Witch 1
The Whining Schoolboy
Posts: 49
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Post by Witch 1 on Jul 29, 2010 5:40:26 GMT
I got permisson to take a picture of the scene breakdown. This was an absolute must-have ;D Attachments:
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Post by Queen Mab on Jul 29, 2010 7:45:19 GMT
LMAO!! XD I love this company.
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Post by Lorannah on Jul 29, 2010 9:48:06 GMT
Oh my - that is utterly priceless and hilarious. How have I not noticed that before. Particularly love:
Out of the frying pan, into the friar! All a Bawd The 1st Tango of Paris I'm a Capulet, get me out of here You've got to pick an Apothecary or two
Love it ;D
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Post by Queen Mab on Jul 29, 2010 9:51:33 GMT
I really want to see the one for d'Arthur... imagine the shadow sex scene...
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Post by Lorannah on Jul 29, 2010 10:15:18 GMT
I really want to see the one for d'Arthur... imagine the shadow sex scene... Well I'm going back to see it in a fortnight - I'll see what I can do.
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Post by danielwhit on Jul 29, 2010 11:04:20 GMT
Never would have imagined they'd do it in a way like that! Think I've just found myself a perfect SM timewaste task! Brilliant though..
However - shall we talk about the production?
Some great moments, some lacking - and now being slightly more aware of the original audiences was sniggering to myself when there was a "you're all obviously asleep, so I'm going to give you a recap of what has happened" moment (Friar Lawrence being the obvious one, that is clearly designed for the dozy members of the original audiences).
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Post by Queen Mab on Jul 29, 2010 11:35:05 GMT
Haha yes Daniel, it's such a bad moment. What was William thinking? I think it would have been much braver choice for them to end on the lovers deaths, cut out the last section totally.
Having said that, early on in the run there was a moment after Juliet's death, or rather as she screamed, when sirens wailed out, signifing the shift to modern dress (which, by the way, I love). I thought it was a great idea, a very surreal moment. They cut it though, I think after reading some ill-favoured reviews. Many people at press night sniggered, I'm not sure why.
I'm a particular fan of the music in this production. Both the guitar riff as Juliet's "body" is taken of stage (of course, in reality, Minnie Gale has already walked off stage) and the Capulet's ball music. I was lucky enough to take part in a dance workshop on Shakespeare's Birthday Weekend and Struan Leslie (Head of Moverment) took us through learning the dance and how the music is put together. It's an incredible mix of concurrent beats, 4/4 on top of 3/4, adding in 2/2 etc. All the actors are clapping on different beats and it creates this beautiful cacophony of sound. Added to the singing and the gyrating dancing... it's a very charged (and rather erotic *cough*) scene. It works very well with the Aztec sun imagery in the masks and the fire theme that both run through the play.
I've got various notes on Jonjo's performance as Mercutio, taken from the RSC Friends event he did. I'll copy those in shortly.
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Post by danielwhit on Jul 29, 2010 11:49:58 GMT
Oh - just thought, who is Mariah's understudy?
I've seen a lot of people be iffy about her performance so am curious now.
And since when did Shakey do anything brave?
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Witch 1
The Whining Schoolboy
Posts: 49
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Post by Witch 1 on Jul 29, 2010 12:00:23 GMT
Oh - just thought, who is Mariah's understudy? *checks programme* Debbie Korley BTW does anybody know which language they were singing in? I forgot to ask someone while I was there
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Post by Lorannah on Jul 29, 2010 12:00:41 GMT
Mariah's understudy is Debbie Korley, thought she was good though I much prefer her Ophelia - would adore to see her do that in full as she was excellent.
She also understudies Lady Montague - which was slightly weird in the understudy run as she had to miss some scenes and there was the whole issue of Romeo going for someone who looked exactly like his own mother.
Personally, though, I adore Mariah Gale in this - I find her Juliet utterly enthralling every time and she's made me really love the character.
Lorannah
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Witch 1
The Whining Schoolboy
Posts: 49
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Post by Witch 1 on Jul 29, 2010 12:01:30 GMT
cross-posting...
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Post by Lorannah on Jul 29, 2010 12:06:59 GMT
Haha yes Daniel, it's such a bad moment. What was William thinking? I think it would have been much braver choice for them to end on the lovers deaths, cut out the last section totally. I saw a Korean adaption of the play last week and for the last scene they had the two deaths escalating the violence, it turned into a huge fight, everyone died and the set collapsed around them. Rather exciting. The Friar Laurence scene is definitely frustrating, though Forbes Masson almost manages to make it work. Ah well... The Shakespeare being brave thing is kind of an interesting question because it's obviously incredibly difficult to know how his plays were truly perceived against what had happened in the theatre before. Though there are definite examples of him shocking his audience, he completely changed the ending of King Lear for example - which I imagine would have been horribly shocking given it was a familiar story at the time. Interesting to ponder. For me at least.
