Across Weirdish Wild Space

I don’t know what it is, but ever since seeing Macbeth with Patrick Stewart, my expectations of what I deserve to see when I go to see Shakespeare have been radically altered (yes, Jean-Luc starring in the direction in that play was that good ).

It’s not enough that someone throws a few interesting stage directions, or in this case a third dimension, to the production by putting Cirque du Soleil-esque netting overhead and allowing people to bounce down with bungees from overhead. There has to be an internal consistency to the play, an addition of something not seen before, a compelling take on its direction.

First off, though, the lead was absolutely fantastic even if he did have to spend the entire post-intermission running around in his undewear. And despite the addition of scatological farce after the intermission (and I did really love the way the intermission happened, with people being herded out, with the house livery screaming at them), he did an astounding job as Timon. Apemantus is also surprisingly good in his role as gadfly and critic of Timon and his Fool like ways.

And Timon is interesting for a lot of reasons. It’s one of Bill’s problem plays, plays that his most serious scholars have difficulty reconciling with the rest of his works. It’s darkness suggests it being written around the time of Lear, but there is no record of it ever being performed. And in fact, some doubt that the bard wrote it at all. It is, nevertheless, an interesting, dark and satirical take on the subject of a man who gives away all to his friends and is denied by them in his time of need and becomes a misanthrope because of it.

But overall, the entire production, really seemed designed more for critics’ enjoyment than the audience, and the experimental takes on different parts of the play (the ersatz vultures, for instance) just kinda fell flat for me overall.

Still, worth it for the excellent lead and Apemanus and as always, good to see one of Bill’s irregularly performed plays showing the round wooden ‘O’ in any case.