Author: Julia Dalby (not verified)
Date: 09/03/2003 - 15:02
Sitting through "bad" Shakespeare is about as much fun as stapling one's bottom lip to one's own left buttock, however, watching the Bard done CORRECTLY is one of life's greatest joys! And this production of Shrew is about as good as you'll ever see. It is sublime!!!!!
I've seen this done professionally a few times now, I'm sure most of us have. In my humble opinion, it's always struck me as a particularly misogynistic piece of tripe. BUT, for the first time ever, I watched it and DIDn't grind my teeth/crack the shits/burn my bra. Ah interpretation! Where would we be without it??
This play has been exquisitely directed. Steve has approached the text from a fresh angle and it works beautifully. And it's FUNNY,y'all! Laugh out loud, PISS funny! If comedy is difficult to do, then surely the trickiest of comedy styles to pull off is slapstick. This cast's comic timing and delivery was impecable! A bloke being clocked in the nuts/a bloke running into a wall NEVER stops being funny. Never! On this note I'd like to especially congradulate Leah Maher, Mark Blades, Giovanni Bartuccio, shirley welch and Dario Della Costa for their hiLARious performances!! I've seen Mark and Leah do "serious" stuff before now and they are both terrific actors. Their flair for comedy however is more than a little awesome! Y'all CRACKed me up! (Mark, that really bad wig you wear does upstage you a bit, BTW...)
I must jump on the Worst Acoustics EVER! bandwagon. Sorry, the New Fortune may well be the closest thing Perth has to a bona fide Shakers theatre, but the sound is still rubbish. Also, were the "accents" REALLY necessary?? Giovanni's didn't seem to know where his was and the German accent made the lovely Mr Petani rather difficult to understand.
Finally, maybe it's just me, but have any of you ever longed for a role, and not gotten it and then gone and seen the production hoping, nay PRAYing that the person who DID get would be really crap?? Well, Ms Maggie McPhee (ooh, I'll be sore tomorrow...) you were brilliant love! I wanted to dislike your performance, hell I tried! There are only so many sour grapes a precious and fragile beast like myself can stomah though! And credit where credit is due, you nailed Kate! This was the first time I ever felt for Kate or even liked her. And it's the first time I've seen her fall in love with Petruccio! It was a powerful, thoughtful and most importantly truthful portayal. Thank you!
A stellar cast with expert direction! Mr Lee has been sent to us as a gift by the benevolent ghost of Larry Olivier, I'm sure of it! Audition for all his plays, attend his courses, go watch him perform! He's just what we've always needed here!
J x
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Date: 09/03/2003 - 15:02
Sitting through "bad" Shakespeare is about as much fun as stapling one's bottom lip to one's own left buttock, however, watching the Bard done CORRECTLY is one of life's greatest joys! And this production of Shrew is about as good as you'll ever see. It is sublime!!!!!
I've seen this done professionally a few times now, I'm sure most of us have. In my humble opinion, it's always struck me as a particularly misogynistic piece of tripe. BUT, for the first time ever, I watched it and DIDn't grind my teeth/crack the shits/burn my bra. Ah interpretation! Where would we be without it??
This play has been exquisitely directed. Steve has approached the text from a fresh angle and it works beautifully. And it's FUNNY,y'all! Laugh out loud, PISS funny! If comedy is difficult to do, then surely the trickiest of comedy styles to pull off is slapstick. This cast's comic timing and delivery was impecable! A bloke being clocked in the nuts/a bloke running into a wall NEVER stops being funny. Never! On this note I'd like to especially congradulate Leah Maher, Mark Blades, Giovanni Bartuccio, shirley welch and Dario Della Costa for their hiLARious performances!! I've seen Mark and Leah do "serious" stuff before now and they are both terrific actors. Their flair for comedy however is more than a little awesome! Y'all CRACKed me up! (Mark, that really bad wig you wear does upstage you a bit, BTW...)
I must jump on the Worst Acoustics EVER! bandwagon. Sorry, the New Fortune may well be the closest thing Perth has to a bona fide Shakers theatre, but the sound is still rubbish. Also, were the "accents" REALLY necessary?? Giovanni's didn't seem to know where his was and the German accent made the lovely Mr Petani rather difficult to understand.
Finally, maybe it's just me, but have any of you ever longed for a role, and not gotten it and then gone and seen the production hoping, nay PRAYing that the person who DID get would be really crap?? Well, Ms Maggie McPhee (ooh, I'll be sore tomorrow...) you were brilliant love! I wanted to dislike your performance, hell I tried! There are only so many sour grapes a precious and fragile beast like myself can stomah though! And credit where credit is due, you nailed Kate! This was the first time I ever felt for Kate or even liked her. And it's the first time I've seen her fall in love with Petruccio! It was a powerful, thoughtful and most importantly truthful portayal. Thank you!
A stellar cast with expert direction! Mr Lee has been sent to us as a gift by the benevolent ghost of Larry Olivier, I'm sure of it! Audition for all his plays, attend his courses, go watch him perform! He's just what we've always needed here!
J x