Harper Regan, Taming of the Shrew, and A Midsummer Night's Dream

Harper Regan is a new show here in London at the National Theatre. It was pretty good, but also VERY weird. First of all, it was about a darker side of English culture, so a lot of times I couldn't tell if it was being really awkward or if I was just missing some sort of British thing. It was also very strange in that it ended like the Lord of the Rings- 6 times. It just dragged on, and I wasn't sure what was going on. I felt like the last scene in particular was just long and extensive for no reason. I guess overall it was a good show, but it was different from any form of theatre that I've experienced.

Taming of the Shrew was excellently done. It was set more modern day, and they kept the beginning where it's a play within a play. I thought everyone did very well. Especially Patrucio, the lead role. Kate on the other hand was kind of flat. It seemed like she was screaming sometimes just because she was supposed to be shrewish, and not for any other reason. Anyway, it was a very interesting interpretation of the show, taking a drunk guy, dressing him up and giving him power (through the role of Patrucio), then stripping it all away, leaving him in his underwear at the very end. Very interesting.

A Midsummer Night's Dream was an excellent show in every way. The fairies all had "puppets"- sometimes using creepy dolls, sometimes using various other objects, they represented the fairies and the forest. There was just enough spectacle to give it a magical touch, but not so much that it took away from the show. It was beautifully done and really inspired me to continue doing Shakespeare (and possibly direct one). One of my favorite effects was when they had bubbles drift down from the rafters (catwalk). Now you may be thinking, "What's so cool about that?" Well, apparently they fed a smoke machine into the bubble machine. So the bubbles floated down, and when they burst, little whisps of smoke dissipated into the air. It was awesome.

Three shows, three nights in a row? Pretty intense and pretty awesome. I think there are four lined up for me this week.