Comments on: Drama Queen Kvetch

by: rdb

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 02:52:14 +0000

Saw Othello this afternoon and the production has settled in. The two main criticisms seem to have been, one, that the acting styles were mismatched which was not so at the show I attended and two, that Iago was not “evil” enough which again, for those of us that understand the banality of evil, was not the case. A clear, evenly acted reading of the play. Not stupendous but perfectly acceptable with some telling moments. My main criticism would be of the set design which failed to visually differentiate Venice and Cyprus (compare Manhattan and New Orleans) but perhaps the evening lighting makes that clearer. Thankfully, there was only one inappropriate laugher who seemed bent on letting the rest of us know he had gotten all the instances of dramatic irony but missed their emotional impact on the characters; audience Aspergers? Then again, he was drinking Yellowtail.

by: Roger

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:10:25 +0000

@Tom — along with no “h” in Cheetos, there’s not a whole lot of *anything* in Cheetos. Airy-fairy pie-hole fodder for the airy-fairy human product of MSM ersatz “culture”.

by: Tom

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 23:14:20 +0000

There is no h in Cheetos.

by: Gerry Gerringer

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 23:22:57 +0000

Christina-

I’m going to make a leap and go with the assumption that the “hypothetical” play you’re referring to is “Othello”, which I saw last Friday. Yes, a portion of the audience acted like it was “Animal House Goes To Shakespeare”.

However, I felt that the majority of the responsibility for this very uneven performance lies with the Director. Some actors were gesturing wildly with no purpose and others chose a more contemporary, simple style. It was a mish-mash.

Please excuse the following plug:

Coincidentally, the first play of Santa Cruz Actors’ Theatre’s new season, “Dead Man’s Cell Phone”, deals with the topic you discuss. The more we become technologically connected the more we become inter-personally disconnected.

Please come see our play, it will be good.
Thanks,
Gerry Gerringer
Artistic Director
Santa Cruz Actors’ Theatre
831-425-1003

by: Patricia Snyder

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:56:11 +0000

I do wish you were specific. Loose the hypothetical. What play? What venue? What audience?

by: KC

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 20:36:32 +0000

I’m assuming you’re commenting on a recent show at Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Before writing off a whole generation of theatergoers (which feels a bit age-ist to me) I wonder if the venue plays a part. It’s a casual atmosphere, people are eating and drinking before and during the show, and the sound can be problematic (at least for me. I don’t have perfect hearing). So this never felt like “serious” theater, compared to other, more formal venues. Plus SSC uses non-traditional settings, costumes, etc., that’s part of the fun but sometimes it’s over-the-top and might misdirect the attention of theatergoers. What about the audiences at theaters in SF or in NYC? I’ve never seen a bag of Cheetohs there.

by: Baldwin Quanz

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 20:17:58 +0000

So well declared!

by: Roger

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:55:13 +0000

I just LOVE Christina when she goes all analytical in public!

Foucault noted that “A Mentality is almost never examined by those who inhabit it.”

Christina, it’s not just the English Language Theatre which is suffering from identity issues; it’s the English-speaking peoples themselves who are suffering from identity issues.

Do you think that has anything to do with the folks who, as Foucault might say, are manufacturing discourse and the relation of that discourse to power?

Thank you for putting these thoughts “on stage”. However, I’m not optimistic that many people will view them, or even understand them.