Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, may Mr. Aquino be so well, he willing accepts this late assignment. Thank you. Amen.

May 5, 2011

Literature 010

Thursday 8:00 P.M.

We rush inside, into the dark, to find our seats, as lights begin to fade in.  Music blasts open from the quiet man in the corner of stage-right.  Lights gleam on and light the stage, like a Mortal Kombat platform.  And so the play beings, with an brief introduction of all the kins, the actors: Bruce Turk as Antipholus’, Jerry Kernion as Dromio, Abby Craden as Adriana, Annie Abrams as Luciana, Michael Stone Forrest as Egeon, and others.  This interludic introduction along with the ragtime musical score creates a window, to implore the era of 1884, way back when, when Vaudeville be the bee’s knees in entertainment’s history, setting off a comedic theme, right off the bat, at the start of the beginning.  This Vaudeville frame adds an interesting layer to the already interesting Shakespearian comedic play. 


An interesting performance choice happens during the telling of the Egeon’s story.  Director Michael Michetti chooses to use a film to accompany the telling of the tragic story of Egeon.  This choice gave a very informative and funny sense for the melancholy anecdote that prolonged his death sentence.  It also helped in deciphering the archaic and poetic language of Shakespeare that may not be familiar to the audience of today.  This short film clip was shot in black and white to retain the time frame the director wanted to capture, that of the past, before color.  The film was not the only implement used to set the frame of comedy.