 AS YOU LIKE IT, MACBETH, and DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS: by Barbara Biddison
The Hamilton-Gibson bus trip to the STRATFORD FESTIVAL this year was a hugely successful opportunity for our local people to see professional theatre in a beautiful Ontario town. We boarded our Benedict's bus early that October 17th morning, and we were there to enjoy the rest of the afternoon in this lovely place. We checked in to the centrally located hotel where some of us have been staying for years, and off we went in small groups or alone to see the city in daylight. Through Mansfield University there had been trips for decades. And now, after switching over to our local theatre group, we can offer this trip to all our theatre friends. I saw the three shows mentioned in the title of this blog. All were wonderful theatre, and as usual, certain liberties were taken with the script, including for MACBETH. The setting of the action in what appeared to me to be the interior of a hotel room, as well as the encounter outside with a motorcycle gang! But the words are the same. It is hard to describe certain scenes and how they may differ from what you got when reading the play, but the challenge is worth it. Costume and body language enhance the novice's understanding of what's going on when actors on a stage is all you have. It is wonderful to be part of such an audience as you "feel" their attention and appreciation. And in DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS you are certainly drawn into the fast-paced action and dialogue on the stage... Your attention is captured throughout. Hamilton-Gibson's Thomas Putnam has planned the event in recent years, to continue the experience. He's already looking at what might be available and suited to our people for next year. People who were "afraid of/reluctant to try" are often surprised by how much they understand and appreciate the "live experience." And you're always in good company!
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 THOMAS PUTNAM in UNDERNEATH THE LINTEL by Barbara Biddison I've held a script in the early stages of rehearsal, and then I've listened to the memorized words in performance, and I've never grown tired of the Librarian's story. It is beautifully written and
masterfully acted. The audiences were also held spellbound as far as I could tell as I sat amongst them. That's about 80 minutes of running time with no break for the actor nor for the audience. The actor carries it, with believable conversational storytelling. It's a simple set with a large moveable green chalkboard (well-used), and a desk with speaker stand and papers here and there, and a screen off stage right to occasionally illustrate what the Librarian is referring to in the story he tells. The set also allows the actor to move to a different "place" where the owner tells a man with a cross to do his resting somewhere else... Quick change there. Putnam tells this story with such grace and involvement. Audiences have enough before them to believe the ongoing words, "Still, we'll proceed." And proceed we do. The story, for me, is clearly a message of how a human being can "move on" and find joy in all kinds of human challenges. I guess I should end with a language challenge encountered by those who would write about this show and confuse two words: Being underneath a lentil gives the image of being under an edible brownish seed, before or after it is cooked. The play title deals with being under a lintel, which is a horizontal support across the top of a door. The play program and poster clearly illustrate this image. I am not clear about what would be the image for being under a lentil. It makes me smile. |
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Hamilton-Gibson Productions
Providing opportunities for people of all ages to enrich and empower their lives through community performing arts.
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