Oh dear, dear, dear...Lear, Lear, lear...

"Oh Lear, Lear, Lear, beat at this gate that let thy folly in and my dear judgement out!" ...Hmmm how to start.. I saw Lear in Belarusian a few days ago. I was excited to see this not not only because it is Lear, but because there was a lot of hype about the Belarusians who apparently aren’t allowed to perform in their own country. Talks of Belaruse apparently being the last of the European dictatorships... hmmm... WELL. I would have to say I was gravely dissappointed in the production. Firstly they didn’t seem very well rehearsed (I imagine condition in their country make this challenging). The actors had a huge technical problem, being no one could hear a word they said unless you stood at the front of the theatre. I was at the front for the first half but then moved to the back of the pit for the second half to get a different perspective. I couldn’t hear a word. Now even though it’s not in English, the language gives you a huge sense of the story, so a lot was lost because of this. They did not own the space. Secondly I fel that their production was a bit lame... their ideas about how to tell the story diminished the story itself. The Fool wasn’t funny, there were no stakes, and Lear didn’t have enough of a transformation for me to care.

Ah well, it was interesting to see a production which I knew so well. Sometimes I could tell which lines they were saying, even though they weren’t in English. Coriolanus in Japanese tonight!!

Lineage, thrones, power, crowns... The Duchess of Malfi at the Old Vic, and King John in Armenian at the Globe

Last night I caught a production of the Duchess of Malfi at the Old Vic. What a magical theatre, I can just imagine so much acting royalty having graced that stage. I was lucky to snag a front row 12 pound ticket so I was right up in the action. This was a BIG production. Huge, glorious, dark and creepy set. Looked like a medieval castle, all lit with candles and reaching all the way up beyond the extremely high proscenium arch. There were two additional levels that were cross overs/balconies above the main stage. All this being said, their use of the set was relatively simple. Towards the end of the play they made it snow onstage, which I wasn’t sure why, it sort of came out of knowwhere, but other than that, just candles and the movement of people in space. They used masks, and the metaphor of a masquerade for the beginning of the play, some beautiful choreography. Apparently this is one of the most performed plays of the period outside of Shakespeare’s cannon. The actors were clear, and very strong I just wasn’t sure of the play itself. Basically the Duchess is a widow and her brother says she can not get re-married (something to do with the blood line, I didn’t quite catch the reason in the beginning of the play). However she falls in love and does marry someone and has three kids with him. The brother finds out and has her captured and eventually murdered (this is 45 minutes before the end of the play-our heroine is now gone) so we end up watching the brother and his remorse, along with the people he entangled in the mess of killing the Duchess, etc... that’s sort of a quick and dirty summary, but regardless as intriguing the production was, I wasn’t uber fond of the story. Nothing pulled me in. Maybe I’m tired of all these plays about people obsessing about their blood line/power with all the histories I’ve been catching. I’m excited to see more at the Old Vic though, definitely a magical venue.

King John was a lovely piece of theatre. Not knowing the story at all I was curious as to how much I would enjoy this production, being in a language I don’t understand. The Armenian theatre company approached the play with humour and “play” in all the right places. They used suitcases for much of the “Set” and played with the idea of traveling players (which they are) coming to the Globe to put on this play. Some of it seemed false, but I still enjoyed it because they were clearly enjoying themselves and had a sense of play which is more than most of the Histories are. Acknowledge that half of your audience doesn’t speak your language and helping them along I find is the most satisfying of the plays I’ve seen thus far at this festival. At one point a women clapped after someone said something and they actor looked at her and said “thank you”’, the audience roared with applause. He acknowledged a live moment. It was special. I’m UBER excited for Lear tomorrow, not only because it’s Lear, but because its the Belarusian Free Theatre a company who aren’t allowed to perform in their own country. Should be a special event!

Henry VI part 2, 3, Noises Off in the West End, & Henry IV part 2:

In the last few days I’ve managed to catch 4 plays. The histories aren’t the easiest plays to watch in another language other than English, to be honest. All very interesting takes on the plays, though after seeing them all they are all a bit of a wash in my mind. Lots of weird costume choices. Funky hair colours, adidas track pants... strange things, wasn’t quite sure of the meaning behind some of the choices, but ah well. I managed to squeeze in a West End production of ‘Noises Off’ on Monday night in between my Globe marathon. What a treat!! This was a transfer from the Old Vic to the beautiful Novello Theatre. While it is your traditional proscenium stage, which isn’t usually my favourite type of theatre, the Novello managed to have an exquisite grandeur of a well kept theatre from 1905. So gorgeous with it’s three balconies, but what I loved the most was even though it was so grand in scale and probably fit hundreds and hundred of people, it felt very intimate. The balconies wrapped around so the hugged the proscenium arch, and they were never too far back, simply higher. Almost like the idea at the Globe where they’d rather go higher, than further back. So anyways, I love the theatre! The play was quite brilliant. Sharp, fast-paced, high stakes. These actors knew exactly how to play this classic farce about a group of actors and a director putting on a farce. It was like watching a sporting event it was so physical. The actors were also so true in their characters that when the stakes rose as the play and the antics progressed, I became more and more invested in the ensuing action. So much fun. The best part of it all was it was only 12 pounds!!! Under 25’s get 12 pound tickets for ant ‘Old Vic’ show! I’ll definitely be seeing everything they produce for the next year, while I can!

