Summer 2021 - A Return to Live #yegtheatre... tentatively... with Macbeth...

 

So... I saw a show this week... in person... it was outside... a return to a live theatre space. It felt good. 

On Wednesday evening, in Louise McKinney Park, I took in the Preview performance of Freewill Shakespeare's Macbeth. Responding to Covid, the company presented an adaptation written for 3 actors, which was shorter, with streamlined sets and costumes, to better fit into the Fringe and other locations. There's also a similar production of Much Ado About Nothing adapted for 5 actors, but I haven't had a chance to catch that one yet. 

It was so nice to be in an audience sharing the experience of live theatre, and this was a terrific choice as it was brisk and lively and quite funny. The three actors (Nadien Chu, Rochelle Laplante, and Laura Raboud) were skilled with the Shakespeare as well as the quick script. Three natural comedians, they played well with and off each other. Those that know Macbeth can be reassured that the essentials are covered, but this adaptation tends to lighten the more gory parts with clever songs and provide exposition in humorous ways. There's also low-risk audience participation. On the Preview night, the audience was a little rusty but once their memories were sparked they leapt in. 

Most lovely for me was seeing the three actors joyous response to the applause. I feel for all the #yegtheatre performers who have tried to serve us over the last year and a half with online performances. Finally they can hear our gratitude for the splendid art that they are creating instead of sending it out into the silent void of zoom. 

Next for me is a Fringe show. I'm finding it hard to get back to being around people so I am taking it slow. I'll see a show on Monday and if that goes well, I hope to catch a few more later in the week.

You can catch Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing at the Fringe. Click the titles for the links to tickets and showtimes. Some performances already show limited availability, so you might want to get those ticket sooner rather than later! 

Last Week's Theatre Re-cap - Much Ado about Dracula on an Ordinary Day!

Last week I managed to take in three shows!  That's with rehearsing and having to go to Red Deer for an APN Board Retreat!  I feel like a rock star for getting to three shows!  So, I am also very tired...

Anyhow, I took in Opening Night of Dracula at Walterdale.  I am not a big horror fan, so it's not the kind of piece I expect to connect with, but I did appreciate the gusto and expertise with which everything was attacked.  Everything looked and sounded perfect so I am sure for those Vampire Aficionados it hit the spot.  The tech/designer in me was fairly blown away by the detail in all the designs.  From the pitch perfect costumes to the Special FX and props, to the sound, to the make-up and the blood, oh the blood - you could see that hours upon hours were put into the show.  The set design was elegant and supported by a fabulous lighting design so that the multiple locations were clear and functional.  Well done! It's selling terrifically well so I would advise getting tickets early to avoid disappointment.

I spent the week rehearsing for Proof and then was off to my APN Board Retreat on Saturday in Red Deer.  It was a great day and I think we really got a lot of work done towards directing the organization into the future.  It was also really great to meet in person with the board as we primarily have phone meetings and it is so good to actually see who you are talking to.

And then I drove home quickly (but not too quickly) and did so well that I managed to make it back into town early enough to catch Three Form Theatre's Ordinary Days.  I was very excited to be able to catch this as I had intended to see it the night before but an hitherto unplanned volleyball game for my 12 year old pre-empted my going.  I am glad Red Deer was not farther away and the roads were clear.  The show was delightful.  It's a song cycle, but unlike many of those, the songs were clear and told a story with real characters.  I was unfamiliar with it, but I liked the music - it wasn't easy but the four singer/actors (played by Adrianne Salmon, Kristin Johnston, Mark Sinongco, and Brian McDougall) handled it well and they were all very strong singers.  It was simply staged and they all made us care about each of the characters  and I even teared up a little bit. I'm excited to see what this little company does next.  I think they are smart in the choices they are making.  Small cast shows that they can stage simply and really do a good job of.

