Here comes my first theatre audience experience since the blog started, probably about 300th of my life.
Greek tragedy. I blank out when my brain is overflown by too many English words in one go, in other words I get bored. After 6 years in England I am still living with a handicap, standing the other side of the fence from other people, or sensually impaired. As a result I notice some petty things other than story, such as acting, costume, music, voice and rhythm of the speech. So this is totally my personal FOREIGN view to theatre. Please bear that in mind.
I have read Antigone very briefly once, but have no deep knowledge of it at all. After watching the show, my feeling was “Great play”. That’s it. Short and simple. Much prefer this to Shakespeare. Would love to see other productions and interpretations.
Other than small details I noticed like wrong casting, wrong costume and some musical under-development, the show itself made me think of how tiring the audience experience can be. It was too full on to watch after your long day. And that is maybe the original purpose of theatre, maybe in Greece – serious encounter. I feel I have learnt this sort of thing in my drama school….
Anyway, there was too much shouting. As in shouting with every “t” sounds complimented by spit, lit in a dusty space. As in shouting that makes you worry about the actors’ throat and next day condition, just like a vocalist with a worn out voice in his gig makes the audience wince. But shouting seemed like an unavoidable directorial decision with so much emotion going on..I am next to novice when it comes to directing text based plays. So as an audience here I look for something watchable and listenable. In my drama school days, I used to declare to my classmates my policy for ideal theatre which is “No shouting, no nudity”
When was the last time I shouted? Almost never as an adult. My house window is facing the quiet residential street in Crouch End and I can hear people talking there, and one of my neighbour families (Daughter and father) have arguments including quite a lot of swear words and shouting on the street almost once a fortnight. I am the secret audience on the first floor. So yes, watching someone else shouting and exposing their emotion can be watchable. I just want it to be on film rather than theatre stage, because when they start the exhibition of “Look, I am angry so I shout till my voice runs out” it immediately puts me off. At last I agree with Brecht.