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jakebe
I haven't been speaking much because for some reason I haven't been thinking much when using my computer. I would like to, though, so here goes. :)
The weekend was a pretty good one, as far as weekends go. After work on Saturday![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
vulturechick and I went to go see "Alcestis" in Tulsa. I really love hanging out with her, mainly because she's great at exposing me to things I never would have known about otherwise. I'll miss her expertise at pulling me out of my dark furry hole...but then again, maybe this is the push I need to start climbing out of it myself. ;)
The play itself was...amateurish. The space was stiflingly hot, and if the audience itself was burning up I can only imagine how hard it must have been to remember lines and blocking, under excruciatingly bright lights, while your brain was frying. Given that, the actor's performed admirably, and there were only a few...flubs that I caught. Still, the play turned out to be one of those things that is better talked about than seen, at least this time around perhaps.
The set design was way minimal, which isn't a bad thing at all...especially since the troupe got really creative with how the minimal props were used. The problem lied, perhaps, with the acting...but even that's an unfair assessment. Old, old, old Greek tragedy is kind of a bitch to perform, mainly because you're dealing with the clunkiness of translation (Ted Hughes did the honors for this version -- it's not so much clunky as...involved), trying to *remember* monologue after monologue, what to do where and when, etc. etc. It's actually a very impressive feat if the actors can pull off all of that without a hitch, especially since they're likely to have limited amounts of time to...you know, devote to the material. One of the things I was quickly reminded of is how difficult it is to pull off really great theatre, *especially* if you're working with a text that's not exactly modern.
Even still, what broke the play for me was the lead character, Admetus. Well, with Alcestis dying before the halfway point of the play, I *think* it's safe to call him the lead. His physicality was very stunted; he walked with his back hunched over almost constantly, as if his grief for the death of his One True Love had permanently disfigured him into something...sub-human. I like the idea of that image, but it might have been subconscious on the part of the actor. :)
Anyway, with his stunted form and semi-crazed delivery, Admetus' many monologues blur together into one big, amorphous mass of grief. None of his lines stand out, and you don't get the meat of what he's saying; all you derive from it all is that he's Very Sad, in the way that only major characters in classical plays can be. Since the backbone of the play is so warped, it affects the rest of the production. Admetus is hard to relate to, or feel much sympathy for, so you're not able to really buy into the situation as much as you could otherwise. Heracles, the 'superhero' friend of Admetus, is much more a joy to watch; the actor brings a frat-boy swagger to the character, and the joy and boastful noise he and his cronies bring is a very welcome respite from Admetus' constant wailing with the Chorus.
Oh, and there was a kick-ass vulture puppet, too! Well done. :D
vulturechick posted this little article on background information after we returned, and I was really enamored with it. Namely, the reminder of what good theatre, and art of all sorts, does. It asks us, no matter how we're engaged through reading, or watching, or listening, to participate in what's essentially an open-ended conversation. The best art, I think, requires us to actively engage instead of passively soak in whatever we're seeing. Art motivates us, to think, or to feel, or to disucss, or *do* something. One of the reasons most people can't get into poetry (or theatre, or most 'classical' arts for that matter) is it's not...engaging. It doesn't ask the right questions or phrase statements in the best way to get people to respond. The best thing you can do, as an artist...any artist...is get someone else to work through the issue you're raising.
A lot of that sounded way better in my head. Ah, well.
Saw "I (heart) Huckabees" on Monday, and that was an awful lot of fun. :) It's a weird little movie, and I'm not sure I can adequately explain it without coming off like a complete bore, but I recommend it anyways. If only because you get to see Jude Law as a nursing mother. I am not kidding.
Oh! I ran my first game in a year last night, and though it didn't turn out nearly the way I had expected it to, it seemed to go over pretty well nonetheless. It's the first part of a three-part story, and I'll post the summaries of it up when all three parts have been played.
Sorry if I seem overly-flaky as of late, especially to folks on-line. Too much on my mind, so I tend to just...rush off and/or perhaps come off a bit rudely. I don't mean it personally, just give me a bit of time to stop racing and settle down.