The next day, Sunday, I was back to rehearsing for Proof and then rushed off to the U of A to catch a slightly truncated Much Ado About Nothing in the Media room.  It was so good. I was worried because I have seen much Ado a lot recently, but it remains my favorite Shakespeare of the moment. This production was fun and light and was staged beautifully.  Everyone was up to the challenge of the language and it was delightfully physical and modern without being present day.  The cuts were judicious and worked well and made for a brisk show where you got everything you needed and they could leave you wanting more.  Favorite moments include text exchanges, the funeral scene that redeemed Claudio (Scott Shpeley) and made me believe Hero (Sophie Gareau-Brenna) would take him back, Benedict (Kris Joseph) hiding in the audience, Beatrice (Alana Hawley) explaining why men without beards and with beards are not for her, and Margaret's (Mary Hulbert) ability to make everything saucy. But really, everyone was up to the challenge and Director Megan Watson did a fine job staging this.

A Shakespeare Weekend... And More to Come...

This past Friday I took in Opening Night of the Freewill Shakespeare Festival.  I had never seen King Lear before so I was excited to see it on the line-up this year.  I also had donated enough to get myself a VIP Concierge Card so I wanted to put it to good use. It was kind of exciting to be ushered in right away with the Card, however, I do not think we will arrive so early next time.  I am an 'early' person and I was still in the frame of mind of when to arrive when I have to line up for good seats so we were there much too early.  Now we know.  But it was fun to get ushered in, given popcorn and a drink and then sit down and watch the mic checks.  Actually, that felt awkward, but again, now I know and I will not go so early next time.

And then the show!  I went in cold with no knowledge of the show beyond the program description and what little I knew from general life (mad king, three daughters, two of them flatterers and the other honest... that sort of thing).  I really enjoyed it.  Having never read the play I had to stayed very focused in the first act because I wanted to know what was going on.  I find when I go to Shakespeare I have to work hard to get my Shakespeare brain to click in, but once it does I am good.  We are lucky to have such a gifted company here in Edmonton with people who know how to interpret Shakespeare so well because that certainly helps. By the time the second act rolled around I was in and along for the ride! It was such a good show!  I am going back next week and plan to read the play in the interim.  How often do you get to see Lear?  I am making it count! As well, as I have gotten older, I find I enjoy watching the tragedies more... I used to be all about the comedies, but I have shifted a bit in my age...

I was so impressed with both Annette Loiselle as Goneril and Belinda Cornish as Regan.  This is a nice meaty play for the women and these two each have embraced their treachery and duplicity, appearing generous in one scene and showing their true natures in the next.  Very fun to watch, especially when the big showdown happens. John Wright is perfect for Lear, his madness fickle and childish and then sad and confused.  I quite liked Sheldon Elter as the treacherous Edmund, he was such a  charming villain, relishing what he could get away with. The whole cast is tremendous, indeed as I looked at the stage at one point I realized that almost any of them could anchor a show and it added so much depth to the entire production have a cast of this caliber.  My absolute favourite, however, was John Kirkpatrick as Kent.  He is the calm in the storm of madness, just trying to keep Lear safe.  There were so many layers to his performance that spoke of the history and love between him and his King and his sadness at the decline of Lear and this was combined with an ease with the language that was simply beautiful.

I will return to Lear next weekend. I am looking forward to seeing it again! I am not sure when I will catch Midsummer, the other Freewill show this season, but from the descriptions and pictures it might be a good one to take the kids to! It looks very colourful and I am intrigued by the casting choices!

On Saturday night I added to my Shakespeare weekend by taking in Joss Whedon's Much Ado at the Princess Theatre.  It was so nice to be back in the Princess as I hadn't been there for years.  In my university days it was like my second home.  I met up with a group of my friends - all Whedon and Shakespeare fans - and we took in the movie.  Disclaimer: Much Ado About Nothing is my current favorite Shakespeare play (used to be Twelfth Night, but that changed about 15 years ago). In any case, I really, really liked it.  I think it was a nice translation of the script to screen.  I found it very accessible and very funny.  I thought Alexis Denisof was wonderful as Benedict (so funny) and Amy Acker a delightful and intelligent Beatrice.  So many fun moments in the film and wonderful little details.  The black and white seems perfect and it was a nice evening out for a film you won't see every weekend in the big theatres.

Never a bad weekend when there is that much Shakespeare!

It always comes at precisely the wrong times...

