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kestrellKes: This is my favorite local Shakespeare company but, sadly, it has one of the least accessible Web sites I've ever experienced, so apologies for not providing more details about where and when the performances are occuring.
Alexx and I went to see ASP's (Actors Shakespeare Project) production of "Anthony and Cleopatra" this past Saturday and I found it to be a very entertaining performance. First, I had never really noticed how many funny bits there are in this play, although many of the funny bits are funny in a dark humor sort of way. Second, Anthony and Cleopatra are not portrayed as giddy young lovers carried away by Cupid's arrow, but as older, experienced lovers whose political careers often place them at odds with having a romantic relationship with one another. Anthony in particular broke my heart, because to some degree he is an old soldier whose code of honor and friendship can no longer exist in the new world the much younger Augustus is creating.
The supporting actors who played Cleopatra's main lady in waiting and Anthony's lieutenant were both brilliant, and the actor playing Augustus did a scarily good job portraying him as something of a psychopath.
What didn't really work for me was some of the set design. When you first walked in, there was a sound of a tinkling fountain, which pretty much made everyone who sat down have to go to the bathroom after five minutes. The bright flourescent lighting for the scenes taking place in Rome were also a poor choice, and I could tell when there was a scene change because Alexx would flinch when the lights flared up. There was also an attempt, according to the program, to highlight Mark Anthony and Cleopatra as media celebrities, but the only scene that really tried to portray this was a weird bit with masked actors using toy boats to portray the sea battle scene, with a laugh track playing in the background.
A wonderful performance, highly recommended. I also feel the need to add a note about a conversation which went on in the row behind me. It seemed to involve appropriate Shakespeare names to give one's cat, and one woman scorned Fulvia, while another added, "And Agrippa." When Alexx returned from the bathroom, I asked, "What is R. & L.'s cat's name?" and he replied that he didn't remember all the cats's names, except for the one named Agrippa. (Perhaps it just takes a certain sort of person with a certain sort of style to have a cat named Agrippa?)
Next Shakespeare play:
A Midsummer Night's Dream
http://bard-in-boston.livejournal.com/82131.html
Alexx and I went to see ASP's (Actors Shakespeare Project) production of "Anthony and Cleopatra" this past Saturday and I found it to be a very entertaining performance. First, I had never really noticed how many funny bits there are in this play, although many of the funny bits are funny in a dark humor sort of way. Second, Anthony and Cleopatra are not portrayed as giddy young lovers carried away by Cupid's arrow, but as older, experienced lovers whose political careers often place them at odds with having a romantic relationship with one another. Anthony in particular broke my heart, because to some degree he is an old soldier whose code of honor and friendship can no longer exist in the new world the much younger Augustus is creating.
The supporting actors who played Cleopatra's main lady in waiting and Anthony's lieutenant were both brilliant, and the actor playing Augustus did a scarily good job portraying him as something of a psychopath.
What didn't really work for me was some of the set design. When you first walked in, there was a sound of a tinkling fountain, which pretty much made everyone who sat down have to go to the bathroom after five minutes. The bright flourescent lighting for the scenes taking place in Rome were also a poor choice, and I could tell when there was a scene change because Alexx would flinch when the lights flared up. There was also an attempt, according to the program, to highlight Mark Anthony and Cleopatra as media celebrities, but the only scene that really tried to portray this was a weird bit with masked actors using toy boats to portray the sea battle scene, with a laugh track playing in the background.
A wonderful performance, highly recommended. I also feel the need to add a note about a conversation which went on in the row behind me. It seemed to involve appropriate Shakespeare names to give one's cat, and one woman scorned Fulvia, while another added, "And Agrippa." When Alexx returned from the bathroom, I asked, "What is R. & L.'s cat's name?" and he replied that he didn't remember all the cats's names, except for the one named Agrippa. (Perhaps it just takes a certain sort of person with a certain sort of style to have a cat named Agrippa?)
Next Shakespeare play:
A Midsummer Night's Dream
http://bard-in-boston.livejournal.com/82131.html
