red hair and black leather

hecubot asked: Please to blog about Shakespeare. A favorite production you worked on as either actor or director.

To be honest, I've only ever acted in one Shakespeare, Measure for Measure and assistant-directed one Shakespeare, Richard III. Both my high school and my college did no Shakespeare (ridiculous!), and the gestalt in my MSP group was mostly toward modern dramas.

So! I will instead blog about Shakespeare and text and my favorites.

I took as many Shakespeare courses as I could in college (enough to get a double minor in English and history). I have read every single Shakespeare play and sonnet. (I can't seem to get through Venus and Adonis or The Rape Of Lucrece to save my life.) I've seen most of the plays performed, either live or via the BBC productions. Of course, I have my favorites, the ones that stick in my memory, the ones that shaped my worldview.

Richard III. The play can definitely be classed as libel, and yet Richard is one of the most powerful characters ever. He is an arrant sociopath (much like Iago), and is yet so bloody charming that the audience can't help but to fall in love with him a little bit. "Was ever woman in this humour wooed? Was ever woman in this humour won?"

Queen Margaret (Mad Margaret) makes her most powerful appearance in this play, as well:

Thus hath the course of justice wheel'd about
And left thee but a very prey to time,
Having no more, but thought of what thou wert
To torture thee the more, being what thou art.
Thou didst usurp my place, and doest thou not
Usurp the just proportion of my sorrow?
Now thy proud neck bears half my burthened yoke,
From which, even here, I slip my weary neck,
And leave the burthen of it all on thee.

Shakespeare is also showing off his mad skillz with language and its tricks - anaphora, hendyadis (which is most used in Hamlet), stichomythia, etc. It's a pleasure to read, and an absolute pleasure to seen done well (or to do well).

Love's Labour's Lost. It's a problematic play, in that it's heavy on the meta and the in-jokes and is therefore difficult to perform now. I still enjoy it, because it's just... fun. (It's more fun when you're reading the Arden edition and have the in-jokes laid out for you.)

Much Ado About Nothing. I prefer this version of the star cross'd lovers trope (as opposed to Romeo and Juliet), because Claudio does exhibit youthful stupidity (and frankly, Hero should kick him to the curb), but he isn't acting in solitude - he listens to his trusted friend and sets a course of action that the Duke must approve of (for which I frown at you, Don Pedro. You should have better manners). Plus, Beatrice and Benedick! A woman not settling, but having a clear idea what she wants out of a relationship and demanding to be treated as an equal.

Romeo & Juliet does have a few saving graces, primarily Mercutio. Shakespeare famously said that he had to kill off Mercutio before Mercutio killed him.

Macbeth, I go back and forth on. It's fascinating (and so gawthik!), but it's also a little hard for me to take. It's bloody as fuck, with no real line of redemption. (I do not consider Malcolm or Donalbain to be sympathetic, and I have a problem with the blatant "James! Hurrah!" meta-text.)

Henry V. Despite the nationalistic overtones, I quite like this play. "For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother." One of the best parts of the play, for me, is the culmination of the journey we saw Prince Hal undertake in Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2. Hal, though he professes to be a simple man when he is courting Katherine, is actually a quite complex character who cares deeply for the state and his people.

Hamlet. Ah, Hamlet. I don't know that any other play has been written about as much as Hamlet. So much prose has been spilled in analyzing the melancholy prince, and people are forever finding new ways to attack the text.

I love Hamlet because how I relate to the play has changed every time in a reflection of my own personal journey. I love Hamlet because you can make an entirely new play every time, thanks to the length of the play and the existence of multiple versions. (The most common are First Quarto, Second Quarto, and First Folio. There are also Folios 2-6, generally understood to be performance notations.) I love Hamlet because it is one of the most challenging roles an actor can hope to undertake in her or his lifetime.

