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Post by 11 on Sept 29, 2007 22:35:19 GMT -5
Just got back home from Stratford!
It was my first trip to Canada and I really want to go back! My class went for the Shakespeare Festival and we saw " The Comedy of Errors, "The Merchant of Venice," (my favorite) " and "My One and Only"
If anyone is in the area I highly suggest you go to Stratford and see some shows. Though the Merchant of Venice was my favorite, it isn't for everyone. All but four people in my group of forty-three disliked it.
The Comedy of Errors was funny though I found the set distracting and the slapstick a little over the top.
My One and Only was a cute little tap dancing musical. A tribute to the movie-musicals of the '20s, this show had a few effects that I had never once seen done before. I'll describe more in greater detail for anyone who's interested.
Overall I have nothing but good things to say about my trip to Canada, and I encourage everyone to visit Stratford. You'll be glad you did.
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Mary-Keith
Full Member
freedom is the ability to shout "THEATRE!!" in a crowded fire.
Posts: 123
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Post by Mary-Keith on Sept 30, 2007 3:39:32 GMT -5
OMG JELLIS LIKE WOAH. You are SO LUCKY to have been able to go to something as awesome as that. We've got something sorta similar relatively close (but then again, how can it be Canadian if it's relatively close to Roanoke? Answer: it can't, but it's close to Roanoke). Sorry, my modifier was dangling. Anyway. We've got the Blackfriars theatre in Staunton, VA, which puts on several productions a season, most Shakespeare, some not. It's very impressive in that the theatre is designed like the Globe (ie, floor setup, stage height/setup, no curtains, house lights stay up, etc) but it's indoors. The cast rotates too - main parts in, say, Antony and Cleopatra, have smaller parts in Romeo and Juliet, and vice versa. I saw A&C a few weeks ago and it was AMAZING, and it's not even one of my favorite plays. I really hope they do my favorite, Much Ado About Nothing, sometime before I graduate. They also sell stuffed Shakespeares and mini-Shakespeare finger puppets.  |
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Post by Aindel on Sept 30, 2007 11:40:35 GMT -5
Yay! An entire thread devoted to part of my life's goal!
Anyway... I saw Lear this season, and that was absolutely amazing. Brian Bedford is awesome, and the costumes made me drool.
I've heard that a lot of people didn't like Venice, actually. We saw the programme sitting in the wardrobe shop on Friday (no idea why it was there), and we all agreed that the costumes were...not exactly awesome. That dress on the woman on the cover? Yeah, hideous. I can imagine that it looked better in the grand scheme of the play, but just seeing it close-up like that...
If you're going to Stratford, though, you do have to make a full day of it. Make a picnic lunch and eat it by the Thames while watching the swans (see if you can spot a black one!), and walk around the town. Important places to stop: the Christmas store, Rocky Mountain (yay fun chocolate), and Rheo Thompson (expensive, fancy chocolate. Best mint smoothies in the world). The random Tir na nOg gate is also awesome, if you can find it.
And keep in mind everyone, Christopher Plummer is coming back next season. I don't remember which play he's in, but does it matter? He's Christopher Plummer!
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Post by 11 on Sept 30, 2007 22:08:21 GMT -5
Yeah. From Antonio's three ties to Portia and Nerissa's dresses, the costumes were all pretty awful. It was really boring at the beginning but there were a two scenes that were so amazing it was easy to forgive the slow start. The courtroom scene was very powerful and the staging in the final scene was superb. I liked that they played up the homosexuality it definitely made the ending come together better. I though it was anticlimactic when I read it but they did a great job of wrapping it up.
I visited every place you mentioned. When I was there I spent one full day there and one evening. I didn't see a black swan but I did see a dirty white one. My friend got a really good picture of it.
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Post by Trey on Oct 7, 2007 20:23:39 GMT -5
there's a Shakespeare theatre company around here that is really awesome. They perform Shakespeare in the park sometimes, and wear modern clothes, like they did back then. So they do it the way it was meant to be performed.
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Post by Aindel on Oct 8, 2007 17:15:05 GMT -5
I think CanStage funds a few of those in the summer around here... Could be wrong, though. I know somebody does Shakespeare in the Park here in Toronto, but I can't remember specifics.
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Post by 11 on Oct 10, 2007 6:59:13 GMT -5
We have Shakespeare in the park here too. It's pretty cool cause they do it in this nifty park in German Village. I love German Village; they have the nicest little kosher deli.
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Post by alba on Nov 25, 2007 8:13:21 GMT -5
Ooh, Stratford! I love that place, and the theatres, and the plays, etc. It really is lovely.
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Post by Spammich on Nov 25, 2007 16:13:17 GMT -5
I love the comedy of errors. Shakespeare = awesome.
I have really old books that my Grandma bought in europe from the birthplace of Shakespeare. It has quite a few of his sonnets in it. I used to have some memorized, but I forgot them.
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Post by Aindel on Nov 26, 2007 11:01:18 GMT -5
I love Shakespeare's birthplace (as in Stratford-Upon-Avon, not the actual house/museum, because that's kinda boring. Anne Hathaway's cottage is much cooler). It's so cute, and the weather was really nice for March when I was there.
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Post by Spammich on Nov 26, 2007 12:29:24 GMT -5
Oh also.
-tackleglomps 11-
OMG OMG OMG
I've missed you<333
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Post by Trey on Nov 27, 2007 3:44:55 GMT -5
lol spammich, someone just revived an old thread, that post of 11s was from october o.o
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Post by Spammich on Nov 27, 2007 15:31:11 GMT -5
Oh.
-kills people for reviving old threads-
You made the poor spam think 11 was back T.T
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Post by alba on Nov 27, 2007 17:03:01 GMT -5
I'm sorry .. I think it was me that revived it
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Post by Aindel on Nov 27, 2007 21:15:24 GMT -5
Yes, yes it was. Way to make Spam cry.
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