Reading in the dark
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Below are the 6 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Kestrell" journal:
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10:56 am
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Username Faust review
Yesterday ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) alexx_kay, juliad and I attended "username: faust," currently playing at the New College Theater. I found it both enjoyable and thought-provoking; my ultimate judgement is that creatively, it is a fabulous play, but politically, I completely disagree with its theme.
Here is the story (note I think I am conflating the character name with the actors' names, due tot he way the program presented this information). Alice, a wheelchair user who works from home at a data entry job, becomes drawn into the Internet, posting to LiveJournal and later, under the influence of Sophie, creating YouTube videos. Soon she finds herself withdrawing from her real-life friend and neighbor, Wendy, in order to cultivate the adoration of her online fans. All of this comes about through a literal Faustian bargain, with Lucifer being played by a sort of "remixed Old Nick," who sings all his parts through pieces from various Faust operas.
The acting was impressive (although I wish the female lead had projected a bit more), and the opera was wonderful.
My main issues with the play are that it takes the easy route in some of it's narrative, including a pat "technology is evil" moral stance. To be specific, the action of the play presents the idea that the Net robs you of "real" experience and substitutes superficial meaningless virtual experience. It is to be noted, as
this other review
http://galen-reviews.livejournal.com/12688.html
points out, that this is a Harvard student's senior thesis, but still, I feel a more complex unpacking of the pros and cons of technology is, at this point in the 21st century, to be expected.
As a disability and technology advocate, I have to strongly object to this theme.
( my argument against the technology is evil theme )
Current Location: aerye
Current Music: www.wumb.org
Tags: media studies, technology, theatre
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01:12 pm
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Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!: theatre
alexx_kay and I will be attending the 3 o'clock performance of
username: faust
http://kestrell.livejournal.com/423183.html#cutid1
since this performance will be providing a descriptive track for visually-impaired attendees.
Also of note for Sunday performances is
William Shakespeare Vampire, Hunter
http://community.livejournal.com/bard_in_boston/63160.html
Current Location: aerye
Current Music: www.937mikefm.com
Tags: faust, shakespeare, theatre
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10:10 am
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Faust play featuring actors with disabilities at Harvard
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
username: faust
taking accessible theatre into the digital age
(CAMBRIDGE, MA) - Tickets are on sale for username: FAUST, an original
multimedia production featuring an ensemble of local performers with a
variety of disabilities. Performances will be held April 9-13, 2008 at
Harvard's New College Theatre, 12 Holyoke Street, Cambridge, MA.
Directed by Harvard senior Charlie I. Miller, this adaptation of the Faust
legend is a collaborative work, created in partnership with the cast. Miller
assembled a group of artists with disabilities ranging from blindness to
bipolar disorder, and began working with them last fall. What began as
improvised workshops, scenes, and video projects has become a cutting-edge
performance unlike any other theatrical or cinematic event.
While complicated in its technical execution, username: FAUST is at its core
accessible theatre. Miller designed the show to be a stimulating
multi-sensory experience that can be enjoyed by a diverse audience.
Additionally, the venue at Harvard's New College Theatre is completely
accessible to patrons with disabilities, and the production will offer open
captioning and audio description. ASL interpreters are available upon
request.
( continued below cut )
Current Location: aerye
Tags: accessibility, disability, theatre
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12:03 pm
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Theatre on the Hellmouth: A review of Teller's Macbeth
This past Sundy I was part of a group that made a mad-dash Shakespeare road trip to catch
Teller's production of Macbeth
http://www.pennandteller.com/03/coolstuff/tellersmacbethindex.html
which is currently playing in Middleton, New Jersey.
I loved it, although a couple of the group felt jipped as they claimed they expected more blood. This is kind of ironic, as I was probably the most dedicated horror fan in the bunch, and I felt there was just the right amount of blood. Teller's violence is typically more implied than blatant, and in his essay on the production, he mentioned how he was captivated by the work of Alfred Hitchcock from the time he was a child.
How to summarize the tone of the production? Think Hitchcock meets Clive Barker meets Shakespeare. A lot of what I loved about it was the use of the stage as a liminal space and the implication that all of the action was taking place on the threshhold of Hell, which, as the Elizabethan name for the trapdoor from which the witches raised their apparitions was actually named "hell," made it both nicely metaphorical and literal.
( notes on the play )
Current Location: aerye
Current Mood: fannish
Current Music: "Somebody's Watching Me"
Tags: horror, shakespeare, teller, theatre
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12:35 pm
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Review: The Winter's Tale, performed at MIT on Thursday, September 20
Thursday night alexx_kay and I went to a production of "The Winter's Tale" at MIT put on by students of
THE Cambridge University American Stage Tour (CAST)
http://castonline.org/
and while initially I had my doubts about how enjoyable it would be due to the various ambiguities of the play itself along with the fact that it was a student production, I can definitively state that this was an amazing production that demonstrated once again that these plays were meant to be experienced live, not just read.
Indeed, one of the aspects of CAST's production which made the play so much livelier than I expected was that the company exploited every possible moment for making the play come alive to the audience.