Hamlet-the-character, however, I have less patience with. At least, currently. I have a directorial précis that outlines How I Feel about the character, and I frankly don't have much patience for him at this point. (I'll write up the précis later.)


Shakespeare himself, I don't have much of an opinion on. I refuse to enter in to the Great Authorial Debate - my personal theory is that he wrote the plays himself, some with massive collaboration, some mostly by himself. I think it's clear that he was a complex and canny man, as well as a veritable sponge of mass culture. He certainly understood how to appeal to the widest market, from low comedy for the groundlings to complex moral debate for the gallery. He also knew how to stay alive and afloat in a rather drama-hostile environment.


I could seriously expound for days, and one of my very favorite games is casting various Shakes plays with... whomever. Simpsons characters. Bandom. The Founding Fathers. Whatever. But Shakespeare, like any theater, is best expounded upon in person, with a drink in hand. So, next time you see me at the bar, ask me about Shakespeare. I promise you'll be entertained.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

So, yeah. The weekend. I did have some apprehension surrounding it, for what I think were good reasons, but none of my fears were realized. It was the best possible visit and weekend that I could have hoped for.

Friday - I was picked up at MSP by briandmage, who took me to lunch at the Chatterbox, which is a very SF-feeling place. After lunch, I toured B's new (salmon-colored) home and then we went over to redwright's house. Much hugging and chatting and me ooh-ing over the home improvements ensued. S took me to the uptown Leaning Tower, where I met up with Marcy & Adam and their two daughters, Lisa & Spencer and their son, and Sean & Jen. I didn't recognize the Tower! They totally remodeled! Sigh. After dinner, I hauled ass down to Intermedia Arts to see scoundrel01 in Great Moments Of Kung Fu Theater History. Hi-larious. I especially liked the Kung-Fu Ionesco bit.

Post-show, Mike and I went back to his place so I could frass with his roommate (Bean) a bit while Mike warshed up and changed, and then we went over to dorajar's for a small gathering o'peeps. Mo, Mikey, Brian, Sally, Fred, Alisa, Dustin, Bob, Matt, and Dave were all there, and it was good. It was very good. I introduced everyone to Fernet (or, as they call it now, Ferret) and Corb Lund (mighty neighborly, mighty neighborly), we saw the "Rehab" video (no, no, no), there was much chatting and one-on-one time, and we were all very happy. Also, we had cowboy hats! It was a good time. Sally and I wandered home and hopped in the hot tub, and then beddy-bye.

Saturday, Sal and I went party-shopping and dress-shopping, because I LEFT MY DRESS IN SF. Augh! So we had to scour Dayton's/Marshall Field's/Macy's for a dress that would appropriately show off my tat and still not make me look preggers. We finally found a cute black-and-white polka-dotted halter dress that is vaguely rockabilly (and not at all stripper-like!). We finished up the shopping at Beyerly's, and then home, where I napped and they cleaned. Bad guest, no biscuit.

That night, I went with Sal to her show - I ended up having to park the car as she ran in to the theater, because downtown was insane. We found out later that Prairie Home Companion was at the State that night, with Wilco performing. I had to remember where my cheap super-secret parking spot was, but I got to see the show! It's amazing - Autistic License. Just wonderful. And then Sally and I sped back to the party - which was already in progress. That was the second time I've "returned to the fold" at a Sally party, the first one being after my accident. Both times, I was nervous as hell pre-party, wondering how it was going to be.

Oh, the party was wonderful. It was great to see so many people, and to have so many people see me happy and healthy, as opposed to the hollow shell I was when I left. I did my usual Sally-party thing of hanging out in the kitchen, right in front of the sink. At least that way people have to pass by me and say hello, right? PLUS, The Baron Von Raschke himself showed up to my party! How awesome is that? (Fred is in a show at the History Theater about MN wrestling, and it stars The Baron.) We partied far into the night, with a post-party hot tub. Yay. So much love contained in that night. So much.

