More Days, More Plays

As much as I love seeing theatre all the time, when you go every night sometimes you don’t have the time you need to process and reflect. Luckily, tonight is a night off. So although my brain has become a bit mushy lately with all the plays, here are some reflections:

A Streetcar Named Desire as part of the Golden Mask festival on 4/9: While I found this show ridiculous and therefore funny, it was also pretty atrocious and pissed me off at its pretentious bullshit. Sorry, that’s just how I felt. Joe wrote an amazing blog post about this show that I told him he needs to turn into an article for the e-magazine, so if you want to read a truly witty and insightful piece, you can do so here.

Ulysses on 4/10: Joe and Laura saw this show when Rachel and I saw Troilus and Cressida and they both loved it. Having never read the novel, I spent over 2 hours reading the detailed synopsis and analysis on sparknotes before going to see the 5.5 hour production (which thankfully began early at 5pm). While I had mixed feelings about the first two acts, by the end of the night I was sold. I found myself having flashbacks to my presentation earlier this year on Szondi, questioning whether the form of the production fit the style of the writing. By the end, it definitely did, and they beautifully brought it to life. The set was really interesting, with wire fence like structures that by the last act left the stage and were replaced by a beautiful gate made of many faces of Bloom. Molly’s 40-minute stream of consciousness monologue at the end was incredible. I had no idea what she was saying specifically, only generally. And yet, I was riveted. What a phenomenal actress. Still not sure how I feel about tackling this great work to read as I’m not a huge fan of stream of consciousness writing style, but really glad I was able to see this show.

La Estrada on 4/11: Also part of the Golden Mask (Ulysses was too), this show in a tiny theatre space was really great. We found out what this one-hour show was actually about afterward, but what was evident during the production was that it was a) funny and b) not taking itself too seriously. You can read more about it here.

I think my brain needs more recharging than I thought. So with that in mind…I’m off to finish reading book one of War and Peace. Because nothing says brain recharging like some epic Tolstoy.