Shakespeare in Love

Ashland, 2017!!!

The Once-in-a-While

Daily News

1  Words. Words. Words.

2  Just flew in from Ashland, and boy!

3  Shakespeare in Love.

4  Astounding!

5  I got a few more old wrinkles due to an over-abundance of mirth and laughter. 

6  That quote above, incidentally, isn't from Shakespeare in Love. It is a quote from Gratiano from The Merchant of Venice, Act 1,

Scene 1. The entire text goes like this:

"Let me play the fool. With mirth and

laughter let old wrinkles come. And let my

liver rather heat with wine than my heart cool 

with mortifying groans. "

7  This production not only lit our livers on heated wine, it also pelted us with mortifying groans to the delight of a sold-out house in Ashland's Angus Bowmer Theatre on Sunday night. 

8  The story is reasonably simple. I will turn this over to the Playbill blurb, since brevity is indeed the soul here:

Will Shakespeare, an actor and playwright in 

London, has a heap of troubles. He owes plays

to numerous theatre producers in town, he's unable to write

with his usual verve, and his marriage is in a funk. As Will

relays these problems to his good friend Kit Marlowe, he leans on Marlowe to help him make it through this rough patch. Things quickly change for the better when a new

player in town makes Shakespeare's words come alive. 

This new actor becomes Shakespeare's muse, and along the way helps him rediscover his passion for the 

theatre.

9  I'll say. At the beginning, he has written nothing but tells everyone he is composing a comedy entitled Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter. 

10  I don't wish this to become any sort of review of this delightful production. This production has haunted me the past few weeks. I've been meaning to get out and do a few things, but it's been tough what with the Beebeez, and with going through each day in a whirlwind of sheets and giggles. 

11  Not bad work if you can find it. 

12  I was finally able to pull away and head up to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland on Saturday, and thoroughly enjoy Christopher Liam Moore's luscious production of Shakespeare in Love.

13  I've always been a big fan of the film because I took a Shakespeare course while he was in the middle of writing Twelfth Night, so I was familiar with a lot of the of the characters and locations traveling through this show. Christopher Marlowe, James and Richard Burbage, Philip Henslowe, The Lord Chamberlain's Men, The Theatre, The Curtain, The Rose: these were all part of the great mystery that is William Shakespeare. It is also a major reason I traveled to Ashland to see this all take place. I arrived Saturday and saw the show on Sunday.  

14  I came away awed beyond words. 

15  I know this a bold statement, but Ashland's production of Shakespeare in Love is the best show I have ever seen. 

16  I have neither the time nor the notes to tell you why. I will define what I witnessed in broad terms: First, the audience was hyped from the beginning. The audience was made up of old geezers, younger audience members, and dog lovers, but became a crowd that wanted to join in on the exquisite timing of each performer, to appreciate perfect accents, and to see Queen Elizabeth stop everyone with a glance.  

17  Rachel Hauck's set design was the ghost of an Elizabethan theatre without walls, a skeletal piece with a revolve at center, trap doors, and plenty of small stairs for the actors to cross into lyrical stage pictures, often through ballet moves. Much of the movement was choreographed, and credit on that end goes to Jaclyn Miller. This made for some lovely costume movement by designer Susan Tsu, whose work went beyond anything close to normal. Shakespeare in Love has the distinct advantage of playing in Elizabethan costumes. What a chore, and what a job by Susan Tsu. It made each scene from Romeo and Juliet work on an entirely different level. 

18  Light designer Xavier Pierce's fire-and-water cyc saturated the stage with enormous projections of moving water, swirling fires, and spinning gobos. Credit Shawn Duan for the artistic video designs, and Amadon Jaeger with a perfect sound design.

19  Music was done both recorded and live, with exquisite harmonies courtesy of Austin Comfort. Composer David Reiffel brought in a tough combination of sadness, joy, celebration, and loss as the evening continued to control all of us. Musicians performing on stage as actors were Mark Eliot Jacobs (Lute, Hurdy Gurdy, Serpent, Sackbut and Recorder) and Michal Palzewicz (Violin, Viola da Gamba).

20  The show featured a number of Equity Actors. William DeMeritt as young Will Shakespeare had timing, humor, and effortlessness. He had us believing that Romeo could fall for Juliet at a party. Jamie Ann Romero as the actress who wanted to play the stage, illegal at the time, did a marvelous job as "Thomas Kent" in the role of Romeo. Ted Deasy's Kit Marlow was nothing short of brilliant. The Cyranoesque balcony scene was split-second, and marvelously played by those three, with a wonderfully played Nurse featuring stage veteran Michael J. Hume, bringing imbalance to a balanced scene. 

Hume should not be confused with K.T. Vogt as Viola's nurse. She absolutely owns the audience when she walks up a flight of stairs, or when she takes control of a silhouetted tent.

 Al Espinosa as Lord Wessex delivered both darkness and a disguised sense of humor as the antagonist wishing to woo Viola. 

21  The show, as most know, moves through the beautiful lines at the Capulet party, where Romeo and Juliet (no longer Ethel) meet during a dance. Quite soon. Romeo begins a series of flirtatious pickup lines beginning with"If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: my lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a gentle kiss." It's a short exchange, albeit familiar, and one that doesn't work with many productions of Romeo and Juliet. This show: Um, it did. One major advantage of Shakespeare in Love is that it is done in classic Elizabethan garb, giving an instantly romantic feel to the scene.

22  The plot itself tips and turns in so many different directions that on return from intermission, my head was buzzing. Fortunately, we have the Henslowe character by seasoned vet Brent Hinkley, popping up like a Mad Hatter to keep the screws down, and to make this madcap world calm itself for seconds at a time. 

23  Toward the end, the strength of actress Kate Mulligan as Queen Elizabeth became moments of breathtaking timing. One felt the very presence of the real Elizabeth each time she would approach the audience. 

24  One youth performer almost stole the show. Preston Mead as the young, outspoken John Webster showed impeccable skills and an intensity well beyond his years.
His disdain for love and love for violence made him a perfect bad kid. 

25  And finally, the only performer who could steal the show was a little dog named Candy. Or El. The program wasn't clear on that one, but we do know that the Queen knew quite well that any show containing a bit with a dog is worth its weight in gold.

26  This show was worth its weight in gold.

 27  Shakespeare in Love runs through to October 29. Plenty of time to enjoy it. 

28  I gottago.

29  See you again.

30  Have a GREAT day.

31  Live life.

32  Love life.

33  Peace.

~H~

fin.