Oxford Shakespeare Company - NYC
December 17th, 2011
Grades: Brad - A
Chelsea - D
Oxford and Students:
The clouds were thick over New York City as we exited to the Holland Tunnel. Ignoring such an ominous sign was an error of Shakespearean magnitude. Yet the silver lining here involved a pay-as-you-go, night-class production of 12th Night complete with Nikes, ESL olde-English, and Chelsea and Me. So, we decided to go to this production because the Oxford Shakespeare Company staged it. At this point, I may as well come out and admit that I am an Oxfordian. Oh sweet freedom-- like Ron Paul-Topia! Oxfordians are people who believe that Edward De Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, actually wrote the plays of Shake-spear, though not all Oxfordians agree with all of the theories embodied in the recent movie Anonymous. Regardless, my good friend Tom introduced me to Mr. Oxford. Tom, in fact, is an expert lawyer and Expert Oxfordian Now, Chelsea and I are big Oxford fans. Call us crazy, but first read Mark Anderson's Shakespeare by Another Name.
So, as you can see from the program, the theatre company, The Oxford Shakespeare Company, shares our Elizabethan leanings, and cheap printer paper...
But I digress . . . 12th Night is a great comedy. For fans of teen movies, the movie "She's the Man" is based on 12th night. In the play, after being saved from a shipwreck, Viola pretends to be a man to survive in Illyria, a new land. She also becomes Duke Orsino's page. The Duke sends Viola to woo his lady-love, Olivia. But Olivia refuses to love to respect her newly-dead brother and father. Long story short, Olivia falls in love with the Duke's page, Viola (who is pretending to be a man). In a a sub-plot, Toby and Fabian convince Malvolio, Olivia's quasi-butler, that she is in love with him. At the end of the play, Viola's twin brother shows up, marries Olivia, and Viola reveals herself a woman and marries the Duke.
In our production we saw, first-time actors play these delicate parts in a theatre (attached to a daycare) with 20 seats. In fact, just one room over, they were making gingerbread houses. I have to say these actors tried hard with disparate results.
The crowd was excited...
But they all deserve a hearty pat on the back for giving it the old college try. I wish they would have advertised the nature of this performance more clearly on the interweb, but . . . umm . . . I enjoyed it?
After the play we hopped on the train and rode up to St. Marks Street, the birthplace of punk rock. There we saw the restaurant below. Caption contest: "I will have a number two and a . . ."
- Brad, the 17th Earl of Bradford.
December 17th, 2011
Grades: Brad - A
Chelsea - D
Oxford and Students:
The clouds were thick over New York City as we exited to the Holland Tunnel. Ignoring such an ominous sign was an error of Shakespearean magnitude. Yet the silver lining here involved a pay-as-you-go, night-class production of 12th Night complete with Nikes, ESL olde-English, and Chelsea and Me. So, we decided to go to this production because the Oxford Shakespeare Company staged it. At this point, I may as well come out and admit that I am an Oxfordian. Oh sweet freedom-- like Ron Paul-Topia! Oxfordians are people who believe that Edward De Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, actually wrote the plays of Shake-spear, though not all Oxfordians agree with all of the theories embodied in the recent movie Anonymous. Regardless, my good friend Tom introduced me to Mr. Oxford. Tom, in fact, is an expert lawyer and Expert Oxfordian Now, Chelsea and I are big Oxford fans. Call us crazy, but first read Mark Anderson's Shakespeare by Another Name.
So, as you can see from the program, the theatre company, The Oxford Shakespeare Company, shares our Elizabethan leanings, and cheap printer paper...
But I digress . . . 12th Night is a great comedy. For fans of teen movies, the movie "She's the Man" is based on 12th night. In the play, after being saved from a shipwreck, Viola pretends to be a man to survive in Illyria, a new land. She also becomes Duke Orsino's page. The Duke sends Viola to woo his lady-love, Olivia. But Olivia refuses to love to respect her newly-dead brother and father. Long story short, Olivia falls in love with the Duke's page, Viola (who is pretending to be a man). In a a sub-plot, Toby and Fabian convince Malvolio, Olivia's quasi-butler, that she is in love with him. At the end of the play, Viola's twin brother shows up, marries Olivia, and Viola reveals herself a woman and marries the Duke.
In our production we saw, first-time actors play these delicate parts in a theatre (attached to a daycare) with 20 seats. In fact, just one room over, they were making gingerbread houses. I have to say these actors tried hard with disparate results.
The crowd was excited...
But they all deserve a hearty pat on the back for giving it the old college try. I wish they would have advertised the nature of this performance more clearly on the interweb, but . . . umm . . . I enjoyed it?
After the play we hopped on the train and rode up to St. Marks Street, the birthplace of punk rock. There we saw the restaurant below. Caption contest: "I will have a number two and a . . ."
- Brad, the 17th Earl of Bradford.
Oxfordian huh??? That's what they call people like you or people who wear Bikes? Guess its good there were no comets or punch served!
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