preliminary objective notes on the scottish play

to be formatted/editted later.

-set a square tiled room, at times a kitchen, morgue, hospital,basement (?). very cold and industrial
-1.1 and 1.2 switched, nurses in the hospital tending to the wounded captain then become witches and kill him
-england scene takes place in a make-shift music hall (idea of war converting places) with piano and chairs. macduff's reaction to children's death very quiet but anguished, words come out strangled
-banquet scene staged twice, no either side of intermission. first time, we hear all the lines and see banquo's ghost come out of the service elevator and stalk down the table. second time macbeth's conversation with the murderer is unheard and banquo does not appear, so we know only as much as the guests themselves
-odd business where macbeth takes a lit cigarette from a guest and crushes it over the guest's head
-witches serve the banquet, first time with knoves behind their backs, second time without
-macduff arrives to the castle with family in tow, establishing family connections early on. some lines of the porter scene given to lady macduff
-boy and old man discussing natural events of the night of the murder given to banquo and fleance. fleance open the scene by sneaking to the fridge to get a piece of cake, which macbeth takes back from him when he enters and puts away
-moment of announcing malcom an heir, malcom and macbeth side by side so it looked like duncan as about to announce macbeth. looks on macbeth's face one of "you like me! you really really...oh,no you don't..."
-macduff family killed on-stage. lady macduff realizes they're in peril and keeps trying to leave, but menacing figures appear at every exit and the family backs up against itself in the center. lights black out, then come up slightly so you can just barley make out each member being sluaghtered (including the youngest, teddy-bear-wielding daughter having her throat cut by a hacksaw)
-scene with the witches giving the riddled warnings takes place in a morgue. each "vision" they conjure is a corpse momentarily brought back to life to give his prophecy
-intense video projections during the witch scenes and the final battle. really vibrant, jungle greens used for birnam wood.
-final battle somewhat chaotic
-macbeth makes and eats a sandwich while hiring banquo's murderers. funny and oddly humanizing, though showing a disparity between attitude and action
-lady macbeth's mad scene very fearful, distracted, desperate. uses bleach to wash her hands and the sink (downstage right, spotlit) runs blood
-initial castle scene takes places in the ktichen with staff all around hacking vegetables and fowl for the meal. warmer lighting tones in this earlier scene, eventually becom colder and more clinical as the humanity lessens. when the couples exits, resolved to kill duncan, they bring with them a chocolate cake (model host/hostess)

Performance Notes: Romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare in the Park, Delacorte Theater
June 9, 2007
Directed: Michael Greif
Featuring: Lauren Ambrose, Oscar Isaac, Camryn Manheim, Christophe Evan Welch





• Set made up of a one inch pool of water, a circumference of walkway, and a grid-iron bridge that could be separated in the middle (balcony scenes)

• Costume vaguely 1930’s, mostly done in browns and white, with black accents. Juliet always in white except confession scene

• Many instances of choices almost being made, but then not followed through on—friar “some will be punished”, one upping with the statues, Mercutio and Romeo

• Commonality of costuming made distinguishing sides at the beginning almost impossible

• Race mirrored on each side

• Tybalt and Benvolio very hard to distinguish at the beginning

• Capulet- uneven, “hang, beg, starve, DIE IN THE STREETS”, transitions far too quick, though brought interesting things to the role

• For the most part, the actors had absolutely no idea of what they were saying or why—“towards school with heavy looks” at a run, “oh why then oh brawling love” a senseless list of words, Apollo/night speech

• Pilgrim speech had no tension, immediate love, balcony scene no tension—Juliet has to maneuver into the marriage contract

• Nurse’s first speech very good

• Set very good, but no real connection to the work and offered no actual vision

• Where were they? Spain? Possible

• Due to transparency of bridge, nice layering of images (ie, Juliet’s body being carried off as Romeo describes his dream)

• Romeo should never straddle Juliet’s corpse, but death pose lovely

• Accidental moment when the two bird flew…very nice

• Rain held off

• Moment when he sees Juliet totally lost

• Ambrose looked very young, but overcompensated for her very low voice by equating youth with shouting and shaking her head

• Discussion of options after Paris bethrothal lovely—nice control, affection lost for the nurse, double meaning felt with the mother

• Poor vocal skills beyond NOT KNOWING WHAT YOU’RE SAYING

• Throwing of oranges in the beginning? Wtf?

