Twelfth Night - Shakespear In The Park — Page 8

Wow, has a performance been rained out yet? That's really surprising, considering the spectacular weather we've been having.

About the rain delay stuff...I work at The Public, and the performance that is rained out is an extremely rare one indeed. I think in all three years working at The Public, I've only seen them cancel a show before it began once, and cancellations after the show began maybe two or three times. I think it's always worth showing up. Anyone who waited hours on lines could have showed up five minutes before the show this evening and got good seats and the full performance. Always worth a try.

Emcee, I've seen maybe five productions of Twelfth Night now and only seen one really good Orsino who I thought was quite thrilling and moving (I forget the actor's name, but he was in the recent Donmar West End production in London). I think I'm with you on the directorial stuff, mostly...I feel that most of the things that Raúl is doing in this show that make me go "blech" are things that are clearly directorial choices (though I'm inclined to not go into specifics, for spoilers). There ARE a couple of choices he makes here and there that, I think, he does more for the audience's amusement than the development of a strong character, though.

Also I have to say, this:
"But it seems like Sullivan really kept that very toned down, so, in the end when everyone finds out that Viola is a girl, it comes off as, "Oh, you're a girl? Well, I love you now!" as opposed to the idea of, "Oh, you're a girl? Okay, I love you. And it's okay for me to love you now" that I had expected"

to me, is spot on. I think the ending is a very difficult thing to pull off convincingly, and I too wish they had explored more of Orsino's feelings towards Viola earlier on, and that sense of "WOAH, well that explains a LOT about why I was feeling this way about you!" Orsino may feel in the end. I think the Viola/Olivia relationship in this production is more defined in that way. Olivia works herself into a fit, and when she finds out Cesario's a woman, there's the realization that "OH, this was actually a sisterly love," and the lust she feels makes great sense with what Audra is doing, particularly with the way she initially reacts to being close to Sebastian (who she is actually lusting after). In fact, I think it's funny that often I'll hear the audience "Aww" when Viola and Olivia hug at the end, but not so when Orsino offers Viola his hand. (Granted, the Viola/Olivia relationship is a littler easier to unravel)

There ARE a couple of choices he makes here and there that, I think, he does more for the audience's amusement than the development of a strong character, though.

Yeah, that's a habit that he seems to need a director to continually knock out of him (less and less so since Doyle cracked the whip, though; I think what he learned from Doyle has remained evident in his work since). It's that actor impulse to go for the laugh and grab yourself some attention. That was one of the things that had to fade before his performance in The Homecoming really worked. My reservation here is that they only have a month. I honestly didn't see too much of it in the performance I saw, but I've definitely in the past seen him go for things that make me think, "What are you doing? You're better than this."

And about the ending, it is complicated, for sure. For whatever reason, I simply assumed they would go that way. And I know Daniel Sullivan is perfectly capable of tackling the complex and doing so beautifully, which almost makes me go "wtf?" even more. It seems like he chose the Olivia/Viola relationship over the Orsino/Viola/Cesario relationship, but to me, it doesn't really have to be one or the other. Yes, if you focus more on Orsino's conflict you have to be careful not to let it detract from the main story, but I don't see why it has to. You can strengthen his story and his character without making it all about him; it'll just make the overall plot more complex.

In fact, I think it's funny that often I'll hear the audience "Aww" when Viola and Olivia hug at the end, but not so when Orsino offers Viola his hand.

Exactly. If his feelings aren't revealed enough leading up to it, it's not a resolution so much as, "PS, I love you now, yay!" It really dampens the potential impact of that moment, which, IMO, could be really strong. I want it to feel like a resolution. Otherwise the you risk the audience being a little bit like, "eh, whatever." (I mean, I awwwed, but, it was Raul being romantic, he and Anne are adorable together, and I'm a dork.)

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Updated On: 6/19/09 at 09:13 AM

#1Elphie ~ Did they alter any of the staging with the wetness ~ like the running up and down the hill? It seems like that would become more dangerous the more moisture there is...

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Wow, impressive! Yeah...I would have been worried about them falling down the hills. I hope the audience member was ok!

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It's been pretty nice all morning, so I doubt that they will have anything left to give away until the distribution of the stand-by tickets.

But if you're in the area it can't hurt. It's a nice day, go for a walk.

Emcee, virtual line tickets don't have to be picked up until 7:30pm (6:00pm is the earliest you can pick them up).

They would only give out tickets between 1:00pm and 7:30pm if they didn't give all the tickets away during the general distribution at 1:00pm (which obviously is very rare but happened yesterday).

I will be there tomorrow, in the rain it rainith.

I was there last night and the Publics publicist called all of the journalist to reschedule their tickets to see if they could come last night instead of this weekend. Charles Isherwood was there for the NYTimes, and Oscar Eustis and Andy Hammingson were there, as well as Jeff Goldblum! There were lots of faces in the audience.

So question, I have been reading this thread lately, and is it not that hard to get tickets at the moment? What time do you need to be in line in order to get the ones they hand out in the morning. I'm heading up next week, I know I read that once the reviews come out things could start to get crazy, but I'm hoping to go the 26th. Thanks!

I'll be there tonight. Not terribly worried. What's the worst that happens?

And for the record - a number of journalists were not asked to reschedule; in fact, the Public's press people told David Cote to bring a poncho!

Updated On: 6/20/09 at 02:03 PM

Great show!

Saw it a couple nights ago with a brief interlude rain pause, no biggie.

Go!

I was totally thrilled tonight. There was one teeny tiny bit of blocking change that I missed due to the rain (i'm assuming), but in any case I enjoyed tonights performance more than last Wednesday's.
I love how the rain adds an entirely new element, or character almost.

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