To be in a building that is an exact replica of the one in which Shakespeare’s plays were performed in the 16th/17th century took me to another time. I played a game with myself as I gazed up at all the upper seating with my fellow groundlings, imagining the atmosphere of the past while emersed the Elizabethan architecture. I saw the peasantry audiences crowding the yard and the wealthy filling the seats. I will say, that the pit did not have the signature smell that scholars said it did back in the day of garlic and ale, which is fine by me.
I loved being an official groundling!! I was so grateful to be so close to the action, and also to be a part of the action. Beatrice used my assistance to get back onstage during the production after hiding and slinking around the crowd to overhear Hero and her maid’s conversation. She whispered for me to help her after she jumped up and couldn’t quite get the rest of her body on. I rugby lifted her up there and pushed her to slide the rest of the way. It was one of the most hilarious and lucky things to ever happen to me. I saw all the minor and major details of the costumes with their intricate construction, fabric patterns, and jewelry. They spared no expense on the elaborate costumes. One costume that comes to mind is Beatrice’s blue and gold dress she wore to Hero’s wedding. Each rhinestone on the dress was placed very specifically because the fabric didn’t have a specific pattern print. The cobalt and gold that climbed up her dress were cut and stitched onto a cream-white dress. It was beautiful and had such an effect up close.
I thought all the characters did very well with their deliveries and were perfectly suited to their roles. Ekow Quartey performed brilliantly in this show as Benedick, as did Amalia Vitale as Beatrice. They had undeniable chemistry onstage as they moved from enemies to lovers. All the actors onstage were of a different breed as Shakespearean actors. I don’t think I fully comprehended what Shawn meant when he brought it up during the class discussion. He said that we didn’t have to worry about following along with the play if we weren’t as familiar with “Shakespeare speak”. He was right of course. The actors were so good with their pauses and expressions that they clarified and conveyed the meaning of every unfamiliar colloquialism and lyric. That’s what it means to be a trained Shakespearean actor. To be able to familiarize an extremely coded piece of literature and experiment with it enough to understand when Shakespeare is joking, boasting, scornful, triumphant, or incandescently happy. The play became extremely relatable and interacted with the audience in a very tasteful way.
This version lived up to the production that I envisioned. It surpassed my expectations. I loved every second of it and laughed for most of the production. The set was just what I had imagined for Messina, Italy. It was so artistic and the colors were so polarizing that it was just incredible. The contrast between the bright orange to the cobalt was genius. The way they incorporated the orange orchards from the written play was a beautiful way to preserve the tradition of keeping Shakespeare’s plays fairly set-less and prop-less in the Globe but appealed to the eye so well. This play was so visually fun to watch as the actors could play with height with the small circular balconies attached to the huge iconic pillars of the stage. It was a wonderful element that gave the stage so much dimension for what I would consider a fairly plain stage.
I still think the story and use of female characters is super misogynistic. Its hard to watch women be mere plot devices. The way Hero forgave Claudio was terrible. Beatrice was right in her wishing to be a man , ESPECIALLY in a time where women had no freedom or means to live without a man or husband caretaker (not that its great today either, but at least its not 1598), because her presented gender completely changes whether she would be able to exact her revenge. The “purity” or virginity of a women is a major plot point, but men are free to live or have sex as they choose. In fact, sex and experience adds to the value of a man, but taints and destroys a woman and her reputation. It was a comedy at least. I think it could be written for this day and age better.
Theatre in London U of A 