Saturday, February 12, 2005

Richard III and Company

Last night, my friends Jen and Maria and I headed over to Calvin’s lab theater for Richard III.  I got hooked on Shakespeare last spring, when I took my first real course in Shakespeare.  (To be completely honest, I never liked the guy before that.  Sheesh, I didn’t like opera, didn’t like Shakespeare… crazy.)  Anyway, after reading Macbeth, I was sold.  Hamlet was good.  Othello.  Twelfth Night.  Much Ado about Nothing.  But I hadn’t read Richard III or seen it.

And I was impressed!  The play was really compact, very tight.  They boiled it down to 100 minutes and only used six actors, I think.  So it was a really intense performance.  And I always seem to forget what “tragedy” means, as in “The Tragedy of Richard III.”  It means: A LOT OF PEOPLE DIE.  Yeah, forgot about that.  So it wasn’t a real “feel-good” show, but the actors did a great job.  It was sparse, too—not many props, not much in costuming.  Just the story, the language, the expression.  They did have this cool effect with a video camera, though: a photographer followed Richard around during the entire play, filming his face or whatever he was thinking about (as in, the many murders).  And that live footage was shown on either side of the theater, so we got to watch the actors on stage as well as the intensely focused Richard on screen.  Pretty cool. 

Today has been great.  One of the up-sides to living in a place as cloudy as Grand Rapids is that whenever the sun shines, it feels like a holiday.  It reached about 47 degrees today—maybe warmer—and it was just so gorgeous!!  I studied on our balcony for a while (until my feet got cold).  Also hung out in the Fish House, reading for sociology.  (Next time you drop by the Fish House, I highly recommend that you try the “zebra” drink.  Dark and white mocha.  Request whipping cream.  Very, very good.  And it works nicely with chapter three in the intro to sociology text.)

Tonight I’m off to see a Korean movie: “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring” is the name, I think.  The Calvin Film Arts Committee is showing it over in the Bytwerk Theater, which is just across a parking lot from my apartment.  It’s supposed to be a very beautiful film, so I’m looking forward to it.  Then tomorrow is church, rest and relaxation, and a Valentine’s Day party with friends.  Woo hoo!  I’ll let you know how it goes.  Take care! —jl

Posted by Jenn Langefeld on 02/12 at 07:28 PM
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