(no subject)

[skygiants]

Tonight genarti and I went to go see Bedlam's Sense & Sensibility at the A.R.T., which had been advertised by a poster of a person in a Regency dress with a giant horse head and roller skates.

It turned out there was neither a giant horse head nor roller skates per se involved on the production -- at least, not for the human beings. All the furniture, however, was on wheels, usually being zipped around in circles by ancillary cast members at light-speed, often with main cast members still trapped within it. Gen and I spent a lot of time on the train home talking about who got to move furniture, who was moved by it, and all the various things that implied about Elinor and Marianne's respective personalities and restrictive social structures and requirements in Regency society.

BECCA: I loved every scene when Marianne just noped out of an awkward social situation and took her chair with her -- the furniture and staging made everything feel so claustrophobic that it made her entire attitude of WHO NEEDS A SOCIAL CONTRACT WHEN YOU HAVE FEELINGS way more sympathetic to me.
GEN: See, and I just kept thinking about how much worse it was for Elinor in all those scenes after Marianne noped out. But I did love that she commanded the furniture armies!
BECCA: ME TOO.

(Neither Elinor nor Edward ever got a chance to command the furniture armies.)

Anyway, impressive furniture-related symbolism aside, it was also a very funny production. A brief list of some of the best dumb gags:

- the women double-cast as, respectively, Lucy Steele/Fanny Dashwood and Anne Steele/Mrs. Ferrars whizzing across the stage in their spinny chairs to play both sides of a conversation
- Edward Ferrars, having entered an extremely awkward conversation, clearly about to turn right around and leave when another ensemble member helpfully slides him a chair. "THANKS," says Edward, grimly, and sits down. Two seconds later, Marianne enters the scene, Edward gives her his chair and is about to leave -- oh! hey! look! the ensemble found him another chair! EDWARD IS THRILLED. (He's not thrilled.)
- I keep wanting to call Robert Ferrars a one-scene wonder, and he's not, because he's played by the same guy as Edward Ferrars who is also very good in that role, but his scenery-chewing turn in the "I LOVE A COTTAGE!!!!" monologue is a glory to behold
- as is his battle with the Foley artist
- and his attempts to chat up a random audience member about her cottage
- I know I already mentioned Marianne firmly picking up her chair and noping out of the Worst Awkward Dinner Party, but: it was beautiful
- also every time Marianne hid behind a couch or under a blanket and refused to participate in a scene
- the guy playing Colonel Brandon, who had an incredibly beautiful voice which he used for beautifully awkward line deliveries
- the guy playing Edward Ferrars' judgy horse
- Willoughby explaining that he can't stay because "his pointers are outside," while two ensemble members stand right outside the fence and point enthusiastically at various audience members
- this made us laugh harder than anything else
- we're both very easy sells

Comments

[genarti]

You mentioned the claustrophobic staging, but I want to specifically mention how well I thought they used the furniture to convey the constant gaze of society! There are all these scenes where two or three characters are having a conversation, and the whole rest of the ensemble is not only avidly watching but slowly inching closer and closer across the stage in their chairs, or encircling them and rotating, or staring eagerly through giant windows, all the better to instantly start gossiping about every event. It was often hilarious -- actors in period dress whizzing about on chairs! -- but it was also really, really effective at showing that constant pressure.

[sovay]

- the guy playing Colonel Brandon, who had an incredibly beautiful voice which he used for beautifully awkward line deliveries

Hooray.

How did Robert Ferrars make out with the random audience member?

[skygiants]

He got as far as pointing out to her what page he was on in the program if she wanted to look him up before he had to go back onstage and deliver the rest of his cottage monologue!

[skygiants]

IT'S SO GOOD AND SO TERRIFYING, it gave me a really visceral urge to go hide under a table or something out of sheer gratitude that I'm not an impoverished Regency lady dependent on the kindness of gossipy relatives.