• Most props held under the bridge and used throughout to nice effect

• Clowning with mercutio cute

• Fight choreography generally boring and amateurish

Performance Notes: The Taming of the Shrew

Propeller Theatre Company, Old Vic
February 20, 2007
Directed: Ed Hall
Featuring: Dugald Bruce-Lockhart, Simon Scardifield, Jon Trenchard, Tam Williams



* Used induction and at least some parts of A Shrew. Possible rearrangement of text, but hard to tell without text in front of me.

* 80’s vibe. Biondello MJ vibe, Tuxedo shirt, Baptista Miami Vice suit, Hortensio punk, crazy b&w saddle shoe platforms, disco chandelier, red leather on Petruchio

*Set-up: Wedding, Sly passes out before he can marry the bride, bride’s father pissed off and agrees to set Sly up, start the play then Sly joins as Petruchio (at first using script), play ends and Sle is excited he knows how to tame a shrew, but then is reminded it was just a play…seems to realize it was “How to be an Awful person” instead

* Bianca very street smart in suitor juggling. Duet with Hortensio. “The Joy of Sex.”

* Petruchio at the wedding—speedo, cowboy hat, cowboy boot (Texas0, peeing into his hat. Grumio— half pants, hilarious exit

* Longer play went, more realistic and less funny/good natured. Downright cruel by end. Could never get away with it with a real woman, especially the first wedding scene, grabbing Kate by the hair.

* “Jacket,” “Spotlight,” Sly very endearing drunk at the beginning while a spectator (dancing to the music, eating his own boot), almost childlike

* Jack Tarlton = Spiderman. At least twice during play he made huge flying leap over things.

* Incredibly physical piece of work. Almost no time to understand the words, relied instead on tone and pace of speech for humor and broad slapstick

* Had the wives on-stage during the bet so they knew they were being wagered on

* Vincentio eating noodles, looking through the bottle when he was “looking out the window”

* Spanish/Western horns and guitar when Tranio (as Lucentio) appeared

* Clever bit with Grumio playing guitar for Hortensio

*Pre-show used. In character? Hard to tell.

* Two songs used. Wedding song and “Did He Marry her for Money?” Wedding song used to comic effect at beginning, more straight forward during kate’s wedding. Second song used jovially to set the scene at Petruchio’s house by his servants. Second time more sad, sung by Bianca only with Kate, defeated on-stage, trailed off at “to teach her love was…”

* Tailor and haberdasher combined

* Good use of wardrobes at the beginning (first site of Baptista, Kate, Bianca and suitors, the parade to Baptista for the presentation of tutors and “Lucentio”)

* Very violent Vincentio. Biondello—“budge up, love’

* Petruchio addressing audience mostly, open challenge at end of 4.1

Performance Notes: Twelfth Night

Propeller Theatre Company, Old Vic
January 23, 2007
Directed: Ed Hall
Featuring: Tam Williams, Tony Bell, Dugald Bruce-Lockhart, Jason Baughan, Simon Scardifield

* The staging was lots of mirrors along the walls and two mirrored wardrobes that were used for entrances, exits, and sometimes hiding places, which I liked because there’s something about the idea of mirrors reflecting…that fits in with the idea of the play. Mirrors are supposed to show the truth, but even the clearest ones alter an image by flipping it, and the ones used on stage (whether for effect or practical reasons) we not clear, but slightly fun-house-esque. When Viola first views herself as Cesario, the reflection was unclear enough that you can imagine she is a boy (or a boy playing a girl…I’ll talk more about that later).

* Another bit of staging that was effective was using the glass coffin of Olivia’s brother both as a coffin and as part of the barroom revelry, because the play also has this duplicity of melancholy and festival running throughout. It was subtle, but I thought added to it. That same duplicitous nature could also be seen in the predominantly lavender and blue lighting, with only pierces on sunlight appearing to indicate daylight. As far as I remember, the only “fully lit” scene was the box tree scene.

