Sir Ian McKellen
I saw Ian M in King Lear with the RSC this weekend. The performance overall was technically perfect: every scene was carefully rehearsed and directed. Ian was wonderful.
However, the entire play (and they did the ENTIRE play, 3 1/2 hours worth) left me very cold. I often found myself thinking about how their inflection changed the meaning of the line, or how her rhythm was lovely to listen to... not feeling the story. I laughed twice and I felt drawn in on Lear's "never never never never" line, but spent the rest of the show admiring the set, and seamless transitions and fabulous ensemble work.
I realized that, no, we NITSers are not the Royal Shakespeare Company, but we had our priorities in the right place. Who cares if you know your lines? Who cares if you've blocked the scene? If you are making the audience FEEL something, then you're doing it right.
posted by Emily @ 11:16 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Emily, I don't know how many times I've seen plays done by enormous companies with tons of cash and come away with the same feeling. ANd then i"d find find an exceptional Shakespeare -in -the-Park production, or a school show, or one of those tiny studio theatres where you're sitting on grubby sofas and so forth---and find real magic.
My husband said it's the equivalent of going out on a date with a devastating beauty to discover she is completely vacuous ---dissappointing. You can admire the view, but there's nothing for your soul.
In other news, and speaking of McKellen--my pitch for Amadeus made it to the final slate of plays scheduled for the VBC Playhouse----for September. (I had tried to pitch it for July but fell afoul of other plays scheduling problems--So I was asked to open the season. Yikes. (Amadeus still has to be voted in, but right now it's running against a show without a director, so I"m prepping already.) But now a lot of my tech crew is unavailable--so back to the starting block.
Thanks for reminding me of what the focus should be. I'm nervous as hell.
Any of you who know or or read this play----please send ideas or whatever--right now I'm in the brainstorming process where I'm considering everything.
MIss all y'all!
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