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Get thee to a showing of this performance

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Last Thursday, I had a great time watching the filming of Hamlet from the National Theatre in London. I never actually read or watched Hamlet before this, despite having read Macbeth three times throughout middle and high school. Nevertheless, I was going into this knowing very little about Hamlet. I knew about the “to be or not to be” soliloquy and had a vague understanding that The Lion King was Hamlet-esque, but I really enjoyed the performance because it was super engaging, especially because I did not know exactly what was going to happen. I found myself rooting for Hamlet, though I knew he was going to die, because it is, after all, a Shakespearean tragedy. I didn’t realize how often Hamlet gets referenced by other things, as I was often surprised by famous lines that I never knew were attributed to Hamlet. I definitely want to go through and actually read the play to catch more nuances, but I do think watching Shakespeare is more enjoyable than just reading it. I think if anyone doesn’t understand the appeal of Shakespeare, they should find a chance to watch this performance.

One thing I was really impressed by was the staging. It was amazing. The play opened with the small space in front of a backdrop, and I was shocked by how big it was once the scene changed. The front area looked like a normal sized stage, but the back part was a pitched hallway. I’m not sure how steep the incline was, but seeing the actors running up it seemed like hard work, and when Ophelia walked to the back and into the bright light in the distance, it looked pretty steep. Also, the stage effects for the closing of the scene right before intermission were awesome. Like actually awe inspiring. I wasn’t sure exactly what was being blown around, but I did wonder about how they were going to clean up all of it during the intermission. Turns out, they didn’t have to. It created the perfect outdoor setting for the later scenes. I really liked how they used the set very smartly throughout the entire show.

At first, I was confused by the costuming because of the mixture of more period appropriate pieces and plaid with hipster glasses, but it didn’t seem to detract from the performance. Actually, when Hamlet came out with a David Bowie t-shirt, it oddly fit the really well. I wasn’t too fond of Ophelia’s clothing, but being one of the only major female roles, perhaps it was just too different from the rest of the costumes to make sense to me. I’m not sure how it was originally written, but seeing Benedict Cumberbatch in a toy soldier outfit marching and playing in a kid’s castle was great.

Another thing I appreciated was the camerawork. I was afraid that it was going to be a stationary taping of the whole stage, which some theaters do, but the camera changes added to the performance. Focusing in on certain character’s actions and reactions helped direct the audience to exactly what was supposed to be featured. Also, it probably was a better point of view than it would have been from a live audience perspective because certain isolated scenes could be zoomed in on so the characters didn’t seem too small, which I would imagine they might on such a big stage.

I do enjoy reading Shakespeare, but I think watching it provides a better experience, because they were written to be played. Going into it without having read the play, I was really excited by certain parts, but I would definitely watch this version again after reading it to try and catch different parts that may have gone over my head.

An amazing performance

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The first thing I have to say is that this production was amazing. Not only was the play written really well, the actors gave a great performance. There ended up being several unused tickets from Rose which was a real shame because it was a fantastic.

This was my first time at the Kitchen Theater and I was pretty surprised by the whole experience. It was a small theater with a ground level performance area and limited seating on three sides surrounding the stage, making every seat a pretty good seat. Outside the stage area, people gathered before the show where there was food and wine being served.

Before the play began, one of the theater’s workers came out to introduce it and talked about the Kitchen Theater. The play was written pretty recently and has had numerous productions. She mentioned how it was clear that the playwright made bold decisions. She also asked who had been its patrons for the past 25 years, and there were several people who raised their hands. She then asked who was visiting for the first time, and even more people raised their hands. When she asked one person why he had come for the first time, he said that it because his wife told him he had to. I promise I have a point in telling this.

Spoilers Ahead

As the play started, I was surprised at the quality of the production. The rain and its sounds from outside the window and the amount of detail in the set (which I guess is pretty necessary when the theater is so intimate), was great. The play started off with MLK settling into his room and calling for some coffee. A little bit later, Camae comes in with some coffee and a newspaper to cover herself from the rain. MLK is clearly intrigued by her and they start talking about the civil rights movement and his speeches. It felt sort of weird seeing MLK flirting with the maid, especially because he had just called home to talk with his wife and say good night to his daughter.

The portrayal of this American hero as a human who smokes, drinks, and possibly cheats was very jarring. At times, it was sort of uncomfortable to watch. As they talk, the rain keeps coming down and whenever lightning and thunder occur, MLK is super sensitive to it, causing the audience to worry about his health. As Camae pushes his buttons about how marching is not effective enough, MLK starts to break a little. He talks about Larry Payne, a sixteen year-old innocent boy shot by the police. What broke my heart was the fact that 50 years later, the same thing is still happening. The language sounded so familiar and resonant, but this happened during civil rights movement, something we tend to think of as in the past and as history, but stories of racial police crimes happening is still (perhaps more) prevalent today.

Camae is still not satisfied with his pacifist ways of fighting the system and decides to emulate him and give a speech on what she would say if she had the influence of MLK. It sounded amazing, but it made me think about why we trust effective speakers. This was an actor performing words written for a character she is portraying, but it still felt genuine and real. When politicians make rousing speeches and the like, why are we inclined to rally and support them. I just found myself thinking about all the people who are particularly good public speakers and how I always feel dubious when someone is so clean when speaking confidently. To me, sometimes it just doesn’t feel genuine, perhaps because it feels too rehearsed.

Afterwards, they talk some more about violence versus peace and end up talking about heaven. Clearly from his background, MLK wants reassurance that God is pleased with his work, and Camae insists that she is happy and is “in like” with him. As the next lightning strikes and MLK grabs his heart in response to thunder, she freaks out. Camae tries to calm him down but starts calling him Michael. At first, I was confused because I had always thought, he’s a Jr., his name isn’t Michael, did the actor make a mistake? MLK suddenly gets enraged because only a handful of people knew about his Christian name and becomes convinced that she’s a spy sent to seduce him and starts to look around the room for wires and starts to push her out the door.

