Cardenio Online Hubbub Monday, June 9, 2008

What did you think about Cardenio? Keep the discussion going on A.R.T.’s Online Hubub.

“The decorations were great (not often nowadays), the colors and the costumes – pleasant to an eye.  Felt bad for Doris, though.  She actually wasn’t as bad as some family members could be at all…” -AG

“I took someone who had not been to the ART in years – one of many “It got too crazy” drop outs I’ve been trying to convince that you have never been stronger.  These past two years have been stellar!  He loved Cardenio.  Too bad he missed Julius Caesar, Oliver, Britannicus, Figaro – Wings of Desire you guys are so hot!!” -micaela d

“We loved the play.  Thanks!” -Kristin L.

“I thought the play was lots of fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it!” -Barbara S.

“Some of the sketches and set-pieces were hysterical, but the dramatic glue sometimes failed, and some characters didn’t make sense (here I don’t wish to fault the acting, which really was excellent, or even to hurt authorial feelings, since it was an entertaining work with high ambitions that were maybe not uniformly reached). Luisa’s paean to Umbria just wasn’t moving. The Doris character was a problem. She was just repellent, without enough core truth or depth to make her at all sympathetic; when we are invited to identify with her as she becomes bored during the rehearsal (as who hasn’t gotten fidgety at SOME point during a Shakespeare performance) it just can’t happen because she has been so off-putting. And then everybody banishes her at the end for being not much more than a nudge.  Edmund’s dance routine was a hoot, Sally’s vibrator soliloquy nicely unexpected (although I was cringing about how to explain it to my 14-year old daughter, and am now cringing over why she didn’t ask), Rudi was a romp, Camilla’s facial acting saved the role. Point of curiosity: How much of Susan’s hyper-coloratura singing was pumped up at the audio board to ensure the mesmerizing effect (I don’t mean this to be snotty; I am sure her voice is beautiful un-enhanced)?” -Gentle Viewer

“We felt the play was too disjointed and had too many gratuitous elements that disrupted the flow of the story.  Some of this is, indeed, Shakespearean, but was not something we enjoyed.” -Robert E.

“I had a blast. I loved the mix of characters, the wackiness, the levels at which one could enjoy the words. It was light and fun and silly and thought-provoking.” -Ariane C.

“Cardenio was a fun and funny play. The Rudi character was hilarious, as was the twitchy Edmund. The actors were excellent in their roles.” -Linda W

“We loved the play and had a very good time. We’re the laugh out loud people center/ row  L.” -Styler Divine

“While the acting wasn’t bad, the play itself is so obsessively self-involved.  I go to the theater to see theater, not actors talking about acting.  I know this is a Shakespearian device, but in this case, put in the modern setting of a play acted within a play, I think it failed miserably and was really an exercise in thespian masturbation.” -Ashley

“This is the first time I came to see a play here.  And I absolutely fell in love.  I definitely got hooked on coming to watch plays here (hope the others are half as good as this one).” -HM

“Very clever, funny, enjoyable show.” -Michelem

 

 

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Cardenio Online Hubbub Monday, June 9, 2008: Your Cardenio

As part of the Cardenio project, Stephen Greenblatt has given support to companies around the world for them to produce their own adaptations of the Cardenio story from Cervantes’ Don Quixote. If you were to adapt the story, what would your play be?

“my first thought is something to do with animal costumes.  Now that we know they really don’t mate for life.” -Styler Divine

“I think I’d give more back story to Doris. She’s an interesting character.” -Linda W

“Well, gee, there is the mysterious wrecked marriage of Susana. Suppose she had just gotten divorced from French President Sarkozy? His life could certainly be played for laughs, what with bringing a comedian chum (Falstaff!) with him to a Papal audience. There has to be enough opportunities for edgy characters and recognizable stereotypes double-crossing and misunderstanding each other in that circle. Call it Enuffe.” -Gentle Viewer

“I’d like to spend more time with the story of the sister of the bride.  It’s a fascinating exploration of family dynamics as well as how easy it is to be completely jaded about marriage in this day and age of divorce and lack of commitment in so many relationships.” -tcosway

“I’m not sure I could come up with a plot right now, but I would certainly involve “the wilderness” somehow and scene and setting.  I might also name characters that are meant to be together names from Shakespeare’s plays, so that the audience knows well in advance who belong with whom even when the characters don’t.” -Kristin L.

“I’d do it in modern Moscow: where people just got married, but infidelity is in the air. Maybe even the marriage itself served as a tool to get closer to some kind of opportunities (natural resources, power, fame…). But then true feelings find their way out…” -AG

“I would have it be an all lesbian Cardenio… or have they already done that on L-word?” -KJ

Cardenio Online Hubbub Monday, June 9, 2008: Weddings Gone Awry

We’ve asked our audience to reveal their best stories of weddings gone awry. What stories do you have?

“I once went to a wedding where they only played techno music at the reception, leaving all the older people who were looking forward to a few nice slow dance to sit sadly in their chairs.” -Lindsay B.

