I went to see David Calder in King Lear at the Globe a few weeks back. It was very good and have been mulling over the experience since. Here are the edited highlights from my mullings….
1. We haven’t seen enough of David Calder since he played Bramwell’s Dad.
2. I couldn’t hear David Calder’s words very clearly at all, but I don’t know whether that is down to his enunciation, the position I was in, or just boring, creeping middle-aged-ness.It didn’t matter that I couldn’t hear the words clearly, David Calder was like a force of nature and even though I hadn’t seen the play before, I think I still got the point
3. I’ve finally stopped thinking of Green Wing every time I see Sally Bretton, although I’d have liked to see Goneril played with the wicked sexiness she had as Kim.
4. The eye-gouging is splendidly gory with groans and eurwrgh sounds from the audience. Brilliant.
5. My first visit of the season reminded me how much I love this theatre for its mix of informality, silliness, and sudden intensity. My favourite place is in the middle gallery on the side, where you can watch the groundlings, usually composed of teenagers, tourists and the small band of determined die-hard regulars, with an occasional razor sharp fashionista refugee from the Donmar. They start off milling about, jostling for the best spots near the stage or finding a wall to lean against, standing with arms crossed, fidgeting, chatting and smirking. Gradually though, they stop fussing over their sweets and cans of lager and by the end there is nothing but intense concentration and quiet.
6. Thinking about quiet, the Globe should go back to selling sweeties in little tubs, rather than the crinkly bags they are using these days.
The main conclusion I draw from all this is that if sweetie packets are starting to make me cross, it’s time to call out my inner teenager by playing a bit of suitably bolshy music really loudly.
Although not so loudly as to upset the neighbours.
4 comments:
I love King Lear - I studied it at A-Level, which was such a stroke of luck because, like Emily Dickinson, whom we also studied, I don't think I would ever have enjoyed it as much just reading it on my own. I would have missed so much.
Despite Lear's inaudibility, would you recommend I went to see this production? I'm tempted to go anyway, since it's not exactly expensive and the Globe is such a unique experience. (Did you see the all-male Twelfth Night they did a few years back? That was fantastic.)
Well I thoroughly enjoyed it, but then I am an absolute sucker for Shakespeare in any form. I don't know how it compares to other productions, but I thought David Calder was brilliant, despite the inaudibility, completely taking over the whole place, so yes, I would recommend it.
And YES, I did see the all male Twelfth night Wonderful stuff, with Mark Rylance hilarious as Olivia, and the so cleverly done 'boys as girls as boys' bit. I went back a few times actually!
I loved the whole all-male bit, but the Globe seems to have given up on it at the moment..
Ooh, wasn't it GLORIOUS! I laughed my head off, and I was completely gobsmacked by Mark Rylance. Viola/Cesario I found harder to get into, but then s/he was dressed in boy's clothes for most of it, which perhaps stops the brain from making the required leap. (Except I saw Der Rosenkavalier on Saturday, and when the boy-played-by-a-girl actually dressed up as a girl, there was never a moment when you thought they were genuinely a girl because of the body language, so...)
Anyway, perhaps it's a bit politically sensitive, to do an all-male production? What my friends call PCGM - "Political Correctness Gone Mad". Or maybe with Dominic Whatsisface as artistic director that's not the direction he wants to take it in.
But I really really wanted to see the all-female production they did - Richard III, wasn't it? Even though having gone to an all girls' school, you'd have thought I'd have had enough of that!
Glorious probably is the right word for Mark Rylance in full flow... I really miss that. And, although I do still love the Globe, and I'm enjoying Dromgoole's reign, I suspect you are right that he has chosen to take it all in a new direction.
I missed the all women productions too, and even though I heard it was all a bit girls-schooly, I do still wish I had managed to see for myself...
I do know what you mean about Viola/Cesario - Probably the best I've seen was the very beautiful Tam Williams in the Propeller production at the Old Vic last year. Even though they didn't get too carried away with costume I really did forget sometimes that he was a boy.
I wanted to see Der Rosenkavalier at the Coliseum but can't go :( Lucky you!
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