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and many were only reading/reciting their lines, from memorization. Didn't seem natural at all, well, about half of them about half of the time. Secondly it is a small theater of 30 seats, and 3 or 4 yelled and shouted, far too loud. Also a goodly spattering of nice fatty ham. Overdone, here there and all too many places. All around a rather amateur production, even so in the directing. Just not a lot of plain common sense in it. There were some good moments, where they did get into their lines, and spoke them, one to another. But worse, this was their last run through of this one. In other words, they won't get better than this. Their Richard III was worse, only for Richard who did the whole thing yelling and shouting at the top of his voice in this tiny theater as if he were in a huge stadium. Insanity. But worse was last month or two ago, out at Topanga Canyon, Theatricum Botanicum, aka Will Geer theater, (200? seats, outdoors) Cymbeline. Imogen was this super skinny, scrawny female, with the most squeaky, raspy, high pitched voice I have ever suffered thru' in 60 years, and all she did with every line was shriek, squeak and squeal it out at full volume. That still ratchets thru' my brain like a knife thru' butter. In other words, even in 'the entertainment capital of the world(???)', it's difficult to get good Shakespeare. But it was true pure Shakespeare, and not some horrid rewrite, or 'update'. dc
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