Here are some of the big observations I made while watching the play:
- Probably the most striking feature of this Shakespeare play was that the costumes were from the 20th century, not the 16th or 17th. But they didn't change anything else or modernize anything else about the play. The characters' names were the same, two lords of Sicilia were still sent to the Oracle at Delphi, etc. But I think the costumes really added another dimension and was a very insightful decision made by the director Brian Vaughn (who also played Leontes).
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But then, when the second half of the play began in Bohemia, and it was very rural and country. That distinction of course could be made from Shakespeare's original play. But what added to it was the costumes. It was especially notable when Polixenes and Camillo came to the sheep-shearing festival dressed as Colonel Sanders.
That's when it hit me: Sicilia was the north and Bohemia was the south.
Here are some other images that sort of evoke the north and the south in the early 20th century.
North:
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| The Great Gatsby |
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| The Great Gatsby |
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| Citizen Kane |
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| The Philadelphia Story |
South:
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| To Kill a Mockingbird |
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| Gone With the Wind |
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| Forrest Gump |
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| O Brother Where Art Thou? |
- The other really cool thing about this performance of The Winter's Tale was who they chose to play Time, to open the play after the intermission. The actor who played Time was the same actor who played Antigonus. And it wasn't just to double-dip and save on personnel. The actor came out on stage in his whole Antigonus costume and make-up, beard and everything. But as he began to speak, he took off his suit jacket and beard.
I wonder what this was trying to say. Here's my theory: maybe all along, Antigonus was Time, or Fate, and through that capacity he was able to take Perdita to a place where eventually her true identity would be discovered. Sort of like how we Mormons sometimes think of The Three Nephites. Time/Fate is all-knowing, and somehow knew that by taking Perdita to Bohemia that night, she would be discovered by the shepherd and eventually reunited with her family. And after the intermission, Time comes to reveal that, 16 years later, his plan has been realized.
Cool distinction between the north and south. I personally didn't like the 'south' in their version of the play. It felt so much like A Mid Summer Night's Dream or something and just very whimsical and farce. I wouldn't necessarily think that unless it was being so heavily juxtapositioned against the first half of the play set in Sicilia. The production design for Sicilia was so much more put together and complete. The sets moved well, the lighting was interesting and there were different things going on on-stage that made it very visually interesting.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, basically I wasn't all that keen on how they represented Bohemia.
Maybe making Bohemia/the South look more shoddy and hastily-put together was intentional. If it looks like the people building the set were relaxed about building it, maybe it makes the place look relaxing too.
ReplyDeleteI did find it interesting that they made the costumes and setting all Edwardian, but at the same time it doesn't surprise me. In the several previous trips I have taken to Cedar City I've listened to different workshops and things from many of the designers, and one that stands out in my mind was last year. . . I believe it was a costume designer, explaining how they don't keep "Stock sets" of costumes for specific shows and use the same costumes when they put on a show they've put on before (and in the past 50 years, they have had to repeat his plays many, many times). Instead, each time they start the same play, the directors and designers try hard to approach it in a way that has never been done before. Although I've never seen a Shakespearean play at the Shakespearean Festival put on without traditional Elizabethan costumes, it made sense to me because they didn't have the opportunity to use the traditional space they would have used (the outdoor Adams Theater, fashioned after the Globe theater). To the director, being in this space was probably the perfect opportuintyto change things up and see them in a different light.
ReplyDeleteI've also noticed in film adaptations that the setting is RARELY Rennaissance. They nearly always change up the time period but keep the langauge the same.
Wow, I didn't know you were such an expert on the Shakespeare Festival! Thanks for sharing that insight. Yeah, costumes are probably an easy, convenient way to change things up and not throw everything off.
ReplyDeleteI want to add something that Kelsie said in our class discussion that I thought was really interesting.
ReplyDeleteI brought up the idea of Antigonus/Time acting as fate, as "deux es machina," and Kelsie pointed out that after Antigonus dropped off Perdita, he was killed by the bear. Maybe, since he had just completed his role of intervening in the lives of Leontes and his family, his purpose was fulfilled and he could then sacrifice himself (or, "give up the ghost").
Interesting... I wish I had heard all the comments from class today! Thats a really intriguing discussion!
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