Sunday, we staggered around, Fred made bacon and Grand Marnier French toast, Sal and I went to Target, and we all made calls to our respective mommas. Mo & Mikey came over to hot tub, and then we all went to karaoke at The 1029 Bar. The 1029? Large with the WTF and the amusement. It's a Nordeast bar, so it feels like a small-town dive bar. It's also a cop bar, and we were pretty much the only people doing karaoke that night. This made for some interesting expressions on the faces of the regular patrons. I heard one woman call her friend and said, "There's a bunch of theater people doing karaoke at The 1029. You gotta come down here and see this." Highlights of the night included Mo doing an interpretive dance to Carolyn's "Total Eclipse Of The Heart", Mike (and Terry and Fred) dancing to Sally singing "Everything's Comin' Up Roses", Mo and Sal and me singing "Rehab", Terry, Carolyn, Fred, and Mike singing "Bohemian Rhapsody", Carson singing some Motorhead song and "Apeman", Sal singing "I'll Fly Away"... Much hilarity. Oh, and Carl stopped by! Awesome. It was great to see him.

Monday, I just packed up and waited for Mikey to pick me up for lunch at Wasabi, where we were joined by Mo, Brian, Debbie, Sally, and Heather (my college roomie). After lunch, I said my good-byes to most everyone and went with Heather to see her husband John and their new house in north St. Paul. Then, I flew home. And left my cowboy hat on the plane, which upsets me all out of proportion. I choose to blame the toddler that was in the row with me - he was small enough to sit on his parents' laps, and he would. not. shut. up. the. entire. damn. flight. I'm pro-kids, but that was a little trying. To his parents' credit, they were doing their best to keep a very active toddler occupied and quiet - he just wasn't cooperating. I think they even gave him toddler Benadryl at one point, which didn't seem to have an effect. So. I miss that hat - it had a lot of great memories attached to it.

It was a wonderful and odd weekend. Minneapolis is at once familiar and strange - I know where most everything is, but it repeatedly struck me how flat/green/spread-out it is. It felt a little isolating, actually - everyone in their own houses, doing their own thing. I think I would have to still be in theater if I had stayed - otherwise I'd be too apart from everything. Given how much healthier I am out of theater, that's a little scary. I miss everyone so much, it physically hurts. But it felt so nice to be back in SF, to see the Bay, to be among a lot of people. I spent the weekend listening to people talk about their houses and theater, and I have no personal stake in either. My path has seriously diverged from the life my friends lead, from the life I was leading. I still mourn what I had, while being happy in this new life. I enjoyed all the love from this weekend, and it was brought home to me that I probably cannot return permanently. When I left Alaska, it was gladly. I knew all along I didn't belong there. When I left Minneapolis, it was because I had to. I never quite fit in, but I managed to carve out a niche for myself. I miss my friends and that community so very much.

However, living here has been incredibly good for me. It was remarked a few times how much more relaxed I am now, how much more able I am to roll with things. I don't worry about my place here, I don't worry about being wrong, I'm not in fear of saying the wrong thing. (Well, I do, because I'm me, but you get the drift.) Part of that is not being in an unhealthy relationship any more, and I do think part of it is how accepting California is. And, part of it is due to the relationship with Martin. He's taught me a lot - or, at least, listened to me and offered comments as I've worked through things.

I need a French phrase or German word for feeling happy and melancholy at the same time. Happiness at the present situation, but keenly missing the past. Something. That's where I am, at any rate.

Almost no pictures were taken last weekend, so here is a fuzzy one from Edwin's cellphone:

Ari, Carolyn, and Juliana, 5-11-07 Carolyn and I are (drunkenly) trying to look like Bond girls. Ari is, of course, Bond. Ari Bond.

