We went with friends for a day at Stratford, driving for an hour and a half, walking, having lunch, going to a matinee, shopping, supper, and driving home. It was a lovely day. Stratford is a beautiful town, with old houses and beautifully kept lawns and gardens. The walk from the Festival Theatre to downtown was an aesthetic treat, and a gardener's delight. Really worth the visit. Lunch was excellent, and so was supper at Bentley's. The central event, Twelfth Night, was even better.
The plot, as often happens with Shakespeare's comedies, was contrived, but the words! The actors, with one exception, delivered them beautifully. I hadn't realized the saying "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them" comes from Twelfth Night. Nor had I realized that this almost cliche of praise, was originally said by a fool who was being deceived. It will give a nice ironic fillip to whenever I hear the saying used again!
It was also noticable that certain lines brought scattered and staggered sounds of laughter. Jim speculated it was because there was a high proportion of English teachers in the audience. I suspect he's right. Summertime vacation and large numbers of retired English teachers who have taught Twelfth Night, maybe many, many times, catching the line's humour almost before they are delivered.
The setting was 19th century India, with Indian and British costumes. They were simple and beautiful, I thought, and sometimes quite gorgeous with the intense colours of Indian silks, and the soft beiges of the twins who are mistaken for each other. I loved the Bollywood dance near the end. It fit the plot and was beautiful to watch. I really like the way it melded our traditional culture (Shakespeare) with our emerging multicultural culture. I stood early for the standing ovation!
I can't finish without mentioning Brian Bedford. He is, and this is no contradiction, an excellent ham! He overplays perfectly, and can really 'play' the audience like an instrument. Most of the other actors were quite good, and I liked Festus, and Olivia, but Bedford as Malvolio was a wonderful treat.
I recommend the play and the town. Visit and enjoy!
technorati tags:Twelfth_Night, Stratford
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