Yesterday, May 2nd 2010, Lynn Redgrave passed away from cancer in her home in Connecticut, surrounded by her three children. Redgrave made her professional debut as Helena in a production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1962 at the Royal Court Theatre, and soon thereafter became a founding member of the Royal Nation Theatre. In addition to being a talented actress, Redgrave also wrote 4 plays, including Shakespeare for My Father, which explored her relationship with her father Sir Michal Redgrave and earned her a Tony Award nomination for best actress. I met Lynn Redgrave at a performance of The Importance of Being Earnest presented at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, in the spring of 2006. Redgrave shined as Lady Bracknell, commanding the stage with her imperious behavior and resonating vocal quality. After the show I waited patiently in the downstairs hallway of the backstage area. Redgrave was all smiles and elegance as she gently took my hand and introduced herself as “Lynn”. She was graceful, tall, humble, beautiful and demure in the dimly lit hallway – her makeup perfect and her hair slightly disheveled from being buried under a wig for two hours. I could barely speak, letting others congratulate and compliment her performance. I just wanted to watch her, and listen to her – taking everything in. I will never forget her, or the lasting legacy she made for herself on the stage.
Showing posts with label The Importance of Being Earnest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Importance of Being Earnest. Show all posts
Monday, May 3, 2010
Remembering Lynn Redgrave
Yesterday, May 2nd 2010, Lynn Redgrave passed away from cancer in her home in Connecticut, surrounded by her three children. Redgrave made her professional debut as Helena in a production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1962 at the Royal Court Theatre, and soon thereafter became a founding member of the Royal Nation Theatre. In addition to being a talented actress, Redgrave also wrote 4 plays, including Shakespeare for My Father, which explored her relationship with her father Sir Michal Redgrave and earned her a Tony Award nomination for best actress. I met Lynn Redgrave at a performance of The Importance of Being Earnest presented at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, in the spring of 2006. Redgrave shined as Lady Bracknell, commanding the stage with her imperious behavior and resonating vocal quality. After the show I waited patiently in the downstairs hallway of the backstage area. Redgrave was all smiles and elegance as she gently took my hand and introduced herself as “Lynn”. She was graceful, tall, humble, beautiful and demure in the dimly lit hallway – her makeup perfect and her hair slightly disheveled from being buried under a wig for two hours. I could barely speak, letting others congratulate and compliment her performance. I just wanted to watch her, and listen to her – taking everything in. I will never forget her, or the lasting legacy she made for herself on the stage.
Thursday, August 3, 2006
"She loved me well deliver'd it to me." - Alas!
In class today we did not spend very much time with The Importance of Being Earnest. We did, however, sum the performance into one word. My word is “physicality.” I thought the actors do a tremendous job of making the words of Oscar Wilde three-dement ional. Our class seemed to think the play humorous and enjoyable entertainment. Hilary then spent the rest of our class time discussing The Winter’s Tale.
Shakespeare wrote The Winter’s Tale at the age of 45. He embraced the new style of romance and set the standard with 4 plays of this genre: Pericles, Prince of Tyre , Cymbeline, The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale. There are 2 location, a place of reality (Sicilia with its linear storyline) and a forest infused with fantasy (Bohemia, where the story meanders). At intermission the play is in the state of tragedy. Leonates, suspecting his wife of adultery, separates himself from all who love him. His son tragically dies in the processes, he is told his wife has been killed in childbirth and his new-born daughter is sent to be left to the wolves. A violent storm comes to bring rebirth. When the audience returns from intermission 16 years have passed, the universe expands and a new generation is of age, bringing the promise of better times. For the first time we see the element of forgiveness.
At 12:00 Dad and I ventured to the park talk. We thought that James Newcomb was going to be speaking, but 15 minutes prior to the talk, we were informed that he would not be joining us. Instead, Christopher DuVaul came, whom I much prefer. As one of my favorite actors from last season, I was very excited at the prospect. Unfortunately at that point I had not seen him in any of the plays this season, so I had to store the information away until I could connect it to his performance tonight. I listened very intently and laughed a great deal with him in spite of my ignorance.
At 2:00 PM we saw OSF's The Winter’s Tale and I was grateful for the discussions I had in class and with DuVaul. The costumes and set was wonderful as expected. Beautiful silhouettes of trees moved in and out against a colored sky. I felt the performers were very clear in their objectives and therefore made the plot clear and reasonable to me. I saw the initial moment that Leonates jealousy arose. It was of no surprise to me that he felt that way, looking upon his wife casually flirting with her party guests.