Went up to the Golden Haven Hot Springs Spa in Calistoga with debg, pix_kristin, and fashionista_35. Deb and Barb's generosity made it possible for me to go, and I am profoundly grateful for it. (Side note: I had never seen the words "Motel & Spa" used on the same sign before.) We all had spa treatments - I got a cheapy, the mini-facial, but it was still nice. The best bit was the mineral water pool and spa that was open to all the guests. The hot tub was lovely, but the pool.... oh my. It was bathtub-warm, and the water had so many minerals in it that I could float with minimal effort.

I'm not a good swimmer. I can do the old-lady frog kick, I can do the side stroke, and I can do the back stroke. Anything else - anything that requires my face going in the water - triggers a panic reflex in me. It took all I had to swim underwater for a paltry few seconds. Strange for a water sign, eh? However, in this water, I felt safer. I could allow myself to float on my back and do the minimum necessary to keep my face out of the water. I still couldn't relax all the way, but I could let myself be, for precious seconds at a time.

That's something I've not been able to do for almost four months now - let myself just be. Actually, probably longer, considering there were more than a few emotional storms all the way through 2005. I didn't quite accomplish it, and Sunday was majorly fraught (tears and everything! Yay!), but I know there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Somewhere.

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For the past 6 years, I watched the Oscars at my friend Karen's house. It's always a big to-do, with people dressing up and food competitions and trivia and prizes. It really hit me hard - the fact that I couldn't be there this year. It was a highlight of my year, every year. It kind of dovetailed with the fact that I'm starting to feel forgotten in MN and invisible here. I know people miss me there, and I know I have people here. But it's the larger slipping away & anonymity that I'm having problems with. And the loneliness. Hoo boy, the loneliness. Ouch.

I have a hard time letting go, this is true. I need to let go of MN and try to keep the friendships there at the same time. 'Tis hard.

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Need to be around normal people again. Must to get involved with a production, pref. one that doesn't take me forever and a day to get to, hence am limiting search to SF directly across the bay. Palo Alto v. nice, but rather far at 11 p.m. Have set up audition and have sent out resumes. Have contacted those whose names I have been given. Next step, volunteering at big theaters and at Theatre Bay Area events. Yes.

(And yes, I called theater people normal. You make your own normality, and mine involves being able to tell stories of actors launching baby dolls into the bassinet, and having said bassinet move two feet, and the hysterics that came after. "Regular" people understand that it's funny. Theater people understand that it's hilarious. I like being admired, but I miss being grokked.

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Thinking I should take a martial art. There's a hapkido dojo up the road from me - anyone have an opinion?

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The very pretty truejavachik lent me her copy of S1 Babylon 5. I'm having a hard time getting into it - it's very.... Trekky. I'll try a few more eps before I give up, though.

