For our first outdoor play, in the Elizabethan Theater, we were perched high up in the back in seats the furthest possible from the stage. Much to Wendy's consternation, there were large swaths of open seats at curtain. Since Amanda and Wendy have only ever been to the festival in June or July (okay, one quickie Spring Break trip last year in March too for Amanda), they don't know if attendence really slows down as summer starts to wane and people's thoughts return to school. But it was shocking in both plays to see that it was not full.
The play, Love's Labors Lost is a lighthearted froth of romance and courtly love. And jests, battles of wits and friendly one upsmanship. It is also a wordy nightmare. Bard didn't leave any out it seems and even coined a few, such as the longest word in use at the time (which we will add here when we get home and consult The Asimov). Two stories run parallel: the lovers and then long scenes of The Pedant and The Clergyman giving Shakespeare a chance to play with language, Latin, and the pomposity of the loquatious learned.
Wendy would rate the venue as a 9.75 because she really loves the Elizabethan. She loves the design and that if you get bored you can just look at the stage, 'cuz it looks like a house. She also loves that it was designed acoustically so that the actors do not need to be micced, and even though they're a hundred feet away, you can hear them as if they were sitting next to you. The .25 was taken off because she really hates the seats themselves; hard plastic that are very uncomfortable after sitting for three and a half hours, it's like being at a football game. And she understands that it occasionally rains, so the seats have to be waterproof but couldn't they be comfortable also?
Wendy would rate the production as a 9.5 because it's a cute play but all the scenes with the Latin and the Clergyman and Pedant were unnecessary and confusing. She did really like the dance numbers, and the use of mood lighting, especially the hot purple lights. She also really liked that this is a "super rhyme-y play" and that there are so many sonnets. She thought it was really interesting to see so many old people in the audience, since so many of the younger people have gone back to school.
Amanda rates the venue a 10. In her first years coming to the festival in the mid-1980's, the Elizabethan stage was the same, a replica of The Globe Theater in London, but seating was much different, a bowl-style amphitheater all open to the sky. Which was great on nice nights, but a horror if it rained as there was no protection. The remodel, completed sometime in the 1990's, basically lifted up the last third of the audience and repositioned them in a balcony forward and overhanging the forward two thirds. This remodel benefitted both the acoustics and the restroom situation which greatly increased in number, though audience seats only went up by less than ten. There are no blocked seats in the house and though you may be high up, you can really see the action on all parts of the stage. For this production, Amanda liked the set very much; astroturf covered the stage, dotted with bright purple flowers. All sets are copywrighted so we cannot include any pictures of them but if you go to the OSF website (http://www.osf.org/) you can see official photos.
Amanda would rate the production a 9. The first third is sort of slow going as characters are established and the ridiculous plot is laid forth: the king is insisting his three besties give up wine, woman and song for three years? Amanda is all about education but all things in moderation, my good Sir. She liked seeing Stephanie Beatriz again in a totally different role from the tightly wound Isabell of "Measure for Measure", the free-spirited witty Rosaline. The part of Berowne is a wordy cornacopia of sonnets, soliloquies and extrapolations on love. Here it was ably played by Gregory Linnington who made the convoluted language sound modern and up-to-date. One thing that made this version stand out for Amanda was the incredible use of song, lighting and dance to liven up some of the more tedious scenes. There is a long scene (possibly the longest Shakespeare wrote) during which each of the Lovers goes on and on about his lady love. By the time you get to the final guy you just don't care. The festival solved this problem by turning Dumaine's sonnet into a hot, Backstreet Boy tribute complete with gyrations and pony kicks! Wonderful. Later music and dance added to the play in the bittersweet finale as the Lovers pledge their troth but agree not to see each other for a year. Amanda admits it, it was so heartfelt and sweet that she teared up a little, and would've devolved into a full blown cry if she hadn't assured Wendy she would not do that this year.
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