Saturday, April 19, 2008

Orlando Shakes, Rattles and Hums

On this last Wednesday, which was the 16th of April, I was very lucky to have been invited by a fellow Mouse slave to attend a play at a theater in Downtown Orlando. The Play was written by Mr. William Shakespeare and was the play that is commonly referred to as "The Scottish Play". Because due to some Horrid curse one can not speak the title of this play with out then spitting over their shoulder and knocking three times on wood and walking around in a circle. Yes, I know that is all incorrect, but I haven't the playbill with me so that I may authentically quote the superstitions behind this particular marvel of Mr. Shakespeare. The play was done in the classic style of Shakespeare and the theater was done in a round setting. With the Stage being a Huge ROUND object in the middle of the room. I found this style of theater to be most adventagious to seeing and hearing everything. We were very close to the actors and were able to see their faces clearly as they delivered their lines. The scenery was plane, nearly non-existant, the costumes were, pleasantly enough, Kilts and swords. The 3 witches and scary faces were in deed objects of horror and delightfully rendered. The Kilts were delightfully worn. Did I mention the men wore kilts...The Scottish blood in me was proudly racing through my veins. I like men in kilts....I think Prince Charming will need to be fitted with such an outfit. Regardless of his Austrian heritage...Kilts are nice on men with nice legs.
uh.......oh yeah!
I thought the play was done most admirably. The majority of the cast were very handsome and attractive and delivered their lines with confident precision and robust passion. You felt the anguish of the characters when they discovered members of their families had been brutally murdered, the betrayed by beloved comrades. The lead was portrayed by a man named Ian Bedford, who after googling his name found that he has been on a few episodes of Law & Order: SVU, One Life to Live.
I had to recall the first encounter I had had with Mr. William Shakespeares works. In the basement of our house on 32nd Avenue, in Wheatridge, Colorado, we had a very nice selection of books, Reader's Digest Condensed Versions of many works of mid 20th century Fiction, as well as classical works including those of the Baird. I believe I was either 12 or 13 when I stumbled across a book, wherein I read several passages. I seem to recall the play that I read was that of Hamlet, and I was reading an exchange between Hamlet's friends Rosencrantz and Gildenstern. Even at that young age I was well versed in sarcasim and wit, and found the words to be very humorous.
The first play that I had ever seen of Shakespeare in a Theater setting was in Dallas, Texas at the Shakespeare Festival of Dallas, where my brother Tom and I saw The Merchant of Venice and on another occaision saw Othello. There hasn't been much opportunity to attend the theater in my recent past, but something that I do believe I will have to incorporate into my life again.
Did I mention the men were in Kilts?