* The parts of Fabian and Feste being combined made sense in this production since they gave Feste the role of being
something like a conductor of the whole show. To have him absent in the box tree scene would have been quite noticeable, and the only real scene where Fabian and Feste cross is when Malvolio’s letter is read at the end. I actually really like having Maria confess to having orchestrated the plot because, in general, I feel the “lower” class of this play have it more together than the nobility, so I liked having her take responsibility for her actions.

* The most obvious Elizabethan convention was, of course, having an all male cast. I thought it worked beautifully with Viola because you believed everyone in the play’s world seeing her as Cesario (since Viola actually was a boy), but you also felt the struggle. In general, I didn’t find it distracting for Maria and Olivia to be men, either. I think one of the reasons it worked was that neither appear until we’ve already had two scenes to immerse ourselves in the world of the play—we had time to suspend disbelief. What I’m really curious is to see is how this convention works in Taming, because that play has no cross-dressing. I don’t know that it will work as well, but we shall see.

Performance Notes: Antony and Cleopatra

Royal Shakespeare Company, Novello Theater
February 6, 2007
Directed: Gregory Doran
Featuring: Patrick Stewart, Harriet Walter, Ken Bones





* Change of location indicated by lighting (Egypt = warm/gold/red, Rome = cold/silver/blues, Sea = dark/jewel tones, Battles = grey/smokey, Monument = candle lit/very dark)

* Stage vaguely Elizabethan. Two trap doors (bottom and top), two doors, three visible levels, no permanent setting

* Costumes of Egypt were simple and white. Costumes of Rome divided between red (Antoney) and bluish purple (Caesar). Red can denote passion, cooler colors = cooler heads? And purple is nobility. Lepidus in white, neutrality. Pompey in black, common villain.

* Scene changes fluid, with instances of change happening around characters from previous scene (the pause after the meeting of the triumvirate, with Antoney and Caesar eyeing each other warily)

* Caesar somewhat prudish- reactions to the drinking party, delivery of lines regarding Egypt’s luxuries, refusal to look at Cleopatra during Act 5. Also incredibly twitchy (very little growth over the play, disappointing) and creepily obsessed with his sister (taking her to bed, incestuous kiss)

* Octavia surprisingly sympathetic, feeling she does care for Antoney in some way and is genuinely pleased to be married to him

* Unclear if Cleopatra plans to betray Antoney when Thidius comes (I think not, but unsure). Very clear she and Seleucus are in cahoots at the end (whispered discussion before Caesar appears, meaningful looks during discussion of withheld treasure)

* Antoney’s death beautiful. Platform coming down from highest level, careful raising of him (don’t remember the lines about his weight), beautiful image of a fallen hero. Lighting gave him a glow.

* Levels used well. Two instances of sitting being important- Antoney faking out Caesar during triumvirate meeting, Pompey making the triumvirate sit on the floor (Caesar cross legged, very school-boy)

* “The time of universal peace is near” dictating to Agrippa. I hate Caesar.

* Show opened with soldiers waiting for Antoney before the lights went down. Antoney shows up, only to giggle over a whip (?) and disappear for shenanigans with Cleo. Let’s the audience in on the sense of impatience and frustrations of the soldiers.

* Cleo’s costumes very simply. In gold at beginning and end, but middle all white shift. Egyptian of equivalent of modern girl in pj’s because her boyfriends out of town (why dress when no one sees?). Took off the wig during discussion of age and left it off till death, nice humane touch. Cleo very aware of her own ridiculousness

* Antoney very merry, very much in denial throughout. More self-destructive through drink than you might pick up in the text.

Performance Notes: Coriolanus

Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Shakespeare Theater
March 24, 2007
Directed: Gregory Doran
Featuring: William Houston, Janet Suzman, Timothy West


* Visual numbing- red clothes, red walls, red splattered floor. Idea of blood over represented and didn’t keep the eyes interest

* Set of Rome three main doors, could see shadows of people long before the entrances. Otherwise, either a big wall with a window possibility, forming two doors, or emptiness


* High energy of the piece meant most actors had poor diction/enunciation. Difficult to understand

* Coriolanus effeminate and crazy as a loon bird. Costume as a citizen girly and buttoned up, costume as a warrior tribal and fierce

