Twelth Night in Proscaenium
Yesterday (Saturday the 18) I saw an ametuer production of Twelth Night, performed by mostly school children (the youngest was around 12). Watching the play produceded was a very unique, and shall we say enlightening, experience, as I spent a majority of the production thinking about how I would have done it differently.
I am going to 'rant' about the production for a minute, but it is to make a point.
Two issues irritated (well, that isn't the right word, but it is better than any other I can think up and are really English words - maybe bother would be better) me more than any other.
The first was the manner in which Malvolio was played. The actor affected a rouch and abnormal voice for the part, sounding more like a cartoon villian than a real person. This placed Malvolio off immediately, seperating him from the rest of the house by a very noticable action. I found it difficult, later on, to rouse any sympathy for Malvolio, for he was hardly presented as a real person.
The second (and I think more glaring) issue was the way the final scene was played. The actors seemed to wonder on stage in random areas, making the regonition rather odd. Sebastion literally walked right next to Viola, turned a full circle past her, yet later affected surprise at seeing his double there.
I am not putting down the production, for it was an ametuer production, but I had to bring up this issues so that I could actually make the point I wrote this post in order to make. This play has done a lot toward answering the question I proposed near the beginning of our class, namely "Why?"
Being able to watch this production and say "Do this differently," "do that differently," helped enlighten me to something about Shakespeare. I cannot say he is the best English author ever, but I can say I see much more of why he is considered great, in that there were so many nuances to Twelth Night that were not captured in this (arguably well done) production, simply because it was Shakespeare and there was so much more there.
I am going to 'rant' about the production for a minute, but it is to make a point.
Two issues irritated (well, that isn't the right word, but it is better than any other I can think up and are really English words - maybe bother would be better) me more than any other.
The first was the manner in which Malvolio was played. The actor affected a rouch and abnormal voice for the part, sounding more like a cartoon villian than a real person. This placed Malvolio off immediately, seperating him from the rest of the house by a very noticable action. I found it difficult, later on, to rouse any sympathy for Malvolio, for he was hardly presented as a real person.
The second (and I think more glaring) issue was the way the final scene was played. The actors seemed to wonder on stage in random areas, making the regonition rather odd. Sebastion literally walked right next to Viola, turned a full circle past her, yet later affected surprise at seeing his double there.
I am not putting down the production, for it was an ametuer production, but I had to bring up this issues so that I could actually make the point I wrote this post in order to make. This play has done a lot toward answering the question I proposed near the beginning of our class, namely "Why?"
Being able to watch this production and say "Do this differently," "do that differently," helped enlighten me to something about Shakespeare. I cannot say he is the best English author ever, but I can say I see much more of why he is considered great, in that there were so many nuances to Twelth Night that were not captured in this (arguably well done) production, simply because it was Shakespeare and there was so much more there.
posted by J.M.R. Burgard | 5:12 PM
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