While it didn't occur to me at the time, this sense of liveliness was kicked off when we bumped into eanja and fabrisse before the show and then when we took our seats found ourselves sitting in front of xiphias and cheshyre, maintainers of the wonderful
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) bard_in_boston, virtual home of all things Shakespeare in the Boston area.
The play itself is, as I commented, a bit ambiguous in its categorization: while the theme itself is very dark--jealousy and the destruction it enacts not only upon individuals but upon families and social order--the play is often listed as a comedy, because nobody actually dies (thanks, Fabrisse). According to Marjorie Garber's book _Shakespeare After All_, Winter's Tale can be categorized as one of the late romances, along with Tempest and Midsummer's Night, and also as one of the triad of "jealousy plays" which include Much Ado and Othello. The players made a creative choice to highlight the comedic parts of the play while not downplaying the darker elements, the two main means for doing this being the use of puppets and the use of character/costuming references to Lewis Carroll's _Alice in Wonderland_.
Yet the use of children's toys and stories did not detract from the dark theme of jealousy and violence. As anyone who knows about the secret history of Punch and Judy can tell you, violence is woven through the oldest puppet plays. And as for stories, a winter's tale is a story told during the darkest part of the year.
( continued below cut )
Current Location: aerye
Current Mood: mercurial
Current Music: www.wmbr.org
Tags: events, mit, reviews, shakespeare, theatre
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11:08 am
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Redfeather Theatre's Richard III well worth the trip
Richard3 is one of my favorite bad boys, and, despite the fact that his is supposedly one of the most frequently produced of the Shakespeare plays, I have rarely had an opportunity to hear it in live theatre. So when I found out that there was going to be a production on my birthday, I begged alexx_kay to take me to see it.
Everything about the production was fabulous, and I urge anyone who loves this play to go see it.
Timothy John Smith, the actor who plays Richard, is, in the best tradition of timeless villains, alternately seductive and terrifying. Indeed, the director pointed out in the program for the play that R3 is all about the seductiveness of evil. I can also see why R3 is difficult to produce--Richard is not only the title character but the puppetmaster who controls everything else on the stage, until the very end when he brings about his own demise. The edits to the script and the pacing on this production were so tight that they actually contribute to the sense of Richard being caught up in his own machinations, and Smith manages to convey Richard's increasing fury and paranoia as he speeds toward his own self-destruction.
One of the other difficulties in producing R3 is that there are so many characters, and keeping track of the changing factions, traitors and counter-traitors, requires a scorecard. This production kindly provides one, a geneology of the families involved (yes, everyone is basically related to everyone else, or has killed someone else's relative, which is one reason why I refer to this play as a "gothic" rather than a "history"). Like Lawrence Olivier's film production of R3, this production begins with the final coronation scene of Henry VI, Part 3, although this production uses the setting of a 1920s party, complete with two flappers singing jazz tunes, to introduce the characters and set up the first monologue. The moment when the flappers are singing a Betty Boop rendition of "I Want to Be Loved By You" and Richard walks onstage is rather ominous.
Another trick used two distinguish between the feuding factions is the use of costumes, with the older families being dressed in conservative suits while the newer ascendents to the throne dressed as the nouveau riche.
The production also features some cross-gender casting, and in the case of the relationsip between Richard and Buckingham, this further adds to the sense of politics making "strange bedfellows." Indeed, this play features a number of very strong speeches for women, and the relationship between Richard and the women, whom he often furiously accuses of being changeable despite his own chameleon nature, is one of the fascinating aspects of this truly psychological drama.
Last of all, I must say, the setting of Green Hill Park in Worcester which was used for the stage is truly wonderful: the park creates a sense of being in an isolated greenwood, and it also compliments the garden party turned battle field which describes the setting of the play. You should, however, bring bug spray and a light jacket or sweater.
Accessibility: Those with hearing impairments may have trouble following some of the dialogue, as there are a few points where the actor speaking is turned in such a way that he/she is not facing the audience. Also, while the path from the parking lot to the seating is not long, it is up a somewhat steep hill, which for a short part has uneven flagstones: I'm not sure if this would impede wheelchair users, but if the wheelchiar can travel over grass, it should not be an issue.
Richard 3 runs from August 1-19.
Showtime is 7 p.m. and tickets are $20 ($15 for students and seniors). Discount tickets for students through grade 12 and their teachers are available
Redfeather Theatre Company (Worcester)]
http://www.redfeatherco.org/
Redfeather Theatre is a professional acting troupe in residence at the College of the Holy Cross. Dedicated to mounting outdoor productions of Shakespeare's
plays, the company presents the Worcester Summer Shakespeare Festival in the Memorial Grove Amphitheatre at beautiful Green Hill Park in Worcester, MA.
Cast members include professional actors, members of the Worcester community, Holy Cross alumni and student apprentices - all working together to present magical, memorable summer theatre.
Current Location: aerye
Current Mood:  content
Tags: bad boys, shakespeare, theatre
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