Intermission: When a play I adored in its premiere gets picked up for a tour or re-mount, my heart gives a little flutter. Yes, I think. People have another chance to experience this work. I can bully my friends into seeing Casey and Diana and they can’t blame the commute to Stratford for not going.
3 comments:
The idea of ‘remounting’ is discussed in this article, moreover, the impact of a remount. And moreover that, Aisling Murphy’s love for the show of Casey and Diana. Theater is so special because of its authenticity, transparency, and the fact that it doesn’t last forever. There is something so awesome about a production that goes away, leaves you thinking about the missing pieces, the ‘movie magic’ of the show that is so seamless yet so calculated. A turntable that reveals one set to another, a scrim that has a projection upon it. Aspects of theater that are shockingly good that you don’t get to see close up and personal, and you don’t get to rewind the tape for a ‘constant replay.’ Remounting plays is something very exciting for theater lovers, you get a second chance to see the show– rewatching it looking for different things, deeper and with more appreciative eyes.
It was really interesting reading this point of view. I originally agreed with their original opinion of preferring in the round theater at times, however I think their journey of experiencing all of these in the round productions in proscenium style is fascinating, and a testament to the work of the actors, designers and directors in getting it right. I agree that theoretically any show should be able to be put on anywhere if you can figure out how to make it stay encaptivating and draw in the audience to this story. I have to say however, in the round theater fascinates me, especially as I’ve seen it done significantly less than proscenium work, and so admire when it’s tackled. Theater in the round, or in smaller and other formatted venues, can be so incredibly intimate as there is quite literally “no where to hide” and there are eyes from all around, which would be so hard to design let alone act in. I’d love to explore that type of theater more in the future, and seeing the comparison of the same show done well in both formats would be super cool.
I love theatre in the round, when done right it can be really powerful. I have seen a lot of really good shows that have been taken from a traditional proscenium and they have been put in a more intimate space and have been much more personal and impactful. That being said, I was always taught that shows in the round stay in the round because putting it on a big stage would make the show lose something. Since those shows are typically more personal, a proscenium style stage and distance between the audience and the actors would cause a disconnect. At least that's what I was told, and it seemed that the author of this article had the same concern, however apparently if one has a good director and designers the space does not matter. The show can be good anywhere if it is designed well, at least that is what I took away from the article, which I think is really interesting.
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