WOO! Week one/Play one down. Won't be blogging over the weekend as I said in my last post so this is it till next week...
Theseus' best speech comes at the beginning of this act and I think
I could spend a whole class just looking at this speech. Here are some
highlights:
Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.
The lunatic, the lover, and the poet
Are of imagination all compact.
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.
The lunatic, the lover, and the poet
Are of imagination all compact.
The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to aery nothing
A local habitation and a name.
Such tricks hath strong imagination,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to aery nothing
A local habitation and a name.
Such tricks hath strong imagination,
If a poet's pen gives shapes, a local habitation, and a name to
airy nothing- then poets and actors sound a lot alike. On a personal
note, I like to think that actors and poety both fall somewhere
precariously between saints and madmen...
Anyway, as Theseus tries to brush off the story of the 4 lovers in
the woods, Hippolyta shows some reason to why their story may not be
entirely fictitious- specifically that all of their stories match too
well- and Theseus is spared having to respond with the entrance of the 4
lovers
When Theseus calls for what plays and masques are available for his
wedding feastrings him the most deliciously absurd list for a wedding.
His choices ALL seem out of place- battles with Centaurs, tearing apartm
singers, or my personal favorite: "The thrice three Muses mourning for
the death of Learning" So of course next to those the "very tragical
mirth" of Pyramus and Thisby is the clear winner.
I do love that Theseus responds to that description as "hot ice
and wondrous strange snow. How shall we find the concord of this
discord?"
Finding the concord of this discord seems to be the theme of the whole show right?
And, actually, when Philostrate tries to dissuade Theseus from
hearing Pyramus and Thisby, Theseus shows that either being married is
making him less of a jerk, or that perhaps he is a pretty good rulern it
comes to women. this is what he says:
I will hear that play;
For never any thing can be amiss
When simpleness and duty tender it.
He goes on to say that they will receive the mechanicals based on
their "might, not merit" maybe that's the key to Theseus. Perhaps his
mantra is might, not merit... and this speech is also LOVELY and, to me
at least, redeeming.
And then the play begins with Quince's prologue. TEACHING MOMENT:
Quince's prologue makes perfect sense if you move around the
punctuation. This is a pretty smart average joe who is nervous as hell!
And I think an actor should know how the speech is supposed to go to get
the most mileage out of screwing that up.
I really don't have any specific things to highlight about Pyramus
and Thisby but I will once again declare my love for this is my FAVORITE
part of the show Everything about it makes me giggle, even when reading
it. You should really just experience all of it... take seven moments
and check out this rendition by a pretty famous bunch of guys:
once the play is over Theseus announces that it is bedtime-
something he was eager for over 100 lines ago. He is sure to mention
that it is almost "fairy time" a hint to the audience that more is
coming, perhaps?
This is where I actually strongly agree with Zac that the play
feels like it ends over and over again and I am pretty sure I will make
some strong cuts to everything that comes after Pyrumus and Thisby- in
fact, I think I will cut all the lines between Theseus' speech and
Puck's epilogue.
Again, this goes back to my belief that the fairy stuff is not the
best part of the play- and I dont think the fact that the fairies bless
the best bridal bed (creepy- that basically means all the invisible
fairies are going to have some voyeuristic contest) just so whoever is
the "best" won't have deformed children- seriously y'all. A sample of
why I have no qualms cutting this:
And the blots of Nature's hand
Shall not in their issue stand;
Never mole, hare-lip, nor scar,
Despised in nativity,
Shall upon their children be
No need to shame any of the children/parents with moles or scars in the audience, right?
If I was directing this show in a fancy high tech theat is how the
end of this play would look- Theseus would not even get to his final
speech, rather he would tell Bottom no epilogue but "come, your
bergomask" and a scrim would fall so that the lovers and royals are
watching the mechanicals do their ending dance in silluette which would
end around the same time as Puck's speech leaving Puck and Bottom to
bow- one in shadow one in light- at the same time. and leaving the
lovers to start clap an instant before the audience does
I find epilogues really interesting and I don't have anything super
intelligent to say about them other than I've ready great articles on
how much social psychology went in to writing them. just wanted to say
that I will be noting epilogues more as we work our way through the
cannon.(Today's picture is obviously from Pyramus and Thisbe. It features Paul Rycik and Brian Falbo as the wall and Thisbe)
Give me your hands if we be friends...
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