An evening out

[maverick_weirdo]

Last night I went to “Shakespeare in the Park” on the Boston Common with maedbh7,
xuth & crazybone. The play was The Taming of the Shrew which is not one of my favorites (I prefer Twelfth Night, or Midsummer Night’s Dream) but I thought it would be worth the trip.

*maedbh7* sent out the invite late in the afternoon, the play started at 8pm. I arranged with my mother-in-law for Flo to pick me up at work. I then drove Flo home to Worcester (which is 25 miles in the opposite direction from Boston) so I could borrow her car. I then drove the car to a trolley station in Newton (the trolleys run later than the commuter trains). I got to the Boston Common and found the group 5 minutes before the play started.

The play was fun. They “tweaked” it a bit. The city it takes place in was referred to as “Bostonia” and the scenery was contemporary. When they talked of “horses” they meant motorcycles.

The “bit players” stole the show. The “Romantic Lead” characters sounded like they were reciting Shakespeare. The “servants” on the other hand made the words their own.

Tranio - Lucentio’s servant used a “southie” (south Boston) accent.
Biondello - Lucentio’s second servant reminded me of the cowardly lion (in a good way)
Grumio - Petruccio’s servant used a Brooklyn accent.
Hortensio – one of Bianca’s suitors, was marvelously creepy; whenever he talked about Kate his voice was high pitched and whiney, but when he talked to or about Bianca his voice became more of a growl which had a Gollum-like quality to it.

Bianca was probably the best performed of the major roles. She succeeded in coming across as shallow and vain.
Lucentio skirted the line between “playing an awkward person” and “giving an awkward performance”
Petruccio, the gentleman from Verona, needs to be a likeable rogue. I didn’t find him that likeable.
Katherine I will acknowledge is a challenging role. The central theme of the play is her transformation. There are two traditional ways to make her character work.

The first is to, from the beginning, give us insight into her conflicting emotions which Petruccio can then use against her to control her (The traditional Dom/Slave plot device).

The second is to give her speech at the end with an ironic, sarcastic, or condescending (to her husband) tone. This indicates that while she no longer needs to “act out” in public, underneath she is still the same woman. (Personally I prefer the second method).

Unfortunately I did not any sense of inner conflict in act one, nor any sarcasm in act three.
It was still an entertaining show, and a beautiful evening to see a play.


We took a bicycle powered cab/rickshaw to Finale, a restaurant that specializes in desserts. Our table experienced Molten Chocolate, Crème Brulee, and specially prepared seasonal fruits. Pure Decadence.

a menu

All together a fine evening.

Comments

[chaoticgoodchic.livejournal.com]

I wondered where you were when I called. I'm glad you were with friends out having fun!! You deserve a social life. One can only sit at home doing nothing for only so long before going insane.

-That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

[maverick-weirdo.livejournal.com]

So yOu arE uNdEr The imPresSion that i Am sanE?

[kahuna-burger.livejournal.com]

As a random side comment, I highly dislike Taming of the Shrew.... except the Moonlighting version. *grin*

[maverick-weirdo.livejournal.com]

I do not agree with the "message" of Taming of the Shrew either (although if you imagine it the way it was done in Shakespeare's time, with an all male cast...) but it was a chance to hang out with people, rather than sit home alone

[maedbh7.livejournal.com]

This is why I am so hawking the message of the Raul Julia/Meryl Streep Taming of the Shrew (*curse the Boston Public Library and their incompetence anyway*), because the message *IS NOT* "women obey men" as it's usually protrayed (as it was on the common). The message is supposed to be "laughter begets love and love begets laughter" and this is wholly lost and all too easily when this play is performed and directed with the wrong delivery, as it was in Bostonia.

I would say of TotS, instead, that this is a very precise play with a desperately needed message that requires an extremely adept director to deliver to its fullest potential. I've seen TotS 7 times; 6 of those have been hellish to sit through, including last night. Only once did I fall in love with it, and that was the one I'm trying to promote. -H...

[maverick-weirdo.livejournal.com]

Is that similar to "A sense of humor is sexy"?

[kahuna-burger.livejournal.com]

oh the idea of going to a shakespearian play is quite cool. And outdoor plays are nice socially too. I wasn't meaning to dis you for wanting to see it, its just your comments on possible interpretations by the Kate actress reminded me of what I thought just reading it.

[maedbh7.livejournal.com]

Michael is crazybone -H...

[maverick-weirdo.livejournal.com]

fixed it thanks