* Volsces in grey

* Citizens sympathetic until the end when their changeable nature is capitalized on and made more comic. Second citizen a woman, another woman and a baby often shown giving a more complete picture of Rome. Soldiers complete whimps, Coriolanus has a point about them

* Coriolanus’ return to Rome described by tribunes though there is no way they saw it as was staged

* Great use of shadows- the army, the party at Aufidius’

* Coriolanus’ death by pulling Aufidius’ sword into him, Aufidius last speeched delivered to an empty stage, cradling a dead Coriolanus in his arms

* Coriolanus and Aufidius quite the pair. Aufidius completely and totally enraptured, embracing and kissing Coriolanus upon C’s exile from Rome. Have the sense C is not quite reciprocal in feelings

* Scene after Coriolanus’ banishment a sense of peace and harmony, people holding white balloons? Not sure they had those in ancient Rome

* Coriolanus lifted up upon his shield after the battle

* Absolutely no sense of humility in the asking for the voices of the crowd

Performance Notes: The Tempest

Royal Shakespeare Company, Novello Theater
March 2, 2007
DIrected: Rupert Goold
Featuring: Patrick Stewart, John Light, Julian Beach, Mariah Gale


* Frozen tundra curious choice for island. Text has mention of trees and creatures, but it’s hard to imagine them living on ice. Gonzalo’s talk of grass? Little forced

* Inuit magic used as Prospero’s charms. Bear costume…unexpected.

* Miranda given awkward characterization. On the one hand, no outside contact makes sense. On the other, speech seems too elegant to match the delivery. Tended to robotic.

* Prospero’s characterization also uneven. Sometimes harsh, sometimes comic, sometimes tender, but no sense of evolution—too sudden

* Ariel robotic android ice creature. Very odd. Black, almost Asian-collared frock coat, not at all congruent with others. Kind of space aged. Long scene changes, slow pacing with the snow lights, hour glass

* Cut the Masque, replaced with the goddess ritual of fire and chanting and walking on their backs with Prospero watching, and then the parade of people…unclear if Ferdinand and Miranda can see these

* John Hopkins better as Sebastian. Aside to black actor when complaining about sending Claribel to Africa added to funny/rude irreverence if character. Cut Gonzalo line about moving the moon would have contributed to that, but oh well

* No sense of urgency in the storm scene, though good setting inside submarine

* Trinculo lower class speech funny, adds to character. Trinculo/Stephano scenes rely more of crass humor (sticking the bottle…yeah…), but not in a way that fits with the rest (more inconsistency)

* Some characters really cold, some not. Ferdinand, Caliban, Prospero, not cold at all, Sebastian and Antonio, very cold.

* Ariel coming out of the seal/manatee/walrus/big dead sea animal way creepy and terrifying with bone bird skeleton and blood, blood, blood brought on by furry hooded goddesses

* “Goddesses” served as spirits with eerie singing with Ariel, some scene changes, marriage ceremony

* Caliban human, half dressed, dreds. Interesting, dance-like movement, not used as much as it could be. controlled with ropes, but sometimes free? Lunges for Miranda, yanked back out of the air by Prospero

* Ferdinand_in love with Miranda or not? Sometimes yes, sometimes just caught up in what’s happening, odd juxtaposition with language of love to have an expression of constant disease

Performance Notes: King Lear

Royal Shakespeare Company, The Courtyard Theater
March 27, 2007
Directed: Trevor Nunn
Featuring: Ian McKellen, Jonathan Hyde, Frances Barber, Guy William, Ben Meyjes

* Cordelia’s asides cut from the beginning, no clear reasoning as to why she refuses Lear’s demand

* Began with formal procession before declaration, then started with Gloucester/Kent

* Regan’s poisoning on-stage, tied into her fondness for drink which we had seen throughout

* Regan jumping up and down with glee during blinding

* Kept the mock trial scene from the folio, interesting break between past, almost understandable cruelties and horrific, unimaginable ones

* Fool actually hung on-stage, but why did he come back? Gave prophecy as a last speech

* Fool sang a lot of his lines, not just the songs

* Set grand, Russian feeling. Deteriorated throughout, soldiers pulling it down to start at the first conflict, roof falling in during the storm, visual representation of havoc caused by central characters

