"Cymbaline" was fantastic! The costumes were phenominal, the big-top music was perfect, the acting was fantastic. I cannot praise it enough. One directorial decision that I particularly enjoyed was turning lords and minor characters into the storytellers, which worked especially well in the opening scene (the story tellers introduced the play and characters using a tableau vivante). Last night's Antony was tonight's Cymbaline, last night's Cassius was one of the story tellers and last night's Portia was also in tonight's performance and they were all really great. I think it's going to be one of my new favorite Shakespeare plays.
The play/text itself was quite different from what I expected. It was a cross between "Much Ado About Nothing," "Othello," and "King Lear." It did not fit the normal Shakespearean comedy nor tragedy. It was tragic in that two people died (one quite visciously), but it was comedic because (a) we laughed at the deaths and (b) everyone was happy in the end. The Folio lists it as a tragedy, but it's not. The Riverside lists it as a romance, but there were deaths. I fully plan on reading the play because I'm wondering if a lot of the comedic situations were actually directorial decisions. Whether they were or not, I was quite pleased with the play. I'd love to see it again; too bad it closed tonight.
Time for bed. I start school tomorrow (sort of)!
Cheers!
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