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| Simple and attractive |
I'll start with the good points (Does this mean there's something bad as well? Keep on reading). I simply love the simple geometrical props. They are mobile, with wheels so that one shape could be transformed to numerous settings/items. A bit noisy but that is easily pardoned. Even IB has difficulty to rectify this. And I simply LOOVEEE the costume. The idea to come up with costumes which are devoid of any specific culture and race is indeed a brilliant move. Of course, the usage of batik hinted of a certain cultural practice but it is still excellent.The segregation is only noticeable in gender. Female characters donned quite an elaborate attire, which is perfectly alright. The cheeky trick to wear mask on each other forehead instead of the face could either heighten/lessen its sole purpose (in accordance to Greek's culture). Greek actors wore mask as a way to enhance the actor's facial expression in a play. With its massive stage and outrageous number of audience, mask wearing is an ideal solution for the Greeks. But to wear it on one's forehead??? I am sure Sophocles is turning furiously in his grave during the show. Another thing is that I have to explain to my "plus one" is the constant appearance of signage, attached to each actor's costume. You don't get it, don't you? If I could simply explain - ok, imagine this! Every actor has to raise, say an exclamation mark sign to stress excitement. If one is puzzled, a question mark sign will be raised. At one point, everyone is raising quite a handful of signage and we suddenly lost track of the story. We are practically laughing at the confused signage-raising moment (maybe that's intentional???)
Now let's talk about the acting. Or should I write anything at all about this? I won't cover everything here. I have to be sympathetic to the fact that not every one can act. But there's one important thing needed to be highlighted here. Shakespeare is sooo veryyy good with his soliloquies. This particular dramatic nuance in his plays is one of the reasons he is labelled the GENIUS. To ignore the dramatic height in his soliloquies is the ultimate crime in any production. It has to be delivered with such passion and confidence so that the audience could totally relate to every word in it. Just read Hamlet's "To be or not to be". You'll be drawn to its intensity of questioning life over death with every single word in it. But sadly this production tend to forget that. Soliloquies were knackered and hammered as if the actors have no choice but to utter every word the way they have memorized it. What's the rush? The play runs for more than 2 hours... Of course not all is bad. The big fat cook's brief existence is remembered well. And you can never go wrong with a transvestite character. Put one in and the audience will totally ignore the bumps in the play.
So have I done justice to this first review? Let me just say this. I am totally impressed with the production's bold choice in staging a Shakespeare's play. Even I faced quite a resistance every time I asked my students to stage his plays. Kudos to to every crew and actor for this courageous effort. If you have managed to pull me out from my home on a Saturday night, leaving my kids at home to fend for themselves, consider your production a SUCCESS!!
