« Responsibility without Authority | Main | EDGE'y improv »
April 1, 2005
Higgins, this is going to be ghastly...
Last night Dawnise and I went to a local production of Macbeth. The first sign of danger was when I noticed the fine print - "a new adaptation by so-and-so."
Adaptation? Uh-oh.
The second sign was the program - the front was covered with "Something wicked this way comes" and a silhouette of a carnival tent.
Shakespeare meets Bradbury? Double uh-oh.
The production was put on by a local drama school - all the actors were between 8 and 14 years old - a fact which was completely non-obvious from the promotion we saw that encouraged us to attend.
I have nothing against kids and theater - I encourage it in fact - but having 8 year olds regurgitating Shakespeare? That's where I draw the line. They hadn't a clue what they were saying - and that came through in their performances.
For those who can't keep their Bard straight - Macbeth is the one with the "tale told by an idiot" soliloquy - which begins:
...tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow - creeps in it's petty pace from day to day, 'till the last syllable of recorded time...
I must say, the kid playing Macbeth was certainly dramatic. Dramatic in a "Days of Our Lives filtered through a 14 year old" sort of way...
The play ended up being Shakespeare, Bradbury, Wilder (Our Town), and Lloyd Webber (don't ask) tossed into a blender. It was butchered by the adapter and very effectively mangled by the performers.
Amusing is the only word I can find that captures the spirit of the event.
Ah, well, at least dinner was good. :)
Posted by dberger at April 1, 2005 7:52 AM