“We had friends who got married at Longwood Towers in the middle of a heat wave, and there was no electricity, so the air conditioning, lights, etc. were out.  They got married by candlelight.  There was one generator, which they used for the DJ.  People were sweltering.” -Michelem

“My niece’s wedding.  Her best friend/maid of honor forgot her very important (and ultimately vacuous) speech at the ceremony–three tries- and finally asked out loud for her Blackberry to get her back on track.” -Styler Divine

“I know of one where the guests were taking bets at the rehearsal dinner to see how long the marriage would last. (6 months)” -Nancy T

“My cousin’s husband (to be) fainted at the altar while the minister was doing the vows.” -Linda W

“My son’s wedding was held at Hammond Castle in Magnolia, MA–a medieval castle on the cliffs overlooking the ocean.  It POURED cats and dogs and no one could even see the ocean, let alone go outside and enjoy the grounds and the view.  The castle has lots of little rooms and the one in which the wedding cake was placed sprang a leak and dripped on the cake and the guests.  The kids (the wedding party and young friends) took it all in good humor and wore plastic swimming tubes to mock the day, and my son was/is happily married despite the weather and the failure of everyone to fully enjoy the location.” -Robert E.

“At one wedding I was introduced to 55 previously unknown cousins (my grandfather had 7 brothers) and at another the best man (me) forgot he was supposed to prepare a toast to the couple (but I faked it well enough).” -Gentle Viewer

“the bride had slept with the sister of the groom….  and the groom’s teenage younger brother as well…  of course only a few of us knew this….this was the 70’s…” -psychojock

Cardenio Online Hubbub Thursday, June 5, 2008

What did you think about Cardenio? Keep the discussion going on A.R.T.’s Online Hubub.

“I have not encountered so many errors of fact since The Da Vinci Code. But, since most of them were in the mouths of characters I suppose could be counted as Unreliable, I will content myself with observing that there is no definite article in Double Falshood.” -John W.

“The quality of the dialogue in Cardenio fell short of what one would expect in a “Shakespearean” play – we left at intermission.” -Sabine A.

“even when Shakespeare is being silly, he motivates his characters’ choices (or suggests some motivation, even slight), which was not true in Cardenio.” -nona

 

Cardenio Online Hubbub Thursday, June 5, 2008: Weddings Gone Awry

We’ve asked our audience to reveal their best stories of weddings gone awry. What stories do you have?

“A common, vulgar drunken guest. The JP engaged to perform the ceremony rattling off the standard script, forgetting that the groom was an affirmative atheist and had expressly asked that all mention of God be omitted.    Something going wrong in the back of the country club hall (I never knew what) and the hired country-western band playing the first half of the wedding march from “Lohengrin” over and over and over and over and over again for twenty interminable minutes.” -John W.

 

Cardenio Online Hubbub Wednesday, June 4, 2008

What did you think about Cardenio? Keep the discussion going on A.R.T.’s Online Hubub.

“We loved the play. We are subscribers and feel that we have a personal relationship with Remo, Karen, Will and Tommy (as he called himself last night). The play seemed like it was written for Remo and Tom to show off their brilliance as physical comedy actors.” -Lynn G

Cardenio Online Hubbub Wednesday, June 4, 2008: Weddings Gone Awry

We’ve asked our audience to reveal their best stories of weddings gone awry. What stories do you have?

“Everyone was loaded, and it was clear it was a bad match. The groom ran away and went to a bar.” -Roy D.

“My brother’s honeymoon luggage was stolen as he and his bride awaited a taxi to the airport for their trip to Europe.” -Pat Y.

Cardenio Online Hubbub Tuesday, June 3, 2008

What did you think about Cardenio? Keep the discussion going on A.R.T.’s Online Hubub.

“It was a real joy to laugh at an ART production.  Too often in recent years the balance of the educate/entertain mission has shifted too far toward the academic.  I hope upcoming seasons will be more balanced and fun for both audience and actors.” -Elizabeth H.

“This was an excellent play!  Everyone in our row was talking about it.  We couldn’t stop laughing, but it still managed to touch on some serious themes of love and what it means to be in love.” -jeff k.

“I absolutely thought the dance routine was hilarious- I was still laughing in thinking about that a few days later…” -Laughing

“I loved it.   It was what A.R.T. does best, comedy.   Remo was absolutely hilarious.  Loved Karen MacDonald and Will Lebow. Tommy Derrah is definitely not Italian, but what a nice singing voice.  The entire cast was great.” -Susan M

“great play with a number of ART’s favorite performers” -JLR

Cardenio Online Hubbub Tuesday, June 3, 2008: Your Cardenio

As part of the Cardenio project, Stephen Greenblatt has given support to companies around the world for them to produce their own adaptations of the Cardenio story from Cervantes’ Don Quixote. If you were to adapt the story, what would your play be?

“I think it would be fun to do it as a ghost story, where the characters enter a haunted inn and are possessed by the characters from the other story and forced to play out the ghosts’ story in order to work out their own.” -Elizabeth H.

“I could imagine it being more of a Canterbury Tales type of play, in which they all meet in the mountains and the one fellow (forget his name, the shirtless one) tells his story.  That would allow for a play within a play, but also would allow for fun contributions from the “audience” on stage who is watching his performance of the story.  Then the exciting ending could still be there as well.” -jeff k.

Cardenio Online Hubbub Tuesday, June 3, 2008: Weddings Gone Awry

We’ve asked our audience to reveal their best stories of weddings gone awry. What stories do you have?

“I once arrived at a wedding to find the bride on the porch, in cutoffs, saying “Oh, I guess I should get in the shower!”  Needless to say, it started late.  There was also apparently a disagreement about what kind of reception to have.  So first one group of relatives served champagne punch and finger sandwiches and other pretty hors d’oeuvres and then a different group started a clambake.  This would have been less of a problem if the guests had been warned…eating corn on the cob and in-shell seafood isn’t really an activity for formal wedding clothes!  But in the end, the couple was married (and still is!) and very happy, so all’s well that ends well!” -Elizabeth H.