Romeo and Juliet
Tue, 10 July 2001, 10:41 amLeah Maher2 posts in thread
Romeo and Juliet
Tue, 10 July 2001, 10:41 amOK Amanda, you asked for it;
I didn't pay to see R&J so my veiws on it may be informed by the fact that no hard earned dollars had gone into my experience. I may therefore be being too lenient, however I figure now that my first read through of a play the director of R&J has cast me in has happened, he can't very well kick me out (....can he?) so I can tell the truth.
It all began very well. I liked the minimalist stage and the movable scaffolds. They were used well in some instances but I felt the very slight movements of position were simply more trouble than they were worth. And in some cases the way they were used prompted mirth more than pathos. Actually I must stop here and say I was in an audience full of teenagers who tend to laugh at most things ( I beleive it is "cool") so things I found a bit silly could simply have been motivated by mob mentality. Now I'm all for the young getting culture, it's an important part of their spiritual developement. However I am going to design and patent a special theatre audience teenager seat, much like the one used in A Clockwork Orange, to stop them moving in any way or making any sound. I was amazed at the cast's self control when various members of the audience dropped their drinks, slammed doors and wandered about during the performance. I'm blaming the teenagers for the slammed doors but I might be wrong and if I am something really needs to be done about the cast and crew making that much noise off stage.
OK, the acting was mostly very good with, unfortunately, a few very notable exceptions. Tai as Romeo was lovely. I felt in a very real way how all the girls in the audience (and probably some of the boys) just wanted to rush the stage to give him a big hug and tell him it was all going to be OK. There was also some rushing the stage tendancies for both Tybalt and Mercutio for several reasons not the least of which was how well they had come to grips with their characters, excpesially Tybalt.
I must say though, that the second half was long and felt it. The climax was good but somehow not as emotional as it could have been. I suppose the cast was going for shock ad bewilderment and that's what they acheived but I would have liked to see more greif. And the guy who played Balthazar was very under used, he was talented and understated and would have been a good foil to some of the other characters. That having been said I wouldn't have cast 'da boys' any other way.
Some laughes came from a few Capulet footsoldiers. BUT; it's fine to play to the gallaries when you arn't dispruting the focus of the action and when you are in a room full of the abovementioned teenagers. However, a "real" experienced theatre audience will resent you for it and you will fall flat. Best to know exactly where you stand in a scene.
Also one character tended to forget lines, which was a bit distracting.
The main point of seeing the show though, is for the interpretation. I won't make much comment on it because I don't want to ruin it for people except to say it worked for me for the most part. I didn't feel the seething resentment, the real pointless hatred required for it to TOTALLY work. Perhaps a few more risks (interms of public opinion and political correctness) should have been taken? But the idea is original and refreshing, informs the text in a real and tangible way and I enjoyed it immensly. It threw up a whole lot of new questions and made the action and the story more real.
OK that's it. I recommend it but bring a cusion, the Rechabites seats are hard and the play is long!
I didn't pay to see R&J so my veiws on it may be informed by the fact that no hard earned dollars had gone into my experience. I may therefore be being too lenient, however I figure now that my first read through of a play the director of R&J has cast me in has happened, he can't very well kick me out (....can he?) so I can tell the truth.
It all began very well. I liked the minimalist stage and the movable scaffolds. They were used well in some instances but I felt the very slight movements of position were simply more trouble than they were worth. And in some cases the way they were used prompted mirth more than pathos. Actually I must stop here and say I was in an audience full of teenagers who tend to laugh at most things ( I beleive it is "cool") so things I found a bit silly could simply have been motivated by mob mentality. Now I'm all for the young getting culture, it's an important part of their spiritual developement. However I am going to design and patent a special theatre audience teenager seat, much like the one used in A Clockwork Orange, to stop them moving in any way or making any sound. I was amazed at the cast's self control when various members of the audience dropped their drinks, slammed doors and wandered about during the performance. I'm blaming the teenagers for the slammed doors but I might be wrong and if I am something really needs to be done about the cast and crew making that much noise off stage.
OK, the acting was mostly very good with, unfortunately, a few very notable exceptions. Tai as Romeo was lovely. I felt in a very real way how all the girls in the audience (and probably some of the boys) just wanted to rush the stage to give him a big hug and tell him it was all going to be OK. There was also some rushing the stage tendancies for both Tybalt and Mercutio for several reasons not the least of which was how well they had come to grips with their characters, excpesially Tybalt.
I must say though, that the second half was long and felt it. The climax was good but somehow not as emotional as it could have been. I suppose the cast was going for shock ad bewilderment and that's what they acheived but I would have liked to see more greif. And the guy who played Balthazar was very under used, he was talented and understated and would have been a good foil to some of the other characters. That having been said I wouldn't have cast 'da boys' any other way.
Some laughes came from a few Capulet footsoldiers. BUT; it's fine to play to the gallaries when you arn't dispruting the focus of the action and when you are in a room full of the abovementioned teenagers. However, a "real" experienced theatre audience will resent you for it and you will fall flat. Best to know exactly where you stand in a scene.
Also one character tended to forget lines, which was a bit distracting.
The main point of seeing the show though, is for the interpretation. I won't make much comment on it because I don't want to ruin it for people except to say it worked for me for the most part. I didn't feel the seething resentment, the real pointless hatred required for it to TOTALLY work. Perhaps a few more risks (interms of public opinion and political correctness) should have been taken? But the idea is original and refreshing, informs the text in a real and tangible way and I enjoyed it immensly. It threw up a whole lot of new questions and made the action and the story more real.
OK that's it. I recommend it but bring a cusion, the Rechabites seats are hard and the play is long!