In a way, there's a very typical experience I have at almost all productions of Shakespeare and they were evident at this production. The woman behind me kept examining silly things trying to sound learned and impressive. She commented endlessly on the fact that the actors were wearing contemporary rather than period costume. She explained to her date that despite the attempt at updating the play, it still felt old to her. When the "all the world's a stage" speech began, the very nice and jovial man next me nodded with furious recognition when the character says "all the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players." He seemed to have such recognition, as if he'd heard and learned something so new. But the meaning of that speech unfolds in the ensuing lines. In my opinion, when most lay people (including me) see Shakespeare, they have a very difficult time with the language and thus lose much of the play. They expect to be bored and claim to love the production if they're entertained for twenty percent of the show. No one wants to admit that they didn't like a play that everyone knows is brilliant and that you'd have to be an idiot to say you didn't like. However, the language is so difficult and the plays so tough that it's hard to understand the plays in a meaningful way upon first seeing them. But, people don't want to feel dumb so they pretend to get a lot out of it. Plus, with so many snippets of Shakespeare's dialogue so familiar, we pretend to be moved by their meaning when we hear them. Thus, this woman going on about the silliness of the choice of costume and the man who nods in furious recognition at hearing the opening of that speech. I, for one, am usually bored off my ass in most productions of Shakespeare and get much more meaning out of reading them than watching them.
This production, however, was completely different. There were still audience members trying to convince themselves that it was deep and that they really understood it. What was different is that this production was neither distancing nor dull. In fact, I found myself incredibly moved a number of times. I often get the sense that directors of Shakespeare rarely understand each line of dialogue and, thus, can't get their actors to do more than speak them as sentences that sound right even if they don't convey meaning. Most actors seem so clearly to be acting when they speak their dialogue. Consequently, the lines are rarely convincing and the themes rarely coherent. In this production, Larry Yando delivers the famous lines "all the world's a stage" speech. What comes after those lines is so clear in its delivery that Yando has you enraptured as you listen to him talk about the inevitability for aging. At the end of the first act (as the play is staged), the lovers and other gentle folk who are in hiding in the Forest of Arden scatter as spotlights search the forest from a threatening helicopter. Once they've all scurried away, Yando remains alone, sitting in the open and apparently not caring if he is harmed. He's angry about aging and being closer to death and seems to want to combat death by daring it. While everyone else around him is silly in love, he alone experiences this melancholy and thus is even more isolated. This final image in the first act serves as a continuation of the earlier speech. When Orlando comes upon the gang of nice people in the Forest of Arden, he has left his elderly servant to find food and bring it back. Having left his job with the evil brother to look after Orlando, the servant has difficulty in the forest and is nearly dead from starvation. Orlando comes upon the band of merry men in the woods and savagely robs them at gunpoint. When they ask why he is robbing them, he explains. The good uncle in the play, who has been banished, tells him he has no need to steal the food. If he needs it, he can have it. I wish I could recall the lines because they were delivered with such compassion. Orlando is completely disarmed by this and collapses. It's the first time in a long, long time that he's received such generosity and when he does it's as if he feels the pain of the past the moment he's relieved of it. The lines are well delivered and the acting true.
What was so wonderful about this production was the care of thought was evident in every decision, from the bar used in the first few scenes to the delivery of dialogue. Most productions of Shakespeare done on this scale tend to be over the top with costumes and sets and most people find entertainment with those things rather than in the action. This production used simple costumes and a not-so-flashy set and instead focused on wringing emotion and meaning out of the play. It was a treat to see.
Having said the production wrung meaning out of the play, I will say that I think this is a damn silly play. I've never read "As You Like It" and this was my first time seeing a production of it. Maybe there's more to it than met my eye but if there's any philosophy in it, I missed it. The love connections aren't terribly interesting and the reversals are stunningly ridiculous, especially the evil uncle who finds God and gives his kingdom over to his foes. Still, it's a joy, and a rare one, to see what this director and these actors have done with it.
No comments:
Post a Comment