When it was time for Hermione’s return I saw the director’s clear choice - Paulina kept Hermione safe the past seven years – she did not die and was not brought back to life from a statue. This concept came easily to me in the way the actors delivered their lines and followed through with their objectives.
We went to the green show, “The Shakespeare Songbook” at 7:15 PM. Actually, we arrived much earlier to secure a seat on the brick wall surrounding the grassy knoll. The dancers this year are very lovely and at the same time very strong. The musicians really did a wonderful job writing the music to Shakespeare’s lyrics in new and interesting ways. It was very delightful.
At 8:30 PM we attended Two Gentlemen of Verona. It was very exciting to see such an innovative production. The director set Verona in an Amish town, Milan in a socialite city of today (the Hamptons perhaps) and the Forest in Goth alleyways. These contrasts worked extremely well and heightened the stakes of the players. In OSF’s production, Valentine leaves the Amish village to see the world, while Proteus is forced out on his mission trip by a parent. This creates conflict for Julia, who follows to protect her love from the outside world and ensure his safe return, and provides ample reasoning for Launce’s unwillingness to leave home.
As is typical of this play, Launce and Crab (his dog) seemed to steel every scene they were in. Launce was very adaptable to the actions of the animal and used quite a bit of improve. The Shoe monologue was slightly adapted, which made the humor new and adventurous. His sister was described as a “water bottle, for look you, she is little on the top and big on the bottom.” When he described the “moan she makes” the actor squeezed the water bottle and waved it about, drenching the front rows of the audience.
The audience was very interactive tonight. One young man cried out when Proteus gave his ring (originally from Julia) to Sebastian (Julia in disguise) to give to Silvia! This provoked the rest of the audience into a fitful of laughter which stopped the show. The actress playing Julia nodded to the young man in great delight (I know, this is terrible! You got it kid!, she seemed to say) and was forced to let the audience settle before continuing the scene. It was all great fun!
Shakespeare wrote The Winter’s Tale at the age of 45. He embraced the new style of romance and set the standard with 4 plays of this genre: Pericles, Prince of Tyre , Cymbeline, The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale. There are 2 location, a place of reality (Sicilia with its linear storyline) and a forest infused with fantasy (Bohemia, where the story meanders). At intermission the play is in the state of tragedy. Leonates, suspecting his wife of adultery, separates himself from all who love him. His son tragically dies in the processes, he is told his wife has been killed in childbirth and his new-born daughter is sent to be left to the wolves. A violent storm comes to bring rebirth. When the audience returns from intermission 16 years have passed, the universe expands and a new generation is of age, bringing the promise of better times. For the first time we see the element of forgiveness.
At 12:00 Dad and I ventured to the park talk. We thought that James Newcomb was going to be speaking, but 15 minutes prior to the talk, we were informed that he would not be joining us. Instead, Christopher DuVaul came, whom I much prefer. As one of my favorite actors from last season, I was very excited at the prospect. Unfortunately at that point I had not seen him in any of the plays this season, so I had to store the information away until I could connect it to his performance tonight. I listened very intently and laughed a great deal with him in spite of my ignorance.
At 2:00 PM we saw OSF's The Winter’s Tale and I was grateful for the discussions I had in class and with DuVaul. The costumes and set was wonderful as expected. Beautiful silhouettes of trees moved in and out against a colored sky. I felt the performers were very clear in their objectives and therefore made the plot clear and reasonable to me. I saw the initial moment that Leonates jealousy arose. It was of no surprise to me that he felt that way, looking upon his wife casually flirting with her party guests.
When it was time for Hermione’s return I saw the director’s clear choice - Paulina kept Hermione safe the past seven years – she did not die and was not brought back to life from a statue. This concept came easily to me in the way the actors delivered their lines and followed through with their objectives.
We went to the green show, “The Shakespeare Songbook” at 7:15 PM. Actually, we arrived much earlier to secure a seat on the brick wall surrounding the grassy knoll. The dancers this year are very lovely and at the same time very strong. The musicians really did a wonderful job writing the music to Shakespeare’s lyrics in new and interesting ways. It was very delightful.