The weekend was a pretty good one, as far as weekends go. After work on Saturday
vulturechick and I went to go see "Alcestis" in Tulsa. I really love hanging out with her, mainly because she's great at exposing me to things I never would have known about otherwise. I'll miss her expertise at pulling me out of my dark furry hole...but then again, maybe this is the push I need to start climbing out of it myself. ;)The play itself was...amateurish. The space was stiflingly hot, and if the audience itself was burning up I can only imagine how hard it must have been to remember lines and blocking, under excruciatingly bright lights, while your brain was frying. Given that, the actor's performed admirably, and there were only a few...flubs that I caught. Still, the play turned out to be one of those things that is better talked about than seen, at least this time around perhaps.
The set design was way minimal, which isn't a bad thing at all...especially since the troupe got really creative with how the minimal props were used. The problem lied, perhaps, with the acting...but even that's an unfair assessment. Old, old, old Greek tragedy is kind of a bitch to perform, mainly because you're dealing with the clunkiness of translation (Ted Hughes did the honors for this version -- it's not so much clunky as...involved), trying to *remember* monologue after monologue, what to do where and when, etc. etc. It's actually a very impressive feat if the actors can pull off all of that without a hitch, especially since they're likely to have limited amounts of time to...you know, devote to the material. One of the things I was quickly reminded of is how difficult it is to pull off really great theatre, *especially* if you're working with a text that's not exactly modern.
Even still, what broke the play for me was the lead character, Admetus. Well, with Alcestis dying before the halfway point of the play, I *think* it's safe to call him the lead. His physicality was very stunted; he walked with his back hunched over almost constantly, as if his grief for the death of his One True Love had permanently disfigured him into something...sub-human. I like the idea of that image, but it might have been subconscious on the part of the actor. :)
Anyway, with his stunted form and semi-crazed delivery, Admetus' many monologues blur together into one big, amorphous mass of grief. None of his lines stand out, and you don't get the meat of what he's saying; all you derive from it all is that he's Very Sad, in the way that only major characters in classical plays can be. Since the backbone of the play is so warped, it affects the rest of the production. Admetus is hard to relate to, or feel much sympathy for, so you're not able to really buy into the situation as much as you could otherwise. Heracles, the 'superhero' friend of Admetus, is much more a joy to watch; the actor brings a frat-boy swagger to the character, and the joy and boastful noise he and his cronies bring is a very welcome respite from Admetus' constant wailing with the Chorus.
Oh, and there was a kick-ass vulture puppet, too! Well done. :D
vulturechick posted this little article on background information after we returned, and I was really enamored with it. Namely, the reminder of what good theatre, and art of all sorts, does. It asks us, no matter how we're engaged through reading, or watching, or listening, to participate in what's essentially an open-ended conversation. The best art, I think, requires us to actively engage instead of passively soak in whatever we're seeing. Art motivates us, to think, or to feel, or to disucss, or *do* something. One of the reasons most people can't get into poetry (or theatre, or most 'classical' arts for that matter) is it's not...engaging. It doesn't ask the right questions or phrase statements in the best way to get people to respond. The best thing you can do, as an artist...any artist...is get someone else to work through the issue you're raising.A lot of that sounded way better in my head. Ah, well.
Saw "I (heart) Huckabees" on Monday, and that was an awful lot of fun. :) It's a weird little movie, and I'm not sure I can adequately explain it without coming off like a complete bore, but I recommend it anyways. If only because you get to see Jude Law as a nursing mother. I am not kidding.
Oh! I ran my first game in a year last night, and though it didn't turn out nearly the way I had expected it to, it seemed to go over pretty well nonetheless. It's the first part of a three-part story, and I'll post the summaries of it up when all three parts have been played.
Sorry if I seem overly-flaky as of late, especially to folks on-line. Too much on my mind, so I tend to just...rush off and/or perhaps come off a bit rudely. I don't mean it personally, just give me a bit of time to stop racing and settle down.
