![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
A Midsummer Night's Dream
I'm currently just at the end of the first act of the BBC version of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. If anyone else wants to watch along with me, I'll add more after I've seen the second half.
Who is Hippolyta? Shakespeare takes it for granted that we know, but although I vaguely recalled that she was Queen of the Amazons, I had to turn to Wikipedia for more about her and Theseus.
Further thoughts behind cut tag in case anyone else wants to watch with me (same version or a different one)
In this production, my favourite actors so far are those playing Theseus, (Nigel Davenport), Helena (Cherith Mellor) and Peter Quince (Geoffrey Palmer).
This version is in contrast to the last production I saw (on stage with Gareth Thomas as Theseus/Oberon) where Helena was played as a very attractive young woman. Here, she comes across more as a caricature of a librarian - it works. She has serious doubts about her looks, which is quite understandable given how Demetrius has treated her.
Watching the play, I was drawn to comparing Bottom and Helena, and realised why Bottom was chosen by Puck. Where Helena doubts herself, Bottom has no such concerns. He is overconfident of himself and his abilities, offering to perform virtually every part in the play within a play.
When Lysander starts to court Helena, she is distressed that he would tease her so. When Bottom is courted by Titania, he doesn't even blink - he has no doubts about a beautiful woman finding him attractive. He's far more confident than the last Bottom I saw.
I think one of the fascinations of Shakespeare is how the same play can tell a totally different story in the hands of different directors.
Who is Hippolyta? Shakespeare takes it for granted that we know, but although I vaguely recalled that she was Queen of the Amazons, I had to turn to Wikipedia for more about her and Theseus.
"Hippolyta first appears in myth when she goes with Theseus, who was accompanying Heracles on his quest against the Amazons. When Theseus first arrived at the land of the Amazons they expected no malice, and so Hippolyta came to his ship bearing gifts. They then eloped, and returned to Athens, she pregnant with a child.
Theseus' brazen act sparked an Amazonomachy, a great battle between the Athenians and Amazons. The Amazons made camp in Attica on a hill that has been described as "bare and rocky", the Areopagus"Further thoughts behind cut tag in case anyone else wants to watch with me (same version or a different one)
In this production, my favourite actors so far are those playing Theseus, (Nigel Davenport), Helena (Cherith Mellor) and Peter Quince (Geoffrey Palmer).
This version is in contrast to the last production I saw (on stage with Gareth Thomas as Theseus/Oberon) where Helena was played as a very attractive young woman. Here, she comes across more as a caricature of a librarian - it works. She has serious doubts about her looks, which is quite understandable given how Demetrius has treated her.
Watching the play, I was drawn to comparing Bottom and Helena, and realised why Bottom was chosen by Puck. Where Helena doubts herself, Bottom has no such concerns. He is overconfident of himself and his abilities, offering to perform virtually every part in the play within a play.
When Lysander starts to court Helena, she is distressed that he would tease her so. When Bottom is courted by Titania, he doesn't even blink - he has no doubts about a beautiful woman finding him attractive. He's far more confident than the last Bottom I saw.
I think one of the fascinations of Shakespeare is how the same play can tell a totally different story in the hands of different directors.
no subject
I look forward to hearing more.
no subject
no subject
The wonderful thing about Shakespeare is that he can still be gripping even when you only understand four words out of five!
I've seen Gareth in two Shakespeare plays, but my big regret is that I never saw him as King Lear.