So to sum up... Statford upon Avon is beautiful and I'd love to live there and the RSC is brilliant and my future employers! They just may not know yet, don't worry they will :) oh they will! they will!!!
-teresa
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Tell me where is fancy bred, in the heart or in the head?- merchant of venice 3.2
So i've returned... It was a long day, a long trip but well worth it. We started the day off in Coventry where we visited the new cathedral and the ruins of the old one. The new cathedral has really beautiful stained glass windows, i am a bit of a sucker for stained glass. And the old one is interested historically since it was bombed. then we went on to statford upon avon. It was a beautiful day and it was nice to walk around. The main theatre of the RSC and part of the river bank is all under construction since they are re working the theatre. We saw a show but we saw it in a temporary theatre, which was naturally nicer then some of the permanent theatres I have been in. We saw the Merchant of Venice and I LOVED IT!!!! which was funny because i had never really cared for the play that much before. The space was so interesting and the actors used it so well. The design and style were really subtle which gave emphasis to the acting which was great. The only thing that was sort of disappointing was Jessica and Lorenzo seemed a bit weak. That last scene with the two of them together DRAGGED! they didn't really seem to have a connection or a real idea of why they were onstage or important, and therefore we didn't really feel like they were important. Shylock was really interesting, his character choices made his quest for revenge really make sense character wise. It wasn't because he was a Jew, or because he was evil, it was just the way he was and how his character responded. Portia was great as were all the main guys. However technically most of those "male friends" of antonio could be female, depending on the style you choose, they are fun characters and they could be female friends just as easily as male friends if it fit the style. But that could just be me and my never ending quest to somewhat even out the male female role ratio.
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Wonderful comments, good detail. When you see an actor you really like, try and figure out what physical gestures he is particularly hitting you with that illustrate the subtext of how his take on a role is. I don't know if you do this or not, or necessarily whether or not you have time, but when you see something really good like that, see it more than once, several times if possible. You'll be able to see more and more layers and why that person is making the character so rich.
There are NO "throw away lines." Even the most trivial line should be delivered with specificity. Before I'd taken acting lessons, I had a conversation with a B'way performer whose career a friend and I follow intently. He's a terrific dancer. Well, we saw him in La Cage aux Folles and he had a line "I can't dance." After words I said "Oh, Jimmy, c'mon, you dance like Astaire" and he said "I meant I didn't FEEL like dancing, then." About a half year later when I took my first acting classes and was going through the Shurtleif[sp??] our prof said "MAke EVERY line have a subtext." And I realized that Jimmy B. had given me my first lesson, and the full import of what he said hit me. Then I realized WHY is performance is always so great.
Again, great detail. And yes, eenie-meanie-chili-beanie I DO hope the RSC is somewhere in your future!
[Hope you left a headshot! :-D]
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