‘King John’ in Armenian tomorrow, followed by the much anticipate King Lear in Belarusian, not only because I just directed King Lear, but because the Belarusian ‘Free Theatre’ has quite the company history and is not legally allowed to perform in their own country!

First 3 productions at 'Globe to Globe'- Macbeth, 2 Gents, and Henry VI part I

MACBETH- Polish

The first of my 26 or so plays of the ‘Globe to Globe’ festival. This production felt very “European”... it’s funny, even though I haven’t seen a lot of European productions, it made sense to me. I was expecting it to be a lot more graphic, with all the warning signs of “extremely mature content”... there was barely any blood. Interesting idea having the drag queens be the witches. I’m trying to think of a modern equivalent. How does a director, when setting Macbeth in modern times, equate the fear and power that “witches” had during the reign of King James. I’ve heard it compared to an equivalent of the “Blair Witch Project” or “The Exorcist”, in terms of impact and literally scariness/effectiveness on the audience. This production had a lot of comedy, which I appreciated. The Polish actors sure know how to scream. In a good way. They did not shy away from jumping off the cliff when it came to trying to access the true anguish these characters are feeling. This production made me think of the effect of war on the men and women who are directly involved. It started out with drag queens roaming the ‘pit’ and Macbeth and Banquo sitting on two lazy-esque-boy chairs texting on their iphones. Wearing track suits, these two looked like a bunch of deadbeats. They’ve been ravaged by war, and now they are pathetic, and have no purpose in life. Lady M was stuck in bed and suffering from depression. Until... the Macbeths receive news from the King that he has become thane of Cawdor.. then things change. My only problem was that the “prophesy” of the Witches/Drag Queens came when Macbeth and Banquo were at a night club and it was sort of a “toast” from the witches... didn’t seem to effect Macbeth at first. In this instance I wasn’t sure if the drag queen idea worked.

Two Gentlemen of Verona -Shona (Zimbabwe)

The ‘Two Gents’ Production of Two Gentlemen of Verona fit so well into the Globe, if it wasn’t for the fact that it was performed by two actors, or that it was in the language Shona, I would have thought it was a home grown Globe production itself. These two actors portrayed all the characters. Simply. No huge caricatures, but just the right amount of vocal/physical adjustment to make them crystal clear. All the had was a clothes line across the stage with a few small costume pieces which they switched for the various characters. They played and had fun with the audience, while still keeping the heart of this romance. It felt poignant being a romance about lovers being separated when one goes off to a foreign land, as I have just arrived in London, far away from my boyfriend, home, friends. They really captured the Globe spirit in this production as they used the audience, addressed them frequently, went into the crowd and even at one point brought some people on stage. Of course we were all playing along, we all felt that we were safe in their hands. The other thing that was amazing was that I understood so much. The story was crystal clear. It’s funny how humour is all in the rhythm as I found myself laughing at jokes when I had no clue what was actually said. These performers were wonderful. The heart of the Shona language is so visceral when they speak, one can’t help but feel they understand what’s going on. Beautiful.

Henry VI part I - Serbian

Good times at the Globe tonight. What I’m loving about seeing all of these plays in languages that I don’t understand, is I’m really getting a good sense of the story. There is no pressure for me to “get it”, and yet I find myself following along just fine. This production was interesting in that they had a huge metal round table int he middle of the stage and they used it in many ways, breaking it apart, turning the various parts sideways/upside down, all the while the actors stayed on stage the whole time and changed simple costume pieces to change characters. Still a good 10-15 or so men (and one woman-Joan of Arc) in the cast. It didn’t have a lot of movement on the stage (perhaps because if the huge table). It didn’t distract me during the performance though, and all seemed to fit well into the Globe. Great acting. Seems to me the play is full of “meetings” about alliances. People wanting other peoples land, or manipulating people to switch sides, or trying to convince other people of their right to land/the throne/etc... men fighting over land. Joan of Arc is an interesting character. She was very well done. I found the main thing about this play was that it didn’t pull at my heart strings. I didn’t really empathize with many of the characters, not because of the acting, but because I wasn’t sure what they were fighting for. Why did they want control of various lands, why did they want other people on their side... power?... but is there more? Hmmm... intriguing.  Makes me want to see an English version of the full play to see if there are subtleties I’m missing within the various scenes. Part 2 and 3 tomorrow!