"Play Out the Play" (Henry IV Part I, Act 2 Scene 4)

I'm quite enjoying the plays in Ashland at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. It's been quite relaxing, though the two-plays-a-day thing can get a little exhausting after a while. Fortunately, today we only see one, the Merchant of Venice. Yesterday was Hamlet for a matinee and Henry IV Part I for eveningtimes; the day before, Well (not a Shakespeare play by any stretch - a very modern mind-bending piece) for the afternoon and Twelfth Night for the evening.

None of the plays have been bad thus far, though I regret that while I was quite fond of this production of Hamlet, the demographic of the audience pushed it so towards a large number of students that the whispering behind me during my favorite monologues came as some distraction and might have inspired violence were I not aware that I, too, was once so disruptive an audience member.

Also, some thrift store shopping has taken place; I managed to purchase some shorts to help me endure the heat of the desert during the summer at work (though they're somewhat useless when I'm working in the well-air-conditioned basements) as well as a lovely sweater. I'm no shopped, but I'm still decently satisfied with my purchases, and now must simply consider the pros and cons of purchasing a lovely blue wig from there.

Watching these shows with my grandparents has been most interesting; there is certainly a generation gap there that makes modernization and bold theatrical choices somewhat uncomfortable for them. Our Hamlet production, for instance, had the players as a hip-hop troupe, which might have suited the 400 students in the audience (well over half the house) but did not cooperate well with the older demographic more often gracing the audiences here.

This post has nothing to do with Mudd, for which I apologize. I will tend against putting further posts here, and instead keep them (in more frequency, too) at another blog on this same account.

Also, can I just say that I wish I had heard people speak well of Henry IV Part I before? It's a brilliant play, especially when well-acted as might be done here.