Here’s my review of “The Constant Wife,” for your consideration.
Also in the better late than never department: I’m sorry to have missed the Arts and Letters Live event on Monday. I’m planning on catching the broadcast on Thanksgiving. It’s pretty exciting to have (at least) two nationally recognized stars in our little town for the weekend (Hilarie Burton and Elliot Yamin, of course).
And I’ve fallen down on the job again, as “Frankenstein Lives!’ has been open a week at the Science Museum and I haven’t mentioned it. I have to admit to some puzzlement about the run of this show; I’m not quite sure why it is closing Oct. 29 just when the fever pitch about Halloween should be highest. Hope I can get the kiddies off to see this before then!
3 comments:
I saw this show last year (or was it the year before...it sucks getting old), ANYWAY it is AWESOME! Doug Jones did a great job with the script. It is a must see!
Daniel,
I have been onstage for more of those awful line flubs than I'd like to admit to. They happen a lot, and the audience usually has absolutely no idea anything is wrong. Usually, they only last a second or two because another actor has an opportunity to step in and move the action forward.
This one was, indeed, once-in-a-lifetime, because any actor playing Mark Antony has a singular challenge in Act III of Julius Caesar: he is the sole impeller of action. Every single thing the Plebians do and say is motivated by the last words that came out of Antony's mouth. If no words come out, there's absolutely nothing that can be done to help him. Nothing. The Plebians can't remind him of the will, because the whole point is that they've forgotten about it. They can't leave to seek, burn, and kill the conspirators, because Caesar's body is still onstage and there's necessary action yet to happen in the scene. Poor Antony is on an island with no hope of rescue. This was a perfect storm situation.
For the record, I don't know of anyone in Richmond's theatre community that "hates" you as a critic. Unlike certain former reviewers who shall remain nameless, you have always come across as both knowledgeable about the theatre and cognizant of performers' need to be entertaining. Your mixed review of our Othello last spring (my professional directorial debut) delighted me because you caught on to many of the thematic elements we were striving for, but you also recognized many of the production's failings that I myself was concerned with.
So don't worry about being hated. Honest, educated criticism is a rare and precious thing.
Sorry, I meant to post that as a reply to "People Hate Critics." I'll copy and paste it...
(I'm a blogspotter and I messed up on blogspot. What an idiot.)
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