I didn’t expect much out of the theater section of this seminar, and was even less excited about the Shakespeare workshop, since I usually need a translation at hand whenever I read his plays. I certainly expected to dislike Penelope, since I didn’t know anything about it. However, after attending both of these events I have to say that Theater is probably my favorite part of the Art Seminar so far.
Shakespeare never struck me as the master of literature he is made out to be. But after Rodney Gutierre’s workshop, I have a new respect for Shakespeare and his work. I learned why so many elements of his writing were so bizarre, and I gained some insight into how difficult it is to be an actor and a director. For example, I always noticed many discrepancies in his texts; many of his characters would say things contradictory to their character, and many times I would find sentences in a dialogue that didn’t correspond with the rest of the conversation. I always thought these were mistakes on Shakespeare’s behalf, or that I couldn’t understand what the characters were trying to say. However, at the workshop I learned that editors often omitted words or phrases from some plays because they didn’t understand it. This would throw off the entire speech. There are also many instances where certain words in a sentence were capitalized, italicized, or spaced out differently than other words. I learned that these were stage directions for the actors, but they were “corrected” by editors that didn’t know what they meant. I find this method of stage direction to be very useful and intuitive. After acting in the workshop as Edward the Bastard, I have developed an appreciation for the stage direction that too many mistake for bad grammar. I enjoyed the several exercises Gutierre put us through, which showed me how much sexuality and humor Shakespeare had in his plays. I enjoy sexuality and humor very much, so this made me enjoy the workshop even more. Overall, Rodney Gutierre’s charisma, exercises, and insight made me enjoy the workshop and appreciate Shakespeare.
We also saw Penelope as a class, for which I also had low expectations. I have had good experiences with theater before, but the shady neighborhood of the warehouse made me afraid for my life and doubtful as to the professionalism and quality of the play. However, once the play started I was no longer entranced by Quinn’s underwear, but I found myself really interested and entertained by the philosophical conversations of the characters. The sausage conversation particularly fascinated me because of how the cast was able to make such insightful and clever exchanges off of something as simple as a piece of meat. I also really liked the different attempts at wooing Penelope. First, I enjoyed the contrast between Don and Quinn’s theatrical and ridiculous attempts of seduction and the heartfelt, quiet, genuine displays of affection and emotion from Fitz and Barnes. Each character’s monologue was fantastic; they were well delivered, each had unique points, and they all explored ideas on such a high level that it was almost overwhelming me. Don’s monologue about his mother hit me emotionally because of my relationship with my own mother. Fitz’s speech about the nothingness in his life filled me with pity. Quinn’s performance was hilarious and reminiscent of my days as a quick-changer in LeBell’s Circus.
But there was one characteristic of both of these events that made them twice as enjoyable for me: I had my glasses for both of them!
