Until this past Sunday, I had never had the pleasure of seeing any of The Bard's plays on stage. I remember watching Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet in ninth grade (though our prissy English teacher wouldn't let us watch the much-lauded nude scene. Prude), and in college, the 1995 version of Richard III - brilliantly set in a fascist England of the 1930s. I've seen many other film versions of many of his plays, but these really stuck out in my mind. An honorable mention should go to Baz Luhrmann's 1995 version of Romeo + Juliet. Very nice.
Right. So on Sunday evening, I was excited to attend Richard III at the Shakespeare Theater. I was a little worried that I was building it up in my mind only to be disappointed in the end, but that couldn't have been further from the reality. The Company staged an impressive, breathtaking performance, and I finally witnessed the raw power of the stage. Carefully reading the play requires a great deal of concentration, especially since it is not always clear where the emphasis falls in a given sentence, or what the words really mean, but seeing it on stage makes sense of the confusing scenes and gives faces to the many characters.
Richard III is a Machiavellian tale of power and greed; of how one man will do anything to rise to the top. He lies, cheats, tricks, and arranges murders -- just to advance his own rank at court. He makes no secret of his evil - he jokes about it, in fact - and he is able to make himself likable to the audience. Richard is himself an actor, able to transform himself at will, to read from different scripts, and to manipulate all around him into carrying out his wishes -- no matter how dastardly.
Geraint Wyn Davies portrayed Richard III powerfully and beautifully. His performance was just brilliant, as he was able to merge Shakespeare's words with actions in such a way that the meaning was clear when needed and ambiguous when necessary. His presence was felt even in the rare scenes in which he did not appear. His performance made the play.
We splurged for third row, center, seats, and they were well worth the price. We were close enough to see the spit flying (those Shakespearean actors just love to enunciate!), the facial expressions and contortions, every gesture, every raised eyebrow... it was fantastic! As for my individual enjoyment, the man seated in front of me was short, and the woman seated next to me didn't hog the armrest. I saw everything - it was glorious.
With five acts and at three hours long, it was quite an undertaking, but the actors showed no signs of tiring. Heck, after putting my brain through three hours of major concentration, I was tired, and I was just sitting there.
If you are interested in seeing a fantastic, thought-provoking performance, see Richard III. It's brilliant.
Richard III will be staged at the Shakespeare Theater through March 18, 2007.
2 comments:
haha...i was actually absent during the romeo & juliet viewing in 9th grade, so the teacher gave me the video to take home and watch, and my mother entered the room during said nude scene and had a fit, particularly when i told her that my teacher had given me the videotape.
That's funny - I can totally see your mom freaking out. Maybe not as bad as Kyle's mom on South Park, but close :) I remember watching it with my dad and he just went on and on about how beautiful and wonderful the film was. Of course, he's an old romantic...
Additionally, the nude scene gave the film the equivalent of an "R" rating back in the day, and as the actress who played Juliet was underage, she wasn't allowed to attend the premiere. Awesome.
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