* Cordelia in white/purple (innocence/nobility), Goneril in black/red, Regan in green. Big, convertible dresses

* Kent’s punishment (the stocks) dealt in the middle of a party, highlights Regan/Cornwall’s cruelty

* Kept the lines about the servants helping Gloucester with egg whites, helps the idea that Regan/Goneril/Edmund are exceptions, not the rule (people in the play’s world still capable of compassion)

* Goneril walked with a cane, but didn’t really seem to need it. More grey than Regan or Cordelia in terms of good v. evil, characterization mirrored Lear’s in ways I couldn’t quite put my finger on

* Set dressing very simple, things moved on and off, very fluid. Tables at the beginning in the ceremony, hovel a type of trap door from the stage, furniture for mock trial scene, military pieces for end

* Fake suicide done so slowly as to not inspire laughter

* Lear’s madness a type of distraction than full blown out insanity

* Goneril grabbed Edmund’s knife from his boot to stab herself

* Fool’s observations not cruel, and more tolerated by Lear than Ian Holm version, kept Folio lines during the egg scene

* Lear actually carried Cordelia out, kept the “look” lines about her breath, “break heart” given to Kent

* Kent’s exit odd…took a pistol…meant to think he offs himself? That was my thouht

Performance Notes: Cymbeline

Lincoln Center, Vivian Beaumont Theater
November 7, 2007
Directed: Mark Lamos
Featuring: Martha Plimpton, Michael Cerveris, Jonathan Cake







* eastern design for britain, reminiscent of tibetan and eastern russian costume/design, with various other asian influences thrown in. lots of frogs used as fasteners, men with fumanchu facial hair and longish hair with braids, clothing fastened on the side. incredibly bright colors (posthumus in purple- royalty. nobility, cymbeline in brown and bluish silver grey, imogen in red/white/pink, queen in bright blue/aqua, cloten in aqua, court in greens/oranges...all very rich)

* costumes and feel of rome much darker, more monochromatic (biochromatic?), blacks and golds, red for war

* set cavernous sries of boxes and frames, elaboratly carved. plays off the box trick, vaguely reminiscent of the casket from snow white (similar themes of evil step mother out to get virtuous step daughter

* show opens with dumb show to illustrate discussion of the two gentlemen (daniel breaker!) cluing us into the situation in britain, very processional, similar to nunn's lear

* ends with prayer circle of peace, jen tepper: "it's like lincoln center is going PEACE AND LOVE GOOD"

* first scene of rome in the bathhouse, roman men half dressed, somewhat salacious (side note: jonathan cake is hot and looks good naked...not all of my notes can be academic!), rise up from the floor and steam (hell? an extreme interpretation, but worth noting at least the possibility)

* posthumus wears costumes from every world we see- britain, rome, wales. ends the play in clothes of wales, the civilized wilderness and home of the lost princes who are the pinnacle of nobility

* imogen wears clothes of britain/wales, wears white immediatly following the bed trick (underlies purity)

* welsh scnic drop bright pastels, vaguely degas feel, contrats rough appearance of the men with a softness and a design recalling culutred western europe

* iachimo half naked again for the bed trick, seems very close to actually assaulting (? a bit strong, better word..) imogen, bed curiously blocked from most of the audience by a canop sheet (thrust stage, i was on a side)

* posthumus' vision done with mardi-gras stilit puppets with a rough, wooden feel...very arts festival. huge, somewhat awkward. looming, as the past? jove (daniel oresekes!) on a huge golden eagle from the ceiling, all shiny and somewhat ridiculous (not the easiest scene in shakespeare to pull off in a non-ludicrous mannor). square of light indicated prison cell, clever trick with the scroll

* only pieces of furniture in the whole play the bed and the box

* dirge for fidele more chanted than sung, odd homosexual/incest vibes from the brothers towards fidele/imogen

* last act played for laughs, cornelius especially...mostly unfunny exept for this part and cloten. audience unresponsive? possibly, but also a production choice

* close of first act washed the stage with stars (fate?) and a western european mural of..gods? angels? somewhat hard to decipher

*michael cervers should never have hair