The Utah Shakespearean Festival!

One of the highlights of my year has come and gone again, and I must say I had a wonderful time. Six plays in three days and both kids in child care. :D I love the women there; they still remembered Ryan 9 months after the last time we were there. He woke up every morning really excited to go back. Sofia, on the other hand, did not deal with it well; we haven't moved past the separation anxiety phase yet, but to the child care center's credit, they made it very easy to leave her. (But then, so did getting to see the plays!)

Megan, I know you've been waiting for the reviews. Here they are in the order of my preference from least liked to best.

The School for Wives: The basic story is a man, Arnolphe, who has had numerous affairs decides that for his own wife he needs an absolute innocent so she can never be false to him. The girl he had raised in a convent, Agnes, is released to get ready for the wedding day, but while he's away, Agnes is seduced by young Horace and they fall in love. Horace confides his plans in Arnolphe because he is a friend of Horace's father, so Arnolphe thinks he is keeping one step ahead of the couple. The festival does plays so well, and this one has excellent actors, costumes, and direction. The problem is that they weren't given much to work with. Moliere, the French Shakespeare, wrote it, and it is funny in places. However, most of the laughs came from dumb shows in between scenes and the notary's amusing costume.

Cyrano de Bergerac: The classic love story about the triangle amidst the man who thinks himself ugly but who has a tremendous soul, the beautiful Christian who is not so bright, and the radiant Roxane. Cyrano, the great poet, is madly in love with Roxane who is madly in love with Christian. Cyrano writes love letters for Christian and eventually wins Roxane's heart, but Christian is killed before he can tell Roxane the truth. He keeps the secret for 15 more years until minutes before his death. It should tell you how much I liked the other plays that this is ranked 5 of 6. This was the play I was most looking forward to because Cyrano and Roxane are performed by a husband and wife team who actually met on the Cedar City stage and it was directed by another favorite actor. However, there were slow moments, and I found the play itself frustrating. Megan, you'd love this play, but I found the unrequited love depressing! However, the poetry of Romanticized love and the main performances themselves were beautiful.

Two Gentlemen of Verona: Two friends, Proteus and Valentine, graduate from high school and go out into the world to seek their fortunes. Valentine falls in love with the duke's daughter, Sylvia. Proteus, leaving his love Julia at home, goes to court and falls in love with Sylvia himself. He gets Valentine banished and then sets about wooing Sylvia himself, while Julia dresses as a boy and becomes Proteus' page. As with all the comedies, everything ends well though abruptly. This was by far Austen's favorite play because they have a live dog in it! This is not one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, but this was by far the most memorable performance I've seen of it, full of great bits and a couple of beautiful comic pieces by Brian Vaughn.

Fiddler on the Roof: This is the classic musical about a Jewish family in Anatevka, a Russian village. Tevye, the milkman, sees three of his daughters married, grows closer to his wife, and then has to leave his home along with all the other Jews. Of course, this synopsis doesn't give any indication how funny and moving this production was in turn. The songs are beautiful, the performances fabulous, and the dances were incredible, especially at the wedding (bottle dance anyone?). Of course, I hardly stopped crying the whole second half, but I was in good company; I heard sniffles all around me. It was life-affirming and gave me a lot to think about, including how communities interact with each other, how parents deal with and are affected by the choices of their children, and about how the Mormon community was also driven about in our earlier history. I would love to see it again this season!

Othello: Desdemona marries Othello, a great black general, while his assistant Iago decides to ruin Othello's life because he heard a rumor that Othello had slept with his wife, Emilia. He proceeds to convince Othello that Desdemona has been having an affair with his lieutenant, Cassio, to the point that Othello kills Desdemona and then himself. That is the basic synopsis, but it hardly gives an idea of how brilliant this play is and how interesting it is to watch Iago work. This may be a definitive production for me. I've seen numerous versions, but this was hands down the best Iago I have ever seen. You could see the wheels turning in his mind as he devises his plot, and he was very ratlike. Desdemona was played assertively, which is completely supported by the text, though I have never seen her played that way. Othello was quite good too, though maybe not definitive (I don't think I have found him yet). The set suggests a chessboard, appropriate to Iago moving about people like pawns. I was blown away by the performance, but I'm not sure I could go back and see it again quickly, if only because it is emotionally draining.

Taming of the Shrew: This is my very favorite play this season. Bianca the beautiful cannot get married until Kate the shrew gets married, so Bianca's suitors arrange for Petruchio to marry Kate and get her out of the way. The suitors try to outwit each other for Bianca's hand, while Petruchio attempts to tame Kate. This production was set in Italy just after WWII. Petruchio is a swaggering American GI, but one who is not abusive to Kate, merely trying to mirror her behavior, though he regrets some of what he feels he has to do. There are so many comic bits that I laughed pretty much all the way through the play. This is a problematic play, to be sure, but I've rarely seen it done better. Hopefully, we'll be going back next month to see it again.