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| “Antony & Cleopatra, Forest Park, St. Louis, 05/22/2015;” watercolor on Canson 140lb cold press, Michael Anderson. |
“Antony and Cleopatra” is being performed nightly under the
stars for free through June 14. This
year is the 15th season for Shakespeare Festival St. Louis. Each
year the festival alternates a comedy or tragedy but the production values, actors,
costumes and set design are always top notch. In 2011 “The Taming of the Shrew”
was presented in a 1950’s setting complete with a mid-century modern villa,
50’s style rock music and even a gold 1957 Cadillac convertible was driven on
stage as part of the action. By contrast the current show is presented with
only a very few props and a simple set comprised of 5 dramatically lit
gold-leafed pillars on a raked stage. The wooded background of Forest Park completes the scenery perfectly. The spare design relies on Shakespeare’s language
and your imagination to convey action, location and setting. I must admit I sometimes find Shakespearean
syntax incomprehensible. Yet the meaning always comes across and in fact it
always surprises me how many expressions we use in daily conversation originally
appeared in the plays. In the first act Cleopatra says that these are her "salad days."
The link below is to a short video of Milton Glaser creating
a portrait of Shakespeare while he explains the importance of drawing.
Shakespeare (or Shakspeare or Shakespear or even Shakestaff) is often credited with the invention of 2000 new words, along with countless phrases that are part and parcel of today's lexicon. (Speaking of the birthing of idioms that are still in current usage, I seem to recall "part and parcel" coming from one of his historical dramas.) But two THOUSAND inventions of language? My goodness, just think about that degree of language innovation! As you may have already guessed, I'm a lover of Shakespearean theater. Indeed, reading his works can be challenging - but if you ever get the opportunity to see a truly remarkable Shakespearean actor interpret his language you'll be in for a treat: so much becomes clear in the way phrases are expressed, the emphasis placed, the context.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy you shared that link of Milton. I've always been an admirer of his design and illustration.
It does seem like most idioms in the English language originate in either Shakespeare or the Bible. Thank you for your fabulous comment! m
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Interesting information...I like Shakespeare. Built a scale model of his theater when I was in high school.
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