At 8:30 PM we attended Two Gentlemen of Verona. It was very exciting to see such an innovative production. The director set Verona in an Amish town, Milan in a socialite city of today (the Hamptons perhaps) and the Forest in Goth alleyways. These contrasts worked extremely well and heightened the stakes of the players. In OSF’s production, Valentine leaves the Amish village to see the world, while Proteus is forced out on his mission trip by a parent. This creates conflict for Julia, who follows to protect her love from the outside world and ensure his safe return, and provides ample reasoning for Launce’s unwillingness to leave home.
As is typical of this play, Launce and Crab (his dog) seemed to steel every scene they were in. Launce was very adaptable to the actions of the animal and used quite a bit of improve. The Shoe monologue was slightly adapted, which made the humor new and adventurous. His sister was described as a “water bottle, for look you, she is little on the top and big on the bottom.” When he described the “moan she makes” the actor squeezed the water bottle and waved it about, drenching the front rows of the audience.
The audience was very interactive tonight. One young man cried out when Proteus gave his ring (originally from Julia) to Sebastian (Julia in disguise) to give to Silvia! This provoked the rest of the audience into a fitful of laughter which stopped the show. The actress playing Julia nodded to the young man in great delight (I know, this is terrible! You got it kid!, she seemed to say) and was forced to let the audience settle before continuing the scene. It was all great fun!
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.
Today I came into "Waking Up With Shakespeare" class ready to discuss Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I found everyone’s opinion of the play interesting. Yet, some could not release the novella from their minds. I felt that somewhere in the midst of it all were those who were lost to the world of the play altogether.
There were several people who did not take yesterday’s discussion into the theatre with them. This caused Hilary to be obliged to repeat information already familiar to most of the room.
Many did not understand the female characters and questioned the loss of Catherine’s eye. I thought it was very clear that her eye was lost in an accost by her brother, but one woman did not see it as I do. Later we were told briefly about Oscar Wilde and The Importance of Being Earnest.
We went to a consort a noon, in which the musician, David Rogers, played the lute and the classical guitar. I found his performance fascinating. His fingers moved very quickly on the strings. He is an interesting looking, red faced man and very talented, He cracked several jokes and his rather unintentional humor made me indulge in his music all the more.
Father and I took a little walk and dropped by the brass rubbing garden. However, there was a pushy woman waiting behind us, and I, not wanting to rush decided to pass on the rubbing for another day.
At 2:00 PM we went to see The Importance of Being Earnest. It was my father' s first time experienceing the talents of Oscar Wilde. I have little to say about it other than it was an utter delight. It is one of my favorite pays and the actors in this production are quite likeable. I had a very good time of it.
We had Mexican food for dinner. Dad had fish tacos and I had the spiciest enchilada I have ever had in my life. Then at 6:30 PM we went to the local movie theatre and saw Woody Allen’s Scoop. It is a very silyl but extremely funny film. I like it very much. I don’t know how Dad feels about it though. He seems spend for the day and has fallen asleep watching So You Think You Can Dance. Perhaps we will talk about it together tomorrow.
There were several people who did not take yesterday’s discussion into the theatre with them. This caused Hilary to be obliged to repeat information already familiar to most of the room.
Many did not understand the female characters and questioned the loss of Catherine’s eye. I thought it was very clear that her eye was lost in an accost by her brother, but one woman did not see it as I do. Later we were told briefly about Oscar Wilde and The Importance of Being Earnest.
We went to a consort a noon, in which the musician, David Rogers, played the lute and the classical guitar. I found his performance fascinating. His fingers moved very quickly on the strings. He is an interesting looking, red faced man and very talented, He cracked several jokes and his rather unintentional humor made me indulge in his music all the more.
Father and I took a little walk and dropped by the brass rubbing garden. However, there was a pushy woman waiting behind us, and I, not wanting to rush decided to pass on the rubbing for another day.
At 2:00 PM we went to see The Importance of Being Earnest. It was my father' s first time experienceing the talents of Oscar Wilde. I have little to say about it other than it was an utter delight. It is one of my favorite pays and the actors in this production are quite likeable. I had a very good time of it.
We had Mexican food for dinner. Dad had fish tacos and I had the spiciest enchilada I have ever had in my life. Then at 6:30 PM we went to the local movie theatre and saw Woody Allen’s Scoop. It is a very silyl but extremely funny film. I like it very much. I don’t know how Dad feels about it though. He seems spend for the day and has fallen asleep watching So You Think You Can Dance. Perhaps we will talk about it together tomorrow.
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