Laurel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
laurel_crown) wrote2013-02-27 03:17 pm
laurel_crown) wrote2013-02-27 03:17 pm
Entry tags:
Shakespeare flailing
After getting weird looks from most of my friends, I decided here would be a good place to go on about how WONDERFUL the production of Henry IV I saw last night was! (Spoilers for anyone planning on seeing the Bell Shakespeare production themselves).
The only history play I've read is Julius Caesar, but luckilyfahye is my resident guru on all things Shakespeare, so she told me about how they meshed the two parts into one play (very sensible). The plot was simple - Prince Hal grows up - which made up for the fact that the two main young men appear to have at least four names, some of which were the same! Far too many Henrys around this period of history.
It was actually very funny - I wasn't expecting it to be like that, being a history play not a comedy. All the actors were obviously having a great time in addition to the actual scripted jokes, and they threw in some camp German tourists for extra humour. The cast was AMAZING (especially the home-grown lead!), and the set (based on the London riots) was really interesting - it included milk crates and a ladder and chains, all interacted with at some stage in the play.
fahye and I both felt they could have ended the two parts a little earlier, on stronger images, but that was the only qualm I had. Their last production - Julius Caesar - felt off to me, so this was a welcome return to the fabulousness I remember from a childhood of going to see their plays (with Mum telling me the plot in simpler terms so I could follow!)
. . . And now I really want to watch the Much Ado with David Tennant and Catherine Tate, but apparently the download doesn't work :( Damn incredible productions that only stay in England! But the new JC Superstar production with Tim Minchin as Judas is coming to Australia (possibly) and I'm REALLY excited for that :D
The only history play I've read is Julius Caesar, but luckily
fahye is my resident guru on all things Shakespeare, so she told me about how they meshed the two parts into one play (very sensible). The plot was simple - Prince Hal grows up - which made up for the fact that the two main young men appear to have at least four names, some of which were the same! Far too many Henrys around this period of history. It was actually very funny - I wasn't expecting it to be like that, being a history play not a comedy. All the actors were obviously having a great time in addition to the actual scripted jokes, and they threw in some camp German tourists for extra humour. The cast was AMAZING (especially the home-grown lead!), and the set (based on the London riots) was really interesting - it included milk crates and a ladder and chains, all interacted with at some stage in the play.
fahye and I both felt they could have ended the two parts a little earlier, on stronger images, but that was the only qualm I had. Their last production - Julius Caesar - felt off to me, so this was a welcome return to the fabulousness I remember from a childhood of going to see their plays (with Mum telling me the plot in simpler terms so I could follow!). . . And now I really want to watch the Much Ado with David Tennant and Catherine Tate, but apparently the download doesn't work :( Damn incredible productions that only stay in England! But the new JC Superstar production with Tim Minchin as Judas is coming to Australia (possibly) and I'm REALLY excited for that :D