(no subject)
Sep. 21st, 2019 11:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsI just got back from seeing The Revenger's Tragedy at Theater@First in Somerville with aamcnamara and genarti (plus bonus encounter sovay); there is one show left and it is tomorrow and if you are in the Boston area and have the time to go, you should!
Relevant facts:
a.) I love The Revenger's Tragedy. I first read the play in my Jacobean tragedy class in college; I have seen the film, which stars Christopher Eccleston and Eddie Izzard and is set in post-apocalyptic Liverpool, at least four times and no doubt will see it again sometime in the not too distant future.
b.) This version is not set in post-apocalyptic Liverpool. It is set in a circus. The Duke is the ringmaster and evil brothers Supervacuo, Ambitioso, and Junior are all clowns fighting for the clown crown. (Oldest brother Lussorioso is a lion-tamer.) This allows for a lot of truly magnificent physical comedy, as a pair of clowns with painted-on smiles attempt to murder their older brother, badly. It also means that every so often during a scene break someone will come out and sing "The Daring Young Man On The Flying Trapeze" or apologetically juggle.
c.) Because I have seen the film four times, I remembered many of the most important plot elements, including the incest and the secret identities and the poisoned skull. I had, however, forgotten several others that got cut out of the film, including the part when Vindice, ourhero protagonist, through a convoluted series of events, gets accidentally hired to murder himself while his brother Hippolito desperately attempts to keep a straight face.
d.) "Everyone was great," saidgenarti after the show, "but the MVP was Hippolito's face journeys." It's true. They were consistently beautiful.
e.) We were warned there might be blood spatter if we sat in the first row, so we sat in the third like the chickens we are, but we did see some beautiful arcs fountain across the stage during the Grand Guignol finale.
aamcnamara and genarti (plus bonus encounter sovay); there is one show left and it is tomorrow and if you are in the Boston area and have the time to go, you should! Relevant facts:
a.) I love The Revenger's Tragedy. I first read the play in my Jacobean tragedy class in college; I have seen the film, which stars Christopher Eccleston and Eddie Izzard and is set in post-apocalyptic Liverpool, at least four times and no doubt will see it again sometime in the not too distant future.
b.) This version is not set in post-apocalyptic Liverpool. It is set in a circus. The Duke is the ringmaster and evil brothers Supervacuo, Ambitioso, and Junior are all clowns fighting for the clown crown. (Oldest brother Lussorioso is a lion-tamer.) This allows for a lot of truly magnificent physical comedy, as a pair of clowns with painted-on smiles attempt to murder their older brother, badly. It also means that every so often during a scene break someone will come out and sing "The Daring Young Man On The Flying Trapeze" or apologetically juggle.
c.) Because I have seen the film four times, I remembered many of the most important plot elements, including the incest and the secret identities and the poisoned skull. I had, however, forgotten several others that got cut out of the film, including the part when Vindice, our
d.) "Everyone was great," said
genarti after the show, "but the MVP was Hippolito's face journeys." It's true. They were consistently beautiful. e.) We were warned there might be blood spatter if we sat in the first row, so we sat in the third like the chickens we are, but we did see some beautiful arcs fountain across the stage during the Grand Guignol finale.
