King Richard banishes his cousin Henry, who kinda deserves it. Henry comes back, revolts, and becomes king.
People who should see this show:
Haig Sutherland's grandmother
People who want to look like they like Shakespeare but don't actually
Haig Sutherland ruined this show. Every scene without him was great, but, unfortunately, he was playing the title role, so there weren't many. He spoke like William Shatner in drag. Except that would be kinda funny. He was so entranced with the words and his own voice that he forgot the words were meant to convey a story to the audience. He was horrible. After a scene or two of his droning, I thought "well, they won't make the mistake of hiring him again," but Hubby (who likes to flip through programs during shows) pointed out that this was his ninth season. I just don't get it.
Hubby liked him in Robson Arms. I never watched it.
He was so awful that he made his queen, played by Celine Stubel, look bad (she was great when he wasn't on stage). David Marr, another questionable Bard veteran, wasn't all that great either -- he spat through his lines so quickly it was hard to believe he even understood what he was saying, and painful to hear his gasp for air at the end -- but at least his performance didn't affect the people around him.
And it's a pity, because this is just the type of story I'm interested in: a humanizing look at a sweeping history, with interesting political overtones (Shakespeare could have gotten killed over this play, they tell me). We went on chatterbox Tuesday, so got a great introduction to the play. We also went when an understudy was going on with script in hand (Christopher Gaze, artistic director), which I always love. Could've been so beautiful. I really need to see a good version.
Don't go. Spend the money on a gift to yourself instead. Plays until September 26.
Some Highlights:
Duncan Fraser's John of Gaunt: Solid performance, with an incredible soliloquy
Lois Anderson's Duchess of York: Easily the best performance of the show
Gaelan Beatty's Duke of Aumerle: good performance, and acted well with Anderson
1 comment:
Don't hold back. Tell us how you REALLY feel.
Post a Comment