This was a not-so-good weekend. Don't get me wrong, I got a lot accomplished, but I am now very tired and I had to deal with a lot of unanticipated stuff so I am not in a great frame of mind. It started off well. Much Ado About Nothing opened and I thought it was lovely. I had saved the Second Act for Opening Night (I saw the First Act twice before then - but I wanted a surprise) and I was quite happy with the show as a whole. This was amplified by a fabulous review on the SEE Magazine Blog and pretty good attendance for the first weekend. However, there were issues arising with the production and no one was fixing them so I was called in to help. An already busy weekend because much busier. I was set to work Box Office on Friday Night and then scurry off to work the Walterdale Casino right after my shift, but in order to help with the problems on the show I went in early. There were also a flurry of desperate emails and frantic phone calls. It was stressful. Saturday the stress continued. I had worked the casino late the night before but because the boys have Drama on Saturday morning I was unable to sleep in and had to be "fun ol' Mom" when I really wasn't feeling it. The boys didn't seem to notice my exhaustion, so that's good. They did their final presentations and I enjoyed those, then a text message sent me hurtling to the theatre. An Angel of the theatre, Geri, was there helping with the ongoing issue. That made me feel better and she and I devised a plan to deal with any more arising issues. Off to supper with my boys and Mark and then home where I hastily composed more emails to put the plan in place and then to fall exhausted into bed, where I slept for 12 hours straight. I missed a party, but I could not have driven there and I needed that sleep. Sunday rolled around and I headed off to rehearsal for Rabbit Hole and then to the Threepenny Opera auditions. I thought I survived the weekend.

Then today, I check my emails and there is an absolutely foul and insulting email from a member who feels hard done by. I count up all the hours I put in this week and weekend and they certainly do not feel rewarded by the email. I wanted to cry. My stomach is upset. I do not know what I will do when I see this member. I want him to never darken the Walterdale doors again. The worst thing, is that he sent it not only to me, but to two other members. I hope that his rudeness does not alienate these members from returning to Walterdale. He certainly does not represent the whole of our organization. I get so frustrated that I am dealing with 'supposed' adults and they pull this kind of crap. I don't do this for the kudos, but I certainly do not expect to have my time rewarded with insults and harassment.

I know I should think of the many people who cheerfully worked the casino, and the actors onstage giving their all to Shakespeare and the lovely, lovely Geri who came in, and the earnest actors who sang their hearts out at their auditions last night, but it's hard in the face of this.

Is it possible to have too much theatre to see?

Maybe. Or maybe with rehearsals my life is just pretty full. This is the mixed blessing of Edmonton - there is so much to see and not enough time to see it. And sometimes you make the wrong choice and see the wrong thing instead of something that would have been better/different. Anyhow, I have seen a few shows this month and missed a few and rehearsed quite a bit (and oh those are my children), and now I feel overloaded. The most expensive show I saw was one of the furthest from the best. The most inexpensive show I saw was the best I have seen in forever - the rest were scattered in the middle on both price and quality. I missed at least four (The Crucible, Laramie, Legion Blues, and Edward Muybridge) that I wanted to catch and having not seen them I do not know how they were, but reports were good so I feel regret.

Anyhow, those of you who might think there is nothing to do in Edmonton are sadly deluded. There is so much and at times too, too much. I am now gearing up for Much Ado About Nothing, and White Christmas and Beckett's Shorts and those are just the ones I know off the top of my head... no doubt the invites are going to start rolling in and I will have to figure out when and if I can get to them.

On another note - Mark has a cast on his wrist - he may or may not have a broken wrist. He has to wear it for 10 days and then they will re-x-ray and see what it looks like. Not fun. This means he will be in cast for his birthday and with snow and all that we have going on this weekend it will not be fun. Well, we will make do, I guess. It's not the first cast we have dealt with.

A night out...

Last night I went to a friend's birthday party while Mark and the boys went to a Guy Fawkes party. I had fun. It was great chatting with friends I haven't seen in awhile. I stayed out too late and I am tired today, but that's okay.

I also stopped by the theatre on the way and checked in on Much Ado. I saw about a 1/3 of the show and it looks good. Some 'line' calling, but they are almost a month out (3 1/2 weeks) so I was pretty impressed. Not a script onstage! It is physical and fast but not frenetic. The cast is having fun and seem to know what they are doing. That's where I like to see a show 3 1/2 weeks out. I have some props work to get done, before we get too much closer. I need to steal a sword to build the scabbards so I will do that this weekend.