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I think I want all of them.

~~~~~~

Finally, a quiz! ( Who wants to live forever? )

First night on stage last night. Hoo-boy. A little rough, a little lacking in enough time, but good work was done. We're just wildly behind now.

This "5 hours of rehearsal per night" thing is killing me. I have no idea how the actors with full-time jobs are doing it. I can see the wear on their faces. Hopefully they'll be able to recover once we start previews.

The upcoming weekend will not be fun. Opening night of Hamlet on Friday. Dry tech, a 5-hour rehearsal, and a 20-mile run on Saturday. A 10 out of 12 on Sunday (10 hours of rehearsal in 12 hours). There will be NO going out next week - not until first preview on the 16th. Well, wait. There will be going out to see scrappylj, but that's it.

And now I have a sudden urge to hear the Pixies cover Once More, With Feeling. Weird.

My Yahoo! Horoscope for the day:

Quickie:
You're ready for an adventure. The sky's the limit. Go out and explore.

Overview:
Oh, you can be a homebody any day. Right now is the perfect time to get out and be social. Or, if you really want to stay home, throw a party. The important thing is that you're with as many people as possible.

I can think of no faster way to see and be able to talk to a bunch of people than the auditions that are planned tonight - short of a gala party, and I tend to hole up in a corner with one or two people at those.

The funniest thing is, auditions are supremely social and off-putting at the same time. You see a lot of people is a short amount of time, but there's so much nervous energy bouncing around that it's sort of distancing (from the directorial standpoint, at least). Plus, there's the awkwardness when you see your friends, because you want to hug them, but you also don't want to freak out the other person who is reading with your friend. Unless they're your friend too, in which cases there's hugs all around! Or not. Depending. (Callbacks tend to be much easier for this sort of thing.)

Anyway. Snerk, denoting wry amusement at the convergence of unrelated things.

really need to not drink as heavily or stay up as late as I did this weekend. I cannot afford this rock'n'roll lifestyle. Either Saturday or Sunday by themselves would have been fine, but the combo is killer.

I did have fun, though. Friday night, we opened The President Once Removed to a mostly positive crowd, and then Z & I drove around to each of the other 14 Fringe venues to drop off postcards. We missed Fringe Central or whatever they're calling it this year, because it's at the Suburban World which was on the wrong side of the Uptown Art Fair. We hates the Fair, precious. Anyhoo. Finished that, watched some Eddie Izzard, went to bed.

Saturday, Z worked & I ran 13 miles and cleaned the apartment. After his shift, Z brought home a couple friends of ours and we all sat up drinking and talking politics, religion, et al., until 4 a.m. Hoo. I was not happy Sunday morning or afternoon, I tell you what.

However, Sunday did have Kung Fu Hamlet in store for us, and nothing can be that bad when you're watching a cheestastic kung-fu rendition of Hamlet. Holy hell, I laughed a lot. V. funny. Then, we cleaned up a bit more, napped, and then went to the Market for karaoke, which was a little crazy last night. In the good way, not in the scary postal worker convention way. Lots of dancing. I sang "Shoop", which is one of my favorite sings evAR. But, I did drink, and I did stay up until 2. So I'm paying for it today. Eeesh.

New iconage, yay.

Tonight, a bunch of "us girls" are going to see Lick!, which is apparently a spoof on male dancers. Ya gotta love Fringe.

I am wildly behind on all of my message boards, so I hope someone will let me know if any of the places catch fire or summat.

I got a gig assistant directing Flaming Guns Of The Purple Sage in the fall. Yay! I've been wanting to work with the director forever, so this is a great opportunity.

My new jobs is great. Mellow people, interesting work, it's all good. The only drawbacks are the lack of windows in our area, but I can deal with that. We're not that high off the ground, so I can be outside in a matter of seconds. Well, okay, and my monitor faces a main trafficway, but this is why privacy screens were invented. My old job called me FIVE TIMES yesterday to ask about various things. FIVE. And they emailed twice today! Sheesh. Here's hoping it was just panic.

Um, okay, I think that's all. Looking forward to mearagrrl's visit this weekend, and my birthday the weekend after that. Hope to get caught up sometime.....

Heya.

So, yeah. Heat=BAD for juliana. Especially 94º heat with 50% humidity. I realize all of you Southerners are laughing at me, but there is a reason why I stay North and it ain't just the accents. I did run yesterday - inside with two fans pointed at me, a wet towel in the fridge that I could stop and grab as needed, and Powerade right there. Even with all of that, I still had to run at a slower-than-usual pace. Better safe than sorry, though. No use in exacerbating any heat illness I have.


