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Jul. 9th, 2008 10:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eiffel_71
Over to Portsmouth to see Oddsocks' production of Much Ado About Nothing, performed open-air in the grounds of the City Museum. It had been raining all day, and though by now the rain had stopped there were threatening-looking clouds overhead the whole time. About 15 minutes before the start I scanned the place looking for Ann, but didn't see her.
The member of the cast acting as MC for the night, 'Terry Bull', welcomed us on "this glorious night," indicating the hovering clouds. As is Oddsocks' practice, he then introduced us to his fellow actors, or rather their Oddsocks personas. 'Sue Flay', in Terry's words "a girl who always rises to the occasion", affected a broad West Country accent to announce "I play Leonato's daughter Hero, she's brave and she's bootiful, you may have to use your imagination there" - awwws all round - "and I also play Verges. He's simple and he's stoopid, so I should get one of 'em right." Others included Izzie Breathin and Richard Daniel Everby. The same guy was playing Don Pedro and his evil brother Don John, the latter distinguished by a black hat, and we were instructed to boo Don John whenever he appeared.
You know you're in for a treat when a Shakespeare play begins with The Blaydon Races played on the lute. The company rendered the Bard's text in full, but peppered it with jokes of their own, as is their wont, such as characters hitting each other in the face with doors or smacking face first into walls; Beatrice, when earwigging on Don Pedro and Claudio, buried her face in the lap of a naked statue and shook her head vigorously whenever they said something about Benedick fancying her; occasionally a character would direct a line to someone or a couple in the audience for a laugh; the passing of seagulls overhead during the prison scene led the Sexton to comment "I thought we'd done the gulling scene". Mere words aren't really adequate to describe an Oddsocks performance. I strongly recommend that if you're British based you go and see them yourself.
With ten or fifteen minutes to go the heavens opened, and as the actors carried bravely on the rain intensified. Leonato quipped "Let's speed our lines up as it's raining," Don Pedro instructed Beatrice to repeat the section of her speech she'd begun "while you [the audience] put your cagoules on" after the rustling of raincoats drowned her lines, and Benedick and Beatrice delivered the lines about pledging their love to each other "this glorious night" and "this good day" with broad ironic grins. Credit to them, they did their nuptial dance in full as the rain lashed the stage (and all of us) after all the other cast members had ducked out of the celebration dancing and run for the door at the back of the stage.
Getting off the ferry in Gosport, I bumped into Ann, who'd been there after all with her book group as planned. We'd been sat in completely different sections, and her crowd had clearly arrived after I'd settled in my seat. She'd looked for me at the interval, but I'd gone to the jacks and to get a cup of coffee. We agreed we'd meet at Oddsocks' next production, 'Les Misérables - The Panto', in January, thankfully under cover at the New Theatre Royal.
The member of the cast acting as MC for the night, 'Terry Bull', welcomed us on "this glorious night," indicating the hovering clouds. As is Oddsocks' practice, he then introduced us to his fellow actors, or rather their Oddsocks personas. 'Sue Flay', in Terry's words "a girl who always rises to the occasion", affected a broad West Country accent to announce "I play Leonato's daughter Hero, she's brave and she's bootiful, you may have to use your imagination there" - awwws all round - "and I also play Verges. He's simple and he's stoopid, so I should get one of 'em right." Others included Izzie Breathin and Richard Daniel Everby. The same guy was playing Don Pedro and his evil brother Don John, the latter distinguished by a black hat, and we were instructed to boo Don John whenever he appeared.
You know you're in for a treat when a Shakespeare play begins with The Blaydon Races played on the lute. The company rendered the Bard's text in full, but peppered it with jokes of their own, as is their wont, such as characters hitting each other in the face with doors or smacking face first into walls; Beatrice, when earwigging on Don Pedro and Claudio, buried her face in the lap of a naked statue and shook her head vigorously whenever they said something about Benedick fancying her; occasionally a character would direct a line to someone or a couple in the audience for a laugh; the passing of seagulls overhead during the prison scene led the Sexton to comment "I thought we'd done the gulling scene". Mere words aren't really adequate to describe an Oddsocks performance. I strongly recommend that if you're British based you go and see them yourself.
With ten or fifteen minutes to go the heavens opened, and as the actors carried bravely on the rain intensified. Leonato quipped "Let's speed our lines up as it's raining," Don Pedro instructed Beatrice to repeat the section of her speech she'd begun "while you [the audience] put your cagoules on" after the rustling of raincoats drowned her lines, and Benedick and Beatrice delivered the lines about pledging their love to each other "this glorious night" and "this good day" with broad ironic grins. Credit to them, they did their nuptial dance in full as the rain lashed the stage (and all of us) after all the other cast members had ducked out of the celebration dancing and run for the door at the back of the stage.
Getting off the ferry in Gosport, I bumped into Ann, who'd been there after all with her book group as planned. We'd been sat in completely different sections, and her crowd had clearly arrived after I'd settled in my seat. She'd looked for me at the interval, but I'd gone to the jacks and to get a cup of coffee. We agreed we'd meet at Oddsocks' next production, 'Les Misérables - The Panto', in January, thankfully under cover at the New Theatre Royal.