I have had to deal with some drama this week at the theatre. I knew things were running too smoothly. Sigh. I hope it is all resolved, but you never know. Cross your fingers for me. It's nothing major, but it takes my focus away from things I'd rather be doing. It also doesn't seem to be necessary drama - there is nothing to really fix, except hurt feelings and perceptions (which I perceive differently so that makes it even harder). Sigh. I think some people can't do a show without backstage drama. I prefer to leave the drama onstage. Anyhow, things are otherwise running smoothly. The set is almost done and looks lovely. The actors are almost there but for a few lines. The costumes are being sewn. I am working on the props. It will all come together. It always seems to.

Sidelined by a Mysterious Illness...

Something crept up on my system this week. It's not achy head or sore throat, but more really tired and a yucky tummy. It hit me Friday afternoon in a whirlwind and I thought Saturday would by the turn-around day but it didn't. I did, however, go to bed at 7:30 p.m. and slept until 8:30 a.m. and I think that helped. I obviously needed it (even though I missed SYTYCDC and the Opera). Anyhow, I am still feeling fuzzy, but my stomach has settled down so I will be making my way to FTA tonight to see Any Night.

I have parked myself at the kitchen table - my official crafting site. I am working on the props for Much Ado at Walterdale. Right now my fingers are covered in sparkles. I have to find my glue gun to finish, however, and I am debating making back-ups but I really just hope the actors treat the masks with respect so I don't have to. I do like the sparkles!

Friday was my midterm - maybe I was stressed about that and the stress crept into my system. I think I did okay on it. I was prepared to write the whole thing (there were 3 questions) and then I was overjoyed to find out we just had to answer one of them. Yay! I just hope I picked the right scenes. I think I wrote enough. Who knows.

Still waiting to hear about the audition. I know I am not called back, but I got the scoop that the only female parts called back were Cinderella and Red Riding Hood. I don't know if I am happy or sad about that. Relieved that I am not totally out of the game, but feeling insecure that I was not allowed the opportunity to sing for one of the two parts I wanted. It will be alright if I get one of them, but if I didn't get one of them I will be disappointed. That's all I know on that front. I'll keep you posted.

Good News

Weekly Weigh-in. Despite my worrying, I was delightfully down this week. I was down 1.2 lbs from my starting weight and 2.4 lbs down from last week so I will thank the time on the treadmill yesterday as well as watching what and when I ate the last couple of days. I also suggested to my Mom that we make some weekly goals so that we have more purpose to get us to the next week. My 3 goals are to work-out significantly (1 hour or longer) for at least 4 days this week, stay within 1300-2000 calories per day, and to not eat after 8 p.m. Hopefully those three goals will serve me well.

Went back to class today. It was fun. Lovely Gil let me borrow his notes to type out at home and bring back Friday. He trusts me - that's nice. I enjoyed the lecture and I like the kids I sit with. They are friendly and interested.

I worked on masks for Much Ado last night. I can only do the basic masks for now until I get fabric samples and costume designs, but that is a lot of groundwork. I got three basic masks done last night, and another finished this morning and I am currently working on 2 more. The nice thing about the method I am using is that if I do not like the shape I can cut off the part I don't like and build the mask up again until I like the shape. I know I could just buy commercial masks, but this is cheaper money wise (not time wise) and more importantly, I feel it is more of an artistic process for me. I enjoy the creation of the masks and the painting and decorating and marking it cohesive with the costumes and the concept of the show. I know they won't be onstage very long, but that's not the point.

Fringe Fini!

What a week! I saw 31 shows and my brain is overloaded and bursting and cannot think about seeing another in the immediate future. That will likely change in a couple of days, but right now my brain is over-full. I saw so many great shows, some with friends in them and some full of strangers, but I really did well this Fringe. I don't know if I can do that kind of intensive viewing again, but I think 20 is a nice number for me, so that is what I will aim for next year.

After seeing my last show, I attended a Production Meeting for Much Ado About Nothing. I have a Production Meeting for Perfect Pie next weekend and it feels like the new season is starting. Mind switch!