I'm off to play the grand piano

I have felt like quite the member of high society these last two days, as I have been two nights in a row to the theatah to see some Shakespeah.

But it was completely on purpose, and planned too by the acting company. The two plays I saw were done by the same all-male cast, and were performed on alternating nights. The situation provided an interesting window into what is expected of a good actor - the ability to fit roles which may differ like night and day...or in this case, comedy and tragedy. The plays put on by this theater company were The Comedy of Errors and Richard III.

Last night was The Comedy of Errors, which I had never seen but had always wanted to; I always thought the plot sounded quite clever. I was also looking forward to what is, for me, a new Shakespearean comedy - I may only be 20, but, thanks to the limited list of productions picked over by our local middle and high schools, I have had quite enough of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Much Ado About Nothing for now. But I can never forget my first experience with Midsummer, performed outside at the edge of a forest, and how much I had loved it, so I went to the theater with high hopes.

I certainly got more than I expected. The cast was fabulous, and the entire production was very impressive. The actors treated their lines in a way I had never really thought about, putting so much expression into a language which I had only really experienced through reciting soliloquies monotone in front of bored classmates. The comedy, verbal and physical, had the audience laughing throughout, even earning a mid-scene round of applause after one particularly frenzied speech. I loved the play itself as well, but especially after seeing the cast in action for such an amusing evening, I was now looking forward even more to seeing them turn around and do Richard III tonight.

As much as I love a good laugh, I also love a good tragedy; in my limited experience with Shakespeare, I have found that my favorites so far tend to lie in the darker genre. I had seen Richard III before, as a high school production, but the only thing I really remember about the play was that a rather large percentage of the characters were killed off throughout. This memory was confirmed when, upon entering the theater tonight, I noticed that my ticket had a small notice reading, "Contains scenes of violence: Suitable for ages 12+."

Long story short, I expected many deaths, in the theatrical off-stage tradition.

I therefore was not expecting all of the deaths to be performed on stage.

So it turned out to be a bit...gory...perhaps, but thankfully not that bad; mostly it was creatively left up to the imagination. It was enough at least to get a few gasps and "ooooh"s from the elderly ladies sitting behind me. The silver lining, though, was that it clearly revealed how brutal a play Richard III really is. I found that I really liked the play itself, for a reason left up to some strange corner of my mind.

Once again, the acting was superb, especially after seeing The Comedy of Errors the night before. The actors' turn-arounds were great to see, especially due to the all-male cast. Thus a comedic Dromio turned into a vengeful wife, a butch officer into a grieving mother and, perhaps the most drastic change, an almost too flamboyant, fiery-tempered wife into the modest and heroic Richmond.

So yes, the performances were good. Also the theater was beautiful; it was very old, with ornate decorations, boxes, etc. Also, and I had noticed this at a couple of the other plays I have been to here, there seems to be a tradition of the selling of small cups of ice cream during admission. I didn't really pay attention to it, being the somewhat stingy person I am, but last night by the end of admission almost everyone in the theater had one except for me. So I decided to give it a go tonight. It was quite tasty. I believe I approve.