Saw Lee Blessing's new play A Body Of Water at the Guthrie Lab last night. It was quite engaging, and one that I dearly wished I had seen with someone else, so we could go grab a drink and discuss it. It's a meditation on memory (and it mentions Occam's Razor, which made me happy). It also has one of the most beautifully simple sets I've seen in a while - a living room in a house that is on top of a hill that is mostly surrounded by a lake. It's quite stunning, and the set is canted just a bit, giving you an indication of the instability inherent in memory.

From an interview with Mr. Blessing:

"One of the pleasures I take in this play is that it manages to send its spectators on the same sort of unwilling voyage Moss and Avis seem to be on. First they must learn a reality from the ground up. Then they (along with Moss and Avis) are told that reality doesn't exist. They learn a new reality, only to have that one destroyed as well. It seems to me we all do this in life. Or rather, this is what life does to us. The Ages of Man don't just change the man. They change everything around him—his whole perception of reality. The more we learn about the world, the more we learn there are codes within codes. The more we learn about humans, the more we learn we will never know the deepest secrets. So at some point, we choose to stop learning. We declare that reality is such-and-such, and choose to be satisfied with that. But all we've really done is mark our own little particular neighborhood on the endless spectrum of That Which Is."


What else? We are to see Entertaining Mr. Sloane at the Jungle tomorrow night, and I have high hopes for that. Zach is enjoying rehearsals for His Girl Friday. I wish I could find a big version of their ad for the show, but here's a smaller one.

I really want to see Batman Begins this weekend. I shall pout most severely if I do not.

I've done this one before, but it's been a while.

The drill:

Think of the first word that comes to mind when you think of me.
(don't tell me what it is)

Run a google image search on that word

Reply to this entry and post a picture from that search

Put this in your journal, so others can do the same, if you haven't already


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Hmmm. My brain just got eaten by this Clay Shirky article - A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy. Hmmmm. suelac always has the most interesting links.

We are on track to sell out Saturday's performance of Streetcar, and may quite possibly sell out tonight, as well. Yippee kai yai, muthafucka.

Had an interview today, and she seemed to really like me - so much so that I'm going back on Wednesday to meet with her boss and other members of potential group. Sweet. I liked what I heard about the position, and it would definitely be a challenge. Something new is very needed right now. I'd rather have the development gig with the Francophile theater, but almost any ticket out of here is a good one.

chikat would be pleased - I sang "Blaze Of Glory" at karaoke on Wednesday. 'Twas fun.

Almost home. Almost.

And they're all great!

“Stacia Rice is the best Blanche I've ever seen…Steve Sweere is so strapping and tough acting, he's completely terrifying. Kudos to director Zach Curtis for brilliantly casting these characters …His show seethes with sexual tension and 100-degree heat.” –
-- Pioneer Press


“Curtis directed Stacia Rice as Maggie in a scorching Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 2002 and, here in Streetcar as Blanche, Rice excels again…Swere's Stanley is a raw physical force on stage. Carolyn Pool's Stella radiates health and a lust for her husband's love-making…Played by tall Chris Carlson, Mitch is an ordinary but good man, compassionate and sensitive…Karla Reck, Carson Lee, André Samples, Josh Jabas and Julie Ann Nevill round out this able ensemble.”
-- talkinbroadway.com


“Rice gives a vulnerable and reckless performance … This Blanche is a portrait of complexity and depth -- Rice piled up accolades two years ago as Maggie in Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," but she exceeds that work with Blanche, a woman frightened by her own shadow yet brimming with faux confidence.

Pool draws our sympathy as poor Stella, earthy, practical and secure in her plain skin.

Sweere is a meaty slab of real life … powerful, not pretty.

Chris Carlson is a solid and decent man.

Curtis makes this a theatrical journey, full of the raw humanity that Williams puzzled over, absorbed and then ripped from himself in this transforming work.”
-- Star Tribune


“Carolyn Pool takes on the role's wide range of emotions without striking false notes. She's particularly fascinating dealing with Steve Sweere's Stanley, and she knowingly navigates the tides of lust and condescension that comprise Stella's approach to him.

Sweere has the hulking presence and seething anger that Stanley requires, also the moments of simplistic regret and villainy both base and petty.

Rice, Pool, and Sweere form a core of solid craft and searing emotion that makes things both satisfyingly moving and artistically stimulating.”
-- City Pages

Woo-hoo!


(Also, new icon. Hank & Daisy sleeping in the cutest position evAR.)