. It wasn't that bad, just a place with diner food, and a strange decor combining Tudor style exposed beams and random fake Elizabethan banners with Japanese woodblock prints and calligraphy panels. No chance of spotting one of the actors here, but we did sit near a table full of drama professors. Took a walk around the Avon River and looked at the swans, and the interesting assortment of people, until curtain time.
The Tempest is the festival's big item this year. Christopher Plummer, who plays Prospero, can be seen on every Stratford brochure, schedule, advertisement, and web site home page. Apparently he works as a box office draw: The Tempest started to sell out early in the season, and I had some trouble getting decent tickets even months in advance. Speaking as someone who knows nothing about either theatre or Shakespeare, I thought he was fantastic.
Very nearly as good was a young actress imported from Brooklyn, Julyana Soelistyo, who played Ariel. Her appearance helped, since in costume she looks like some tiny, androgynous, supernatural being, but her performance went beyond appearance. It seems odd to say that an actor is completely believable as a collection of vapours in humanoid form, but this was the case here.
Dion Johnstone as Caliban was also nicely creepy.
The sets and costumes were amazing, just managing to avoid detracting from the play by being too excessive, while still getting across the sense of magical weirdness they were going for. The one exception was Prospero's magic cloak: when he put it on, it sparkled with what appeared to be strings of flashing Christmas tree lights, causing a small ripple of laughter from the audience. Not the reaction they were going for, I'm sure. It was a small flaw in a mostly perfect production.
The audience was riveted. Plummer managed to make Prospero quite grim, but at the same time put a humourous spin on some of his lines, getting an unexpected laugh during otherwise serious scenes. To be honest, he seemed to forget his lines momentarily on a few occasions, but covered well; and his voice is still impressive.
Stratford audiences, from what I've seen, are pretty easy to please, and tend to give a routine standing ovation to any play where the actors stay sober and upright until the final curtain, but on this occasion their reaction seemed exceptional. They applauded like mad for each of the actors, with special attention to Caliban; and broke into cheering when Ariel took a bow. When Plummer walked on, they yelled, the way baseball fans do when someone hits one out of the park. Even allowing for the fact that they're cheering his career as much as that night's performance, it was quite a show of approval. They stamped, kicked the backs of seats, shouted things at him. He came back for three bows, and when the applause continued, came back out with Ariel, which caused even more ruckus.
Consider this a recommendation, if you get the chance to attend before the season ends.
I'm not sure if the festival's obtained new designers, but there have been some changes in the visual part of the plays. The sets and costumes were outstanding. In fact, they almost stole attention from the play itself. They worked around a nearly-empty stage, establishing a location with devices ranging from lighting tricks to a stage-wide printed carpet which disappears into the trap door when a scene changes.
As You Like It used 1920's sets and costumes, and revised the songs into Roaring Twenties versions. The look of the play was part of the entertainment, with the Forest Of Arden suggested by a film-projection leaf pattern across the stage floor, and by human characters with the heads of wild animals wandering through at odd moments. The big laughs came from Ben Carlson as Touchstone and his Audrey, played by Lucy Peacock, who always gets the comic roles. The most applause went to the very popular Brent Carver as Jacques. I never figured out why Carver's such a big favourite, but he always gets more attention from the audience.
The next play was at 8:00. We went for dinner, discovering that the break between plays on a Saturday night is a bad time to look for a table in any restaurant within 50 km of Stratford. We ended up going to a restaurant no one wanted to eat at, which at least solved the crowding problem. It wasn't that bad, just a place with diner food, and a strange decor combining Tudor style exposed beams and random fake Elizabethan banners with Japanese woodblock prints and calligraphy panels. No chance of spotting one of the actors here, but we did sit near a table full of drama professors. Took a walk around the Avon River and looked at the swans, and the interesting assortment of people, until curtain time.
The Tempest is the festival's big item this year. Christopher Plummer, who plays Prospero, can be seen on every Stratford brochure, schedule, advertisement, and web site home page. Apparently he works as a box office draw: The Tempest started to sell out early in the season, and I had some trouble getting decent tickets even months in advance. Speaking as someone who knows nothing about either theatre or Shakespeare, I thought he was fantastic.
Very nearly as good was a young actress imported from Brooklyn, Julyana Soelistyo, who played Ariel. Her appearance helped, since in costume she looks like some tiny, androgynous, supernatural being, but her performance went beyond appearance. It seems odd to say that an actor is completely believable as a collection of vapours in humanoid form, but this was the case here.
Dion Johnstone as Caliban was also nicely creepy.
The sets and costumes were amazing, just managing to avoid detracting from the play by being too excessive, while still getting across the sense of magical weirdness they were going for. The one exception was Prospero's magic cloak: when he put it on, it sparkled with what appeared to be strings of flashing Christmas tree lights, causing a small ripple of laughter from the audience. Not the reaction they were going for, I'm sure. It was a small flaw in a mostly perfect production.
The audience was riveted. Plummer managed to make Prospero quite grim, but at the same time put a humourous spin on some of his lines, getting an unexpected laugh during otherwise serious scenes. To be honest, he seemed to forget his lines momentarily on a few occasions, but covered well; and his voice is still impressive.
Stratford audiences, from what I've seen, are pretty easy to please, and tend to give a routine standing ovation to any play where the actors stay sober and upright until the final curtain, but on this occasion their reaction seemed exceptional. They applauded like mad for each of the actors, with special attention to Caliban; and broke into cheering when Ariel took a bow. When Plummer walked on, they yelled, the way baseball fans do when someone hits one out of the park. Even allowing for the fact that they're cheering his career as much as that night's performance, it was quite a show of approval. They stamped, kicked the backs of seats, shouted things at him. He came back for three bows, and when the applause continued, came back out with Ariel, which caused even more ruckus.
Consider this a recommendation, if you get the chance to attend before the season ends.