Post by Jan on Jun 10, 2019 6:41:57 GMT
This was the latest in the Globe's entertaining season of all the Elizabethan/Jacobean plays that mention Robin Hood. It was under the Read Not Dead banner in the Sam Wannamaker Playhouse which covers rarely played texts - often there is no surviving record of there ever having been a performance of the play before.
These productions are billed as readings but I would call them semi-staged. There is basic blocking, and sometimes rudimentary costumes and props. Although the actors have their books in hand they are familiar with the text, some of them never glance at the script and none of them just read it out. The performance style is quite broad - like an early rehearsal I would guess - but that is OK as the plays themselves are normally quite unsophisticated.
Interestingly, this production style turns out to be truly Brechtian (in a way no production of Brecht I've seen ever has been). The audience is not just watching the character in the play but also watching an actor play that character, and both acknowledge the presence of the audience. For example if there's a puzzling bit of plot the character might play it and then the actor might look at the audience and shrug their shoulders. If there's a missed cue the actor may say, in character, "I was supposed to say something there" and so on. So you get the text and a metatheatrical commentary on the text at the same time. It makes for an involving production of some arcane plays - you get the feeling that this is how the plays were originally performed. Alan Cox, who is an excellent comic actor, has appeared in a few I've seen (but not this one).
At only £15 per performance this is good value if you think you might like this sort of thing. They do an extra academic lecture on the play beforehand but you can skip that with no problem.
These productions are billed as readings but I would call them semi-staged. There is basic blocking, and sometimes rudimentary costumes and props. Although the actors have their books in hand they are familiar with the text, some of them never glance at the script and none of them just read it out. The performance style is quite broad - like an early rehearsal I would guess - but that is OK as the plays themselves are normally quite unsophisticated.
Interestingly, this production style turns out to be truly Brechtian (in a way no production of Brecht I've seen ever has been). The audience is not just watching the character in the play but also watching an actor play that character, and both acknowledge the presence of the audience. For example if there's a puzzling bit of plot the character might play it and then the actor might look at the audience and shrug their shoulders. If there's a missed cue the actor may say, in character, "I was supposed to say something there" and so on. So you get the text and a metatheatrical commentary on the text at the same time. It makes for an involving production of some arcane plays - you get the feeling that this is how the plays were originally performed. Alan Cox, who is an excellent comic actor, has appeared in a few I've seen (but not this one).
At only £15 per performance this is good value if you think you might like this sort of thing. They do an extra academic lecture on the play beforehand but you can skip that with no problem.
