![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Shakespeare and Juggling
Nov. 17th, 2008 06:43 pmBack in the early nineties, I was frantically rummaging through my VHS tapes for something either blank or out-dated that I could tape over. On PBS, there was a production of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors at New York's Lincoln Centre, featuring the Flying Karamazov Brothers. I had just heard of the FKB's the week earlier on some other show (Oprah, I think). At the time, I was deeply interested in Shakespeare's work, but I believed (and still do) that his plays are meant to be performed rather than read.
Then over the next 10-15 years, I watched this tape over and over and over until it finally shredded itself in my VCR. Although the writers and the director modernized parts of the play (inserting all sorts of modern references), I was really surprised to discovered that 90% of the text was true to the original play. And of course, the performance really brought the script to life. What most Shakespeare productions suffer from is that the actors don't really understand what they are saying, so they don't say the lines with realistic inflection, so the text becomes meaningless (except for Shakespeare geeks).
And there's lots of juggling, stage magic, and other circus sideshow pleasures. So aside from revelling in a fantastic production, it also inspired me to learn how to juggle, which I can still do to this day.
Last week, in a fit of nostalgia, I searched the Interweb thing so anything about that performance. I managed to find a few websites about it and in no time, I had an electronic copy of a VHS tape of the performance (you can tell by the quality of the video). I've burned it to DVD and I'm a happy camper again.
If you're curious, I've found copies of this show on the web on Google video at:
Comedy of Errors, Part 1
Comedy of Errors, Part 2
To a modern audience, there are a few references that you may not remember to understand (1987). At one point, a Syracusian merchant is paraded out in bondage, begging for money to that he can be released. Several times during the play, he'll appear with a sandwich board and a tin cup. The messages were as follows:
Front: Put 10 000 000 in my Swiss Account // Back: Ollie says it's OK!
Front: Give Me Money // Back: Or God Will Call Me Back.
There was also a scene where Antiphillus, needing a distraction from a horde of angry Ephesisians, shouts "Hey look! It's Vanna White!" One of the Ephesisians asks "What's she wearing?" I believe this is a reference to Vanna's appearance in Playboy in 1987.
Enjoy!
Then over the next 10-15 years, I watched this tape over and over and over until it finally shredded itself in my VCR. Although the writers and the director modernized parts of the play (inserting all sorts of modern references), I was really surprised to discovered that 90% of the text was true to the original play. And of course, the performance really brought the script to life. What most Shakespeare productions suffer from is that the actors don't really understand what they are saying, so they don't say the lines with realistic inflection, so the text becomes meaningless (except for Shakespeare geeks).
And there's lots of juggling, stage magic, and other circus sideshow pleasures. So aside from revelling in a fantastic production, it also inspired me to learn how to juggle, which I can still do to this day.
Last week, in a fit of nostalgia, I searched the Interweb thing so anything about that performance. I managed to find a few websites about it and in no time, I had an electronic copy of a VHS tape of the performance (you can tell by the quality of the video). I've burned it to DVD and I'm a happy camper again.
If you're curious, I've found copies of this show on the web on Google video at:
Comedy of Errors, Part 1
Comedy of Errors, Part 2
To a modern audience, there are a few references that you may not remember to understand (1987). At one point, a Syracusian merchant is paraded out in bondage, begging for money to that he can be released. Several times during the play, he'll appear with a sandwich board and a tin cup. The messages were as follows:
Front: Put 10 000 000 in my Swiss Account // Back: Ollie says it's OK!
I believe this is a reference to the Iran-Contra scandal when Oliver North funneled money from his shell organization, the "National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty", through Palmer National Bank to the Contras.
Front: Give Me Money // Back: Or God Will Call Me Back.
In 1987, televangelist Oral Roberts said he was reading a spy novel when God appeared to him and told him to raise $8 million for Roberts' university, or else he would be "called home."
There was also a scene where Antiphillus, needing a distraction from a horde of angry Ephesisians, shouts "Hey look! It's Vanna White!" One of the Ephesisians asks "What's she wearing?" I believe this is a reference to Vanna's appearance in Playboy in 1987.
Enjoy!
