Sara Carreras Live Play Response #2
This past Thursday my roommate and I went to the Shakespeare Tavern in downtown to watch The Merchant of Venice. It was my first time at the famous Shakespeare venue and I am glad that I went, because I had never been to a play venue that has tables instead of traditional seating banks and because the hot chocolate was pretty great, not gonna lie.
I think that the production company did a very good job of updating the play for a modern audience, such as including a few modern jokes that we were all able to understand. I, however, did not really enjoy the actual play itself despite the attempts to make it more accessible. I have seen my fair share of Shakespeare plays, and after seeing various plays produced in various ways without any specifically enjoyable experience, I am starting to think that I do not really like watching Shakespeare. At first, I thought that it was because of the language itself, but after studying so many of his plays, the language isn’t really much of an issue anymore. I think it is the nature of the plays themselves that I do not like. It is hard for me to connect with the heightened poetic language with long speeches. It is just not the kind of media that I grew up with or that I am used to watching. I also have trouble relating to any of the plots that I have seen in his plays. I am not sure if it is a cultural barrier or my attention deficit, or if it is just not my cup of tea. I have tried so hard to laugh when I watch one of his comedies and to be deeply invested in the characters in tragedies but it never really happens for me. Having said that, I do appreciate all of the work that is put into interpreting his plays in new ways every time and how hard it must be to handle that kind of sophisticated language and memorize it.
Despite my distaste for the play itself, I do think that it was an enjoyable evening. The actors were very skilled and confident in those skills. I also liked the set and the costumes, which had a traditionally Elizabethan aesthetic. The visuals were not distracting or unnecessary, so they allowed the story to shine, which is something that I always appreciate. There was also a really great lighting moment that transitioned us into the intermission. There was a spotlight on Shylock giving an intense speech and at the end of it, everything faded to black in the shape of a circle on Shylock, and it felt like I was watching a movie.
I also thought that the sound design was very effective. All of the sounds that were implemented were played live or sounded like they were played live downstage. There was a beautiful moment onstage (I had no idea what was happening but it was after the intermission) where a few actors were playing different classical string instruments and singing and it was a nice break from just hearing dialogue.
I would highly recommend going to the Shakespeare tavern because they have pretty reasonable student prices for such high quality production value and the ability to have a fun night out with friends. Although I was not that interested in the play itself, the experience itself was enough to make it worth it.