This title may be a bit trite but I think it sort of fits this blog post. In my last post I wrote about seeing William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at the Mesa Performing Arts Center performed by the Southwest Shakespeare Company. We enjoyed the show tremendously.
Thursday night, February 8, we saw The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged presented by the Flowertown Players in Summervile, SC. It was a treat equal to any chocolate nut sundae. Like the previous mentioned work of the Elizabethan playwright, we had seen this play before. But there are those things in life worth repeating. This play was presented in the theater annex, or at least I think that is what it is called. We had forgotten about this location. So after arriving at the box office we were directed to go to the corner, around the gas station, and down the alley. After feeling our way through the dark alley we found the small theater behind the theater. There were few people there on opening night. I'm some times leery of opening nights. Maybe the director hasn't gotten all the bugs out of the performance. In this case there were no bugs or they weren't obvious in this fast paced show.
There were only three actors: two women and a man. As you might imagine there were many costume changes for the many characters played. And, of course, costumes were minimal. You must enjoy laughter at this show singularly and corporately. There is great audience participation too. There was one intermission in the show and it takes you by surprise. Two of the actors simply leave the stage, run out of the theater and disappear into the night while the other is left on stage to explain their actions.
We really enjoyed this play. If you enjoy Shakespeare and laughter be sure to see The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged. The play runs through February 17.
We were fortunate three weeks ago to attend a performance of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet presented by the Southwest Shakespeare Company. The Company presents its productions at the Mesa Center for the Performing Arts, Mesa, Arizona. Like many buildings in this part of the desert it is an impressive structure of stainless steel glass and stone.
It was a matinee performance and the theater was only partially filled. Our comfortable seats were only a few rows back and to the right of center stage. The stage itself had minimum of props. It was multilevel and had the appearance of stone. The director, Patrick Walsh, addressed the audience first with brief comments about the production, requests for monetary support for the theater and the usual prohibition of video and audio recording. And, of course, the obligatory silencing of cellphones.
Shakespeare's words had not changed since the last time I had heard them and nor do I remember the last time I had heard them. Let me preface my following comments by stating that I am not a Shakespeare scholar and my views are not those of expert of the theater or the thespian arts. I have seen a number of performances of the Bard's works and did, nay I say, suffer through a study of several of his plays in high school.
I found several things unique in this production. Light was used very effectively in the production. Not only was the color of the light effective in contributing to the mood of various scenes but emphasized certain actors as well. Music. I had never seen music used in a Shakespeare play and I'm not aware of its used in the Elizabethan theater. Nevertheless, a cello off stage but in full view provided much mood inducing music for the performance. In this play the fight scenes were well choreographed and well acted. In one fight scene the the director took a cue from the cinema and had the actors perform in slow-motion!
Later as were enjoying vegan cuisine with Pat and Kim who had treated us to the performance we discussed the play. Criticisms were few. Perhaps the only criticism of merit was the age of the leading actors. Kyle Sorrell and Sasha Wilson both appeared to be in the thirties. A bit old to be playing teenagers. Nonetheless, it was a very enjoyable afternoon in the desert.
