A Chinese King Lear

Hi Everyone

I'm still depressed but finding ways to distract myself.

Yesterday I went to a Chinese version of King Lear. King Lear (as you can tell from my email address) is one of my favourite Shakespearean plays.

The story is: The ageing King Lear wants to divide his kingdom up between his three daughters - Goneril, Reagan and Cordelia. To get their share they have to tell him how much they love him.

Goneril and Reagan describe their 'love' eloquently whereas Cordelia is simple and plain. In a rage King Lear disowns Cordelia.

Lear realises he has made the wrong decision as Goneril and Reagan betray him and he is left to roam the streets, gradually going mad. He realises he needs to find Cordelia.

A lot of twists and turns and then, like most Shakespearean tragedies, nearly everyone dies.

This production, though, was very Chinese. It took me some time to get used to the clanging and jerking sounds of a traditional Chinese orchestra.

I did love the dancing, though, which verged on martial arts.

One man (Wu Hsing-kuo) played all the parts and he did it brilliantly. I particularly liked the opening scenes where Lear walks around, half mad, looking for Cordelia.

Also Cordelia came across as gentle and sweet, as opposed to her more confident, manipulative sisters. I think this is the right interpretation. Cordelia loves her father but it is not in her nature to be so flowery in her feelings.

All in all a wonderful distraction from my depressed mood.

God Bless

Amber

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Hi Everyone.

Last night I went to see 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' at the Botanical Gardens. In 2003 I was in the play so it was interesting to see what they did differently.

Here is a brief blurb in case anyone doesn't know the story. The story starts with Hermia. Hermia is in love with Lysander but her father wants her to marry Demetrius. Meanwhile Hermia's friend, Helena, is in love with Demetrius.

Lysander suggests to Hermia that they escape her father and go into the forest. Hermia tells Helena of her plan and Helena and Demetrius also go into the forest.

Meanwhile, in fairyland, the fairy king and queen, Oberon and Titania, are fighting over a mortal boy who Titania wants to keep. Oberon orders his offsider, the mischievious Puck, to get a flower to put on Titania's eye so that she will fall in love with the next person/animal she sees. He also orders Puck to put the flower on Demetrius so he will love Helena.

And, in the next sub-plot, a group of weird tradesmen are practicing for a play for the Duke's wedding. Puck turns their leader, Bottom, into a donkey/ass and the other tradesmen leave in fright. Titania awakes from her sleep, sees Bottom, and drags him into her bedroom.

That's enough plot for now - I don't want to wreck the ending.

Now - for an analysis. The outstanding feature of this play was the guy who played Oberon (man with blue body paint in the picture). He was confident, had stage presence and spoke clearly. Second in line was the wonderful Puck - the actor was cheeky, earthy and funny.

The energy of the play was exceptional. It also had quite a lot of jokes and music. I liked how the show ended - with a rendition of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' and all the actors dancing like zombies.

I didn't like the fairies costumes. They are pictured - white face masks and black gowns. However, the fairies' acting and cooing was effective.

The opposite went for the mechanicals. They looked wonderful - costuming was great but they were rude rather than funny. The guy who was Bottom did not pull the part off well, which made it hard for the others to be funny.

The lovers were reasonable but not brilliant. The fighting scenes were great but they were not convincingly 'in love'.

Despite all that it was a great night out - the costumes, music and energy made up for what was lacking in the acting and characterisation.

Hope you will enjoy the show!

God Bless

Amber