Strong Women
Shakespeare Winedale 2018
Love’s Labour’s Lost
Queen of France, and her retinue, fall in love then play the male suitors like the lutes that they were. Strong Women.
Arden of Faversham
Wife entwined with the death of her husband. Strong Women. Guilty, but a strong woman. Even scared her co-conspirators.
All’s Well That Ends Well
Rags to riches, and a hard look at who’s in charge. Seems like the strong women run the show, and love conquers all, or, as several characters observe, “All’s well that ends well?”
Julius Caesar
One word: the wife warned him. If only he listened to her?
Didn’t work for me with this production, the “strong female” was the actor playing Cassius, a female actress, but as Cassius? She brought a very bedevilment to the role with no use of “feminine wiles” — at all. Takes a woman to really breath life in a catty conspirator male role? It was a side to the character I have never seen before, and I was amazed by the portrayal of betrayal.
Strong Women
East of Austin, not too far, used to be a great place to fish, too, but that’s not this advice. East of Austin is a lone stand of pines, called “Lone Pine.” The big fire decimated (see footnote) the area but didn’t wipe it out.
The University of Texas has a summer Shakespeare satellite, which, in turn, is live theatre of remarkable quality, usually drawing on the Bard’s canon, performed in an old barn.
Middle of the Texas summer. No AC.
Secret to success as a viewer? For an audience member?
Frozen water.
Ice? No, simply freeze a bottle of water, and stick it in a pocket.
Get a ubiquitous — from an ecological point of view, ethically repugnant — but still quite quotidian: bottle of water, usually the 16 oz size. Stick in the freezer. Pull out the frozen water bottle before the show. Perfect.
Simple tool to enjoy the show.
Strong Women
I was going opt spin for the season as a series of strong women, but it was 3 out of 4 in that case — as I perceive they were portrayed.
Last minute note? Best character name, I’ve ever heard? From the Arden of Faversham?
Shakebag. He’s a crook, played by an exceptionally talented if somewhat vertically challenged actress. She was brilliant as Lear’s Fool, a year ago, if I recall. Brilliant in every bit she was in this season. Day-ham, I wished I had her control and command of the language.
Way better than me reading the bit. I’ve never been let down by a performance at UT’s Winedale Shakespeare event — well worth the time to see, partake.
Since seating is open, first come, first serve? I heartily recommend staying off the front row. To some? That’s the splash zone. With the Julius Caesar staging? Stage blood splash.
Strong Women
My original notion, as summary, was that it was season as defined by strong female characters, and while that falls apart in a strict analysis, it sure works in my shorthand version.
I’m good with that. Any — preferably all — of the plays are worth seeing.
(footnote: “decimate” means to, literally, reduce by ten percent, from the latin, “dec,” means “ten,” you know 10, or X.)
