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Aug. 26, 2005
Incongruity across the Bard
It’s rare for me not to like a Bard on the Beach
comedy but this year, Love’s Labour’s Lost ranked
far below previous productions in its quality. Perhaps it was due
to the minimal plot that’s short on action and long on verbosity;
perhaps it was the uncomfortable theme of women making fun of men’s
feelings; perhaps it was the odd way in which LLL does not
tie its ending up in a perfect set of couples going off happily
ever after. Whatever the case, I actually couldn’t wait for
this play to end but was no more satisfied when it did.
Add to this list problems with Don Armado’s accent (which seemed
to waver between Scottish, French, Italian and Spanish), a pre-teen
page whose braces make his Shakespearian dialogue even harder to
understand and female leads who could not project beyond the sound
of the rain on the roof (better get that dealt with before September!)
and you have a difficult play to recommend.
It’s true that this comedy does stand out for its wordplay
(even for Shakespeare) and director Michael Shamata even comments
on it in his program notes, calling it “acrobatic in its use
of language.” But it’s much easier to appreciate Shakespearian
nuances when they are written on a page before you than when trying
to catch them on the stage. The act of seeing a play is much different
and too much banter, for those lay people who don’t read Shakespeare
every weekend, can make one yearn for a good swordfight.
That’s not to say the play is without its moments. One of the
funniest scenes in Shakespeare comes near the end of the first half,
when the King and his lords, who have promised not to even converse
with women, let alone woo them, find out that they have all written
love letters to the very women they have foresworn. It’s hilarious
and epitomizes the futile effort of trying to deny love. But when
the second act opened up with a fart to set the audience laughing
and continued with burping, peeing jokes and slapstick, the play
lost its appeal. The Shakespearian fool is fine for a while but
ultimately gets tedious. I suppose, though, if you laugh at fart
jokes, you’ll probably like this play more than I did.
Far superior in its scope of acting and writing is As You Like
It, a much better vehicle for the acting ability of Rebecca
Auerbach and the acting and singing talent of Josh Epstein (although
not as much can be said of his look in a black, almost Rasta-like
period wig.) As You Like It has everything a Shakespearian
comedy needs – brothers who hate each other, dukes who want
to kill each other, daughters who fall in love and buff men who
take their shirts off and wrestle. And who can tear their eyes from
the stunning costumes (courtesy of Mara Gottler)?
The regular Bard players, including Gerry Mackay, Scott Bellis,
Allan Zinyk, Lara Gilchrist and David Mackay (wonderful as the clown
Touchstone) are there, but so is renowned Studio 58 founder Antony
Holland. This play is delightful and should be seen if only for
the topless wrestling match.
All is not perfect in Like It, however. Once again there
are some problems hearing the players on stage, especially when
they are speaking with their backs turned to the audience, and this
problem has to be resolved before autumn rains drown out the voices
entirely.
– Baila Lazarus
Hamlet with
humor
Modern clothing, music and sensibility give Bard on the Beach’s
production of Hamlet an energy and enough of a new twist
that almost everyone will find it entertaining – except, perhaps,
the Shakespeare purists. Most people know the story, but for those
who don’t, the gist is that the king of Denmark is killed by
his brother, Claudius, who then marries the widowed queen. Hamlet,
the prince of Denmark, is torn apart by grief over his father’s
death and, after learning of his uncle’s murderous deed from
his father’s ghost, Hamlet plots his revenge – with disastrous
consequences.
Jewish community member Michael Scholar, Jr., plays Laertes, brother
of the tragic Ophelia, driven to her death by madness, and son of
Polonius, a good but silly man who is accidentally killed by Hamlet.
Scholar plays Laertes both with humor – there is an amusing
scene in which Laertes is trying to leave Denmark but is delayed
by first his sister then his father, who are both having difficulty
saying goodbye – as well as with the drama befitting a bereaved
brother and son bent on revenge. (Laertes’ vengeance meets
with as much success as does Hamlet’s.) What is striking about
this staging of Hamlet is the amount of humor in it: the
way Laertes rolls his eyes as his father launches into yet more
advice as Laertes is departing for France, in one instance; the
way in which the gravedigger delivers his lines to Hamlet, in another.
This works well in a play that is as heavy on sadness and madness
as Hamlet.
Also well done in this version of the tragedy is the use of sound
effects, voice-overs and music to add to the overall atmosphere.
The play within the play – that shows how King Claudius gained
the crown and his brother’s wife – is made all the more
eerie by the lighting and sound effects. Ophelia’s decline
is emphasized by the music, including a song that she sings to the
other characters in a trance-like fashion. It takes a while to accept
Bob Frazer as Hamlet, but he develops into his role and is convincing
by mid-play. Moya O’Connell as Ophelia is outstanding throughout
and the other actors also do a commendable job – there are
no weak links in this show.
– Cynthia Ramsay
Hamlet, Love’s Labour’s Lost and As You Like
It run until Sept. 23, 24 and 25, respectively. For tickets,
call 604-739-0559 or visit http://www.bardonthebeach.org.
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