When he opens the door, snow falls onstage and is in awe that it’s snowing in April. “It snow sometimes in the spring here” was great comic relief, especially for an Ithaca audience, during such an intense struggle. MLK returns to freaking out thinking that he’s seeing things and that she’s drugged him and to finally shut him up, she reveals that she’s an angel. ! Plot twist!

She says that she was sent to take him to heaven. You’d think he might start freaking out again. But instead he’s curious about God (who is apparently a black woman more beautiful than you can imagine) and the circumstances of his death. When she reveals that it’s going to happen tomorrow, then he starts to properly freak out. He frantically tries to work on his speech because he doesn’t feel like he’s done enough, that he hasn’t finished what he set out to do. He tries to negotiate his way into having more time on earth and a frustrated Camae gives in and calls God on her cellphone. MLK speaks to God (we only hear his side) and states his case, and God hangs up on him. MLK gets sassy and Camae hits him with a pillow and starts a pillow fight which ends with a strange tickle fight and as it stops, he starts to break down.

He asks why he was given this task and that he’s just a man. He tries to call home to say goodbye to his wife and daughter one last time, but they don’t pick up because it’s late. As he recounts getting her flowers before he travels in the hopes that they won’t die before he returns, he remarks on how this time, he bought fake flowers, so they could last her forever. At this point, looking around at the audience, a bunch of people were wiping their tears, including myself. There were couples clinging to each other and the man at the beginning who came only because his wife told him he had to was fighting to keep his composure, but really couldn’t.

As he asks more about how he will die, he makes sure to ask about the future. About how the civil rights movement will proceed after he’s gone. The backdrop opens to a projector with names and events of the future (our past). MLK climbs up some steps and reaches for the light. “The baton passes on,” she says repeatedly, ending with Obama. As he continues to look into the light, he is amazed at what utopia the future could be. As he is finishing, he walks to the balcony of the hotel room and Camae comes in to take his hand and the play closes.

 

Overall, it was an amazing performance. The play was the perfect mix of comedic and tragic.  The subject matter was provocative and the dialogue was eerily relevant. I would definitely recommend everyone see the play or at the very least read the script.

 

Mountaintop

A standing ovation for the actors

So you’re all waiting for Godot?

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My knowledge of Waiting for Godot before watching this production was limited to its brief titular reference in the television show Bunheads (which is the title of this blog post). I expected someone to wait for someone or something named Godot. Needless to say, I was going into the theater pretty ignorant about the play.

Initially, I was surprised by the cast in the playbill. I was expecting more actors, because I wasn’t sure how engaging the same five characters could be for a whole play. In some ways, I was right. The play started off pretty dry with Didi and Gogo talking to each other like it’s any normal day. This went on for a while and it definitely became harder to remain interested in their conversation. This being said, there were definitely moments of comic relief that made the play enjoyable. When Pozzo entered the stage, the play definitely became more exciting. Finally, there was someone else entering the conversation; however, as comedic as the characters Pozzo and Lucky were, they were also quite tragic. The fifth character, the boy, was a little unsettling to me, because it seemed to me like perhaps he wasn’t real because he seemed out of place and only appeared briefly in sort of angelic-like clothing.

I found myself trying to analyze the English supertitles as they went along and thought about what it might be like to just read the play. I thought back to plays that I’ve read versus plays that I’ve seen, and there is definitely a difference. Plays are meant to be performed, and I think you can gain a lot more insight and clarity about the characters and their interactions if you see them performed rather than just reading the dialogue. Especially with a piece like Waiting for Godot, in which very little plot development actually happens and most of what is said is seemingly nonsense, I tend get tired of reading the material quickly.

I was hesitant about the English supertitles going into the play, because I had never attended a performance with them before. Perhaps differing from the experiences of others, I paid a lot of attention to the spoken Yiddish. It turned out to be more Germanic than I had anticipated and I found myself picking up on some words and phrases that sounded very German and comparing what their German definitions were with the English supertitles. It was also interesting to hear the actors’ different speaking styles. In the beginning, Gogo and Didi’s conversation was quite redundant as they repeated each other and asked the same questions over and over again. The actors, however, used slightly different vowel sounds and emphasized certain syllables differently even when repeating what the other had said, perhaps due to different ways Yiddish is spoken in different communities. When Pozzo and Lucky joined, they too brought their own way of speaking Yiddish.

Going back to my point about comic relief, I personally found it a little frustrating that they didn’t had readable supertitles for Lucky’s soliloquy. Basically, he started “thinking” on and on and talked about a bunch of different things, and the supertitles scrolled quickly through the giant chunk of text to indicate how drawn out the soliloquy was. During this, Didi broke the fourth wall, pulling extension cords apart and waving at the tech people to stop the rant. While this was very entertaining, I wanted to know what he was talking about. I know that if I was given the giant chunk of text to read on my own, I would probably get bored and skip over it; however, the actor portraying Lucky was so engaging that I wanted to know what he said. There were a few words here and there that I picked up on, for example he was saying something about the earth and the air and the earth and the air, but I at the speed he was talking at and with my extremely minimal level of somewhat understanding, I couldn’t tell what he was saying.

Overall, I was pleased with the experience. I went in not knowing what to expect of the Yiddish and the supertitles, but ended up paying a lot of attention to it to the actors’ speech. I had very little knowledge about what the play was about, and came out at least knowing the premise of it, but perhaps not its purpose. So to answer the title, while I felt like I was waiting for Godot at times, my experience was much more enjoyable than a simple wait.