[landofnowhere]

(I totally read that with the wrong meaning of "make out", and was highly confused! It seemed not impossible, assuming the audience member was a confederate... ;-)

[genarti]

Well, they did have this exchange:

ROBERT FERRARS: "Do you live in a cottage?? :D"
RANDOM AUDIENCE MEMBER: "...Yes!"
ROBERT FERRARS: "Is this your husband?"
RANDOM AUDIENCE MEMBER AND HUSBAND NEXT TO HER: *nod apologetically*
ROBERT FERRARS: *winces, takes his arm off the back of her chair, leans away* ...*leans right back* "How many rooms does your cottage have?"
RANDOM AUDIENCE MEMBER: "Uh, two."
ROBERT FERRARS: "We'll only need one!" *EYEBROWS EYEBROWS*

Then he handed her a program (possibly her own), said "I'm on page 16!" and bounded away to extol the joys of cottages to the other fictional characters some more. I'm pretty well certain the audience member was, in fact, a genuine and highly amused audience member rather than a plant.

(Later, Mrs. Jennings spontaneously adopted another audience member as her daughter whose house they had just arrived at.)

[cofax7]

omg that sounds AWESOME

[skygiants]

IT WAS A JOY AND A DELIGHT. Everything was so good that I didn't even have time to regret that nobody was actually on roller skates.

[lilysea]

Thank you for sharing!

This sounds DELIGHTFUL! ^_^

[sophia_sol]

this sounds like an INCREDIBLE production, with an interesting idea that they managed to actually integrate well into conveying the story!

[kore]

also every time Marianne hid behind a couch or under a blanket and refused to participate in a scene

OMG, sold

[coyotegoth]

It turned out there was neither a giant horse head nor roller skates per se involved on the production -- at least, not for the human beings.

Despite this glaring lack, I wish i could see it.

[larryhammer]

the guy playing Colonel Brandon, who had an incredibly beautiful voice which he used for beautifully awkward line deliveries

I realize this is because of the movie, but I very strongly feel this is required casting to make any production of S&S a success.

[larryhammer]

LOL LOL LOL

[obopolsk]

I loved this show! I forgot how much I enjoyed Lucy Steele/Fanny Dashwood and Anne Steele/Mrs. Ferrars doing the Gollum thing in their spinny chairs.

I recently saw the Bedlam P&P, which I didn't love as much -- I think because I'm just too wedded to the original text and the 1996 adaptation, and my brain resists any alternate interpretations.

[skygiants]

I was pretty sure this was the production you saw and were telling me about, which is part of the reason I was so excited to go! :D

What was the P&P like? Was it by the same person/similar in conceit?

[skygiants]

AGREED. I said to genarti during intermission "are they contractually obligated to cast a guy who sounds like Alan Rickman?" (...to which Gen was like "...you do remember I've never seen the movie?")

[skygiants]

It is indeed worth seeing, despite the glaring lack!

[skygiants]

I FOUND IT SO RELATABLE. The social contract can be a menace now, let alone in the Regency era!

[skygiants]

It was a rare combination of really madcap and funny and really thoughtful -- I feel like they really put a lot of thought into the book while they were designing their jokes, which made it very satisfying to watch!

[skygiants]

It was extremely enjoyable, I wish everyone could see it!

[obopolsk]

P&P was by the same person (and had a lot of the same cast as the original S&S production). It was funny, and it leaned heavily on the dual casting for humor -- Mr. Bennett turning into Wickham or whatever was made much more obvious (and the cast members themselves started laughing at a couple of points because the changes were so funny). Some of the marginal characters like Mary and Anne de Bourgh became caricatures to an even greater extent than they are in the original. Actually, everyone was sort of heightened -- Elizabeth was portrayed as super anti-marriage, Darcy as incredibly shy and awkward, Charles Bingley as basically a puppy in human form.

[larryhammer]

That movie has a long shadow!

[marginaliana]

Based on this review, I went and saw it, and it was every bit as delightful as I'd hoped for. And you've picked out so many of my favorite bits. The pointers! The going back and forth to play both sides of the conversation! The cottage! (Our audience member said hers had 14 rooms, which made him just about pee himself laughing.) The bit with the person giving Edward chairs!

I also really loved when everyone was pushing Marianne's sofa towards Colonel Brandon and she just kept leaning further and further backwards. And the opening bit where they were in bed and Fanny was doubled over drinking tea! And the coconut halves for the horse hooves! And the two people with spray bottles for the rain!

Basically, I loved it entirely, so thank you very much for piquing my interest.

[skygiants]

Ahhh I'm so glad you went to see it and liked it! I'd almost forgotten about poor Marianne on her sofa and I had DEFINITELY forgotten about the coconuts and they were SO GOOD, what excellent staging all around.