Innkeeper Cyd Ropp keeps you up-to-date with photos and stories from the Albion Inn. You will also find play reviews here.
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Sunday, June 24, 2012
The Very Merry Wives of Windsor, Iowa, Oregon Shakespeare Festival
From an OSF regular: Our faithful group stuck it out but ... overly stereotyped Iowa corn, some true humor, visual cacacophony, overdone overdone overdone. We wish the actors had better because they are. Wacky, juvenile (no offense to youth). Ouch--we love OSF,and we spent a lot of money for this, an amateurish-flavored revue which dismantled Shakespeare with brash aplomb and buried any cleverness in next-day memory.
This was the first of four plays we saw during our stay. I was glad this was followed by three much better productions. While not awful, it was just so-so. The actors were good, but the overall experience was not so much. I was glad we got the "c" tickets for this one, although I wish I'd sprung for the more expensive ones to see Animal Crackers instead. While there was some of the flavor of the original, and in some parts it was funny, this was not as fun as it could have been. Several people around us left at intermission. This was not really a bad play, but there are so many better ones available.
We are OSF members who visit for a "theater immersion" every year. I guess this is the type of play that evokes mixed reactions, but we absolutely loved this updated version of Shakespeare's "Merry Wives of Windsor." David Kelly is a riot -- he cracked us up in "The Imaginary Invalid" and commands the stage here as the bankrupt (financially and morally) "Senator Falstaff." He was genuinely enjoying his role, and that translated well to the audience. We loved the interweaving of modern cultural references, outrageous costumes, stereotypes (I KNOW that muscular lesbian woodcarver with a mullet!), sophomoric humor -- it is, after all, the same comedic devices Shakespeare utilized so well -- with a dash of Shakespearean language. "The recycling truck doth cometh." After seeing some of the heavier OSF fare, this light-hearted romp was just the ticket.
Mediocre, at best......basically 2 1/2 hours of watching a "Here's Pat" skit on Saturday Night Live...poorly written.....the middle school crowd will love it, though.........if 135 minutes of gay jokes, and attempts at gay jokes, is your entire of entertainmnet, then this is the play for you...a "world preniere" that needs to be shelved......rewrite, rewrite, rewrite......how many jokes can be made about a lesbian pro golfer? if I hear another cheap stick, putter, hole joke about lesbian golfers, it will forever remind me of this play.....but, the high schoolers in the audience were titilated by the play and giggled all night long..... the sound of one hand clapping as the play ended.... what was OSF thinking?
From an OSF regular: Our faithful group stuck it out but ... overly stereotyped Iowa corn, some true humor, visual cacacophony, overdone overdone overdone. We wish the actors had better because they are. Wacky, juvenile (no offense to youth). Ouch--we love OSF,and we spent a lot of money for this, an amateurish-flavored revue which dismantled Shakespeare with brash aplomb and buried any cleverness in next-day memory.
ReplyDeleteThis was the first of four plays we saw during our stay. I was glad this was followed by three much better productions. While not awful, it was just so-so. The actors were good, but the overall experience was not so much. I was glad we got the "c" tickets for this one, although I wish I'd sprung for the more expensive ones to see Animal Crackers instead. While there was some of the flavor of the original, and in some parts it was funny, this was not as fun as it could have been. Several people around us left at intermission. This was not really a bad play, but there are so many better ones available.
ReplyDeleteHorrible!
ReplyDeleteWe are OSF members who visit for a "theater immersion" every year. I guess this is the type of play that evokes mixed reactions, but we absolutely loved this updated version of Shakespeare's "Merry Wives of Windsor." David Kelly is a riot -- he cracked us up in "The Imaginary Invalid" and commands the stage here as the bankrupt (financially and morally) "Senator Falstaff." He was genuinely enjoying his role, and that translated well to the audience. We loved the interweaving of modern cultural references, outrageous costumes, stereotypes (I KNOW that muscular lesbian woodcarver with a mullet!), sophomoric humor -- it is, after all, the same comedic devices Shakespeare utilized so well -- with a dash of Shakespearean language. "The recycling truck doth cometh." After seeing some of the heavier OSF fare, this light-hearted romp was just the ticket.
ReplyDeleteMediocre, at best......basically 2 1/2 hours of watching a "Here's Pat" skit on Saturday Night Live...poorly written.....the middle school crowd will love it, though.........if 135 minutes of gay jokes, and attempts at gay jokes, is your entire of entertainmnet, then this is the play for you...a "world preniere" that needs to be shelved......rewrite, rewrite, rewrite......how many jokes can be made about a lesbian pro golfer? if I hear another cheap stick, putter, hole joke about lesbian golfers, it will forever remind me of this play.....but, the high schoolers in the audience were titilated by the play and giggled all night long.....
ReplyDeletethe sound of one hand clapping as the play ended....
what was OSF thinking?