So, you know, no big deal.
I saw Marlowe's Doctor Faustus as a groundling, but given that Much Ado was a evening performance and it was my birthday, I treated myself to a seat. For 4 pounds more, I could have sprung for a cushion, but elected not to.
The performance was sterling. First of all, it's one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, and I adore the characters of Beatrice and Benedick. But seeing it live, performed by seasoned actors, with a director who made the most out of the space and limited sets, was an eye-opener. I'll be directing Antigone this fall, and I was inspired to see how, exactly, we could reproduce some of the effects with an economy of means.
I love the Bard, and I consider myself reasonably knowledgeable and able interpretation-wise, but seeing the actors add to the words with their mannerisms and blocking made it come alive. For instance, the character of Claudio could be played rather dully, but in this production, I was reminded of Alan Rudyk's Wat from A Knight's Tale. Artistic license perhaps, but effective and entertaining. Even if you didn't follow all the language, it was easy to follow the sense of what was going on. That means a lot in live performance. Another great aspect was the interaction with the audience.
Fantastic.
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