June 30, 2012
Brad - A
Chelsea - C+
So, after a really busy week at work, Brad and I headed out of work early to spend the weekend in Philadelphia to see Radio Lab Live and Shakespeare. Unfortunately, 4 hours into our trip we were only in Baltimore (it is 45 miles away). If anyone knows about the DC area traffic, this is not that crazy. Traffic is horrible! Needless to say, we missed Radio Lab, but the exceptionally nice people of the Kimbrell Center allowed us to use our ticket as a gift certificates for another show and Radio Lab is coming to DC, so as frustrating as traffic was it was not all bad. So, instead we drove straight to Centerville, PA to see some Shakespeare. The next morning we headed to the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Center for The Tempest. Below are some shots of the play:
They started the play with a big sheet and a little boat. It was actually pretty neat. They had big waves in the sheets while actors said the "on boat" dialogue from off stage.
So, here's the story: The king of Milan and his daughter, Miranda, are exiled on an island for 12 years by the kings evil brother. In that time Miranda grows into a hormone driven teenager and the king, Prospero, grows magical powers from all of his "book learning" (seriously, his great intellect gave him power, he is basically Hermione Granger). He also gains an ally in a fairy, Ariel, that he saved from imprisonment in a tree and a monstrous servant named Caliban. He finds out that his brother, the man who helped his brother overthrow him, Alonso, and Alonso's son, Ferdinand - as well as some unimportant side characters are on a boat nearby. So, he has Ariel create a huge storm - some might say a Tempest - to shipwreck them on the island. He also separates them into 3 groups; Prospero's brother and Alonso in one, Alonso's son Ferdinand alone in one, and Alonso's brother, Sebastian with one of his drunken friend. The plots revolve around these 3 groups. The son, Ferdinand, stumbles upon Prospero's camp and falls in love with Miranda, Alonso's group wanders through all sorts of misadventures trying to find Ferdinand, and Sebastian group just gets drunk and acts annoying. The monster, Caliban, finds Sebastian's group and becomes quite the alcoholic. The story ends with Miranda and Ferndinand getting married, Alonso finding his son as well as Prospero, and Prospero choosing to forgive his brother and Alonso for overthrowing him. The drunks eventually show up ad they all sail home together.
Before the play Brad and I wandered around and Brad tried to put on a play to no one. What a showboat!
So, here are my thoughts. I have had a continuous struggle with Shakespeare's comic relief. In almost every play there is that one character that gets the laughs. In this play it was Sebastian and Caliban. Basically, they acted like drunken southerns. Complete with bad out of place accents and fart jokes. They seriously ruin plays for me. I know this is how Shakespeare wrote and I shouldn't blame the actors but man it is distracting and cheap. So much good writing and they still need to make a fart joke! The quality of the show was great though. The Miranda, Prospero, and Ariel were very good! It was very fairy tale but still a good story. Only 2 things got me....1. girls back then would marry anything! Miranda was 15 and married the first man she had ever met 2. sometimes you just need to wrap up a story. Prospero was exiled on an island for 12 years - 12 YEARS! - and he forgave his enemy's with basically no second thought. Maybe I am hard-hearted but I'm pretty sure there would be a major lecture involved.
After the play, we headed back to DC but first enjoyed some of Centerville's finest ice cream!
Minus the sink hole of DC traffic it was a fun trip! We listened to some Radio Lab on the way home to make up for our loss and also talked wedding, which is all I make Brad do these days.
Chelsea
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