By Aashiq
Link:
Available until: Unknown. They say they did Richard III
but I can’t find it anywhere. My husband says that just because I can’t
find it anywhere, that doesn’t mean it’s not there (and I think it’s mean of
him to bring that up and totally irrelevant), but I let him look too and he
couldn’t find it either so while I am very disappointed I probably won’t get to
see Shake-scene Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Richard III, I do at least
get to feel smug for the rest of the evening and I’m always happy to do that.
This is a cue-scripted production and although I am an
actor, I have never done this. It sounds absolutely terrifying and I take off
my tiara to every single one of them (then I put it back on again before I lose
it).
Even the thought of a rehearsed Zoom production with a full script is more than I can cope with. I’ve worked with children, I’ve worked with divas and I’ve worked with a sheep, but just don’t ask me to work with technology. If it comes anywhere near me it’ll switch itself off, unless it’s supposed to be off in which case it’ll switch itself on; it’ll break as soon as I’m within a metre of it; it’ll either electrocute me or fall on my head. I’ve tripped over camera leads and walked into lights and I’ve practically been groped by one of those hanging microphones. If it’s technical, it hates me. But not only do the Shake-scene Shakespeare Theatre Company take their chances with technology, it sounds like they only rehearse the fight scenes and they don’t have a full script – just a cue to listen out for. It all sounds highly stressful and impossible and I really don’t think I could survive it, but the cast of Troilus & Cressida not only survived it, they smashed it (but not in a destructive way).
They had the occasional technical issue, but they just
carried on with the show. They even managed to make it enjoyable, which is
quite a feat when this particular problem play is concerned.
I think when you do the scene with Cressida and all the men,
you’re always going to cringe. It’s horrible. Not even I think it looks like
fun. It’s utterly demeaning and creepy and it’s really disgusting that she’s in
that situation. But the rest of the play actually isn’t as horrible as I always
think it is. There is a surprising amount of humour. There are some really
great characters. And with a Troilus and a Cressida this good, it’s possible to
get caught up in the romance and not think too much about what happens later.
It’s not a bad thing to produce this play in a way that
makes your audience feel uncomfortable. There are some things that should
always make us uncomfortable. But I do think it’s also okay to produce this
play in a way that shows us there are good things in it too. Making the most of
the humour and the romantic scenes, as this cast did does, make the play a much
easier watch. I think it would be a mistake to shy away from the nasty stuff
and try to make it look funny (which Shakes-scene didn’t do), but it’s okay to
let your audience enjoy the nice bits.
Troilus and Cressida are played by Nell Bradbury and the
divinely-dressed Larissa Oates. Nell doesn’t have a particularly low voice for
a woman, but she conveys blokiness through her tone of voice and body language.
Larissa gives Cressida a bit of spirit, but there’s also a gentleness in her.
Their scenes together are sweet, their love seems genuine and even in
Cressida’s enforced betrayal, I really felt for both of them. (Do you ever get
the feeling Shakespeare just doesn’t want people to be happy?)
The whole cast is great, but one person who stood out
especially is The Show Must Go Online alumna Alexandra Kataigida as Ulysses.
He’s not usually a character who stands out for me, but she speaks the lines really
beautifully. If more people spoke like Alexandra, I might be better at
listening to them. Linda Mathis is another who uses the text really well – she
found humour in Agamemnon’s lines but is still a formidable character. You
don’t want to get on his bad side. Geraldine Brennan is hilarious as Pandarus –
she has so much personality and you can see she’s really gone to an effort with
the costumes, which all add to the effect.
It’s also great to see Eugenia Low, another who’s appeared
in The Show Must Go Online. She makes a strong impression as Achilles and I
might never have found out about this theatre company if we hadn’t been stalking
following her on twitter so I’m doubly grateful. To say I am totally,
massively, overwhelmingly obsessed with Zoom productions is no more than a complete
understatement. Charlotte Gallagher seems reasonable and possibly even sane as
Hector (I’m not sure there’s much of that about in this play), Suzanne Marie is
a very grand Aeneas, Dewi Hughes gives Thersites lots of personality and… let’s
just say everyone’s great, I’m going to go over my word limit at this rate and
then I’ll have to do loads of editing and I hate editing nearly as much as I
hate other people doing it for me.
So here is another great online theatre company with its own
unique identity producing Shakespeare’s plays online. I think I’d be a very
happy boy right now even if I didn’t have my own Troilus coming through the
door in just a few minutes...
No comments:
Post a Comment