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Post by Lorannah on Jul 29, 2010 12:07:40 GMT
Absolutely - great minds think alike and all.
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Post by Queen Mab on Jul 29, 2010 12:31:56 GMT
Oh - just thought, who is Mariah's understudy? I've seen a lot of people be iffy about her performance so am curious now. And since when did Shakey do anything brave? Well I personally meant this production should have been braver! I can understand why Shakespeare did it, afterall, his audiences weren't exactly known for their attention spans, I think. They had to be told what was about to happen before it began! Oh - just thought, who is Mariah's understudy? *checks programme* Debbie Korley BTW does anybody know which language they were singing in? I forgot to ask someone while I was there I keep meaning to ask that too. Must remember to next time. I quite liked Debbie's Juliet. Much younger feeling than Minnie's. Needed time to grow, I think, but obviously she's an understudy so you kind of expect that. Dyfan Dwyfor on the other hand, I loved. His understudy Romeo is incredible. Much younger looking than Sam, and his youthfulness added to the angst. He also didn't do that awful "me I'm the youngest of that name" that Sam does. Hate it hate it hate it. OH speaking of. Anyone else want to trip up Christine Entwisle during her marathon around Juliet's deathbed? I understand the idea - she's gone mad (after loosing the plot already with Tybalt's death) - but it just went on too long and became farcical. Speaking of Tybalt, rather liked the unconventional Lady Capulet/Tybalt relationship going on! Other good understudies were Gruffudd Glyn's Benvolio, James Howard's Capulet and Peter Peverely's Friar Lawrence. Joseph Arkley did well to portray the same style Mercutio, without trying to emulatie Jonjo's outstanding performance (he even flashed his manhood to the gallery patrons), but I didn't care for it as much as Jonjo's (physical appearence notwithstanding).
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Post by Lorannah on Jul 29, 2010 17:51:50 GMT
Dyfan Dwyfor on the other hand, I loved. His understudy Romeo is incredible. Much younger looking than Sam, and his youthfulness added to the angst. He also didn't do that awful "me I'm the youngest of that name" that Sam does. Hate it hate it hate it. Other good understudies were Gruffudd Glyn's Benvolio, James Howard's Capulet and Peter Peverely's Friar Lawrence. Joseph Arkley did well to portray the same style Mercutio, without trying to emulatie Jonjo's outstanding performance (he even flashed his manhood to the gallery patrons), but I didn't care for it as much as Jonjo's (physical appearence notwithstanding). Hee. Understudy Runs one of my favourite topics. I thought Dyfan was great as Romeo, enough so that when I heard he'd be performing the role with the main cast I bought tickets specifically to see the different dynamics. Well worth it. I've been musing since about how him and Sam Troughton (who I also think is fantastic) play the role differently. Personally I think that Sam has put together the more interesting version of the role and it's definitely different than any other I've seen - his Romeo's more closed off, lives very much in the instant, defined by urgent desire and lust and is very selfish. He's a definite teenager. Which I think puts a different perspective on the role. But, I also think it oddly skews Romeo's relationship with the rest of the characters. In the play most of the characters revolve in one way or another around Romeo, he's the centre of their world, even Mercutio's - for all his posture and bravado he's waiting for Romeo to entertain him (I've always liked the way this contrasts with Juliet, who is pretty much not the focus of anyone's world, except arguably the nurse's). With Sam Troughton's portrayal I find it a lot harder to understand why - because he's closed off I lost that sense of closeness, that feeling of a gang and given most of his behaviour I couldn't understand why any of them gave a damn about him. So, whilst for me I didn't doubt for a second that Romeo would be utterly fascinated by Mariah Gale's Juliet, I didn't really get what she saw in him - what attracted her. Dyfan's Romeo, in contrast, is a lot warmer, he's a lot closer to the rest of the cast, physically reaching out to them and he's a lot more playful (which I think adds to the youthfulness you mentioned). For me the connection between Mercutio and Romeo instantly fell into place, where I felt tension between Jonjo and Sam in their scenes - with Dyfan and Jonjo I took away a sense of their joy in each other and it made Mercutio's later disappointment sharper. Similarly the other relationships fell back into place. And I think Juliet is charmed by his utter focus on her, that sense of devotion. It feels like what it lacks in interest, it gains in creating a more balanced ensemble. Plus it's an utterly charming portrayal. So I couldn't particularly choose between the two portrayals, I love both for entirely different reasons.
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