2005-10-06 - 10:18 a.m.
A Night Out, as told to my keyboard.
Dragging a bit today - we were out late at the Thee-AY-ter last night. We went and saw "Othello", which was excellent, but I was reminded why I'm a "comedy, and a bit with the dog" kind of person. The tragedies are, well, tragedies (but the tickets were free, and that's my kind of show). Iago did a very good impression of a complete sociopath, which I found an interesting switch from just being a complete asshole the way most people seem to play him. I'll have to go back and read the damn play again to remember exactly *why* Iago is such a psychopath, because the performance was cut in such a way as to make it seem that he was doing it all for fun (it ran under three hours, and I think this is one of the longer ones). I'm sure someone will enlighten me, perhaps even before I locate the synopsis on the Intarweb. And get gloomy all over again. Darn those tragedies. In general, I have started to avoid depressing plays and movies, no matter how good, how many Oscars it has won, or how many people tell me it's wonderful - I simply can't take feeling so depressed afterwards. Watching "1984" again depressed me for *weeks*. "On The Beach" depressed me for less time because the science is so flawed that I can snap myself into annoyance instead of gloom, but it was still a bit of a downer. "Othello" was somewhere in between the two - not slash-your-wrists depressing, but sad enough to leave one feeling sombre for a bit. As y'all may have realized, I likes me the funny. I like making people laugh, and I like laughing. I can read Camus if I want a sobering dose of how the world can suck. I even tend to avoid the evening news, but every now and then I catch stuff while flipping between CSI episodes. (And there are a lot of CSI episodes. It's the "Law and Order" of crime shows!) (Um, yeah.) Still, there were many things to like about the production of "Othello". Emilia's boobs, for instance. Those were some mighty fine boobs on a mighty fine actress. Desdemona's boobs were somewhat smaller - almost non-existent without the corset, and we're pretty sure she wasn't wearing anything under that nightgown. This came after almost getting a money shot of her nether regions when she was taking her shoes off. It wasn't quite as bad as seeing D'Artagnian's package, but it came close. I agree with Knitgeek and Findlaech that the costume designer's buckle fetish went a bit overboard, but the costumes were quite pretty, and there was definitely a suitable use of leather throughout. I *like* theater costume design - it's usually rather fun and creative, and the fact that it's not authentic replicas of the costumes of the time doesn't bother me at all - I'm sure the King's Men didn't bother to find out what Italians were wearing a century before when they did "Romeo and Juliet" for the first time, either. We played our usual game of "spot our friends" with the cast - there's always at least one of the cast that looks or has a character that acts *exactly* like someone you know, you know? In the end, I enjoyed myself (despite increasing pain from the awkward seats), but I don't think I'd go see it a second time. Avery Brooks was good, but mumbly, and Desdemona was good, but definitely from the "emote until the veins stand out on my neck" school of acting. Emilia was *very* good, and made me cry the most. Unfortunately, the act of trying to stifle my sniffles so I didn't disturb people resulted in a headache, and coupled with my newly rediscovered ability to get really car sick, the ride home was a bit fraught. I *really* appreciate Rob n' Wendy being willing to pack us all in their SUV, however - I would probably have become completely lost if I'd had to drive into DC. One final note - for people who like to dine before the show, I cannot recommend the seafood restaurant McCormick & Schmick highly enough. The food *and* the service was superb.
Dorsal - Ventral
Funnier than me: James Lileks disclaimer!
all words copyright Laura Mellin 2000-2005
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