A couple of years ago, had someone suggested to me the possibility that I would enjoy a ballet more than a Shakespeare performance, I would have probably told them they were nutty. Dance was not something I was interested in in the least. I, like many stereotypical guys, simply never gave the art form much thought. However, I was very much into theatre and Shakespeare is obviously the epitome of playwright. I enjoyed reading Shakespeare, enjoyed performing Shakespeare, and watching Shakespeare. I still do immensely. However, I have also learned to love dance. I am awful at rhythm which makes it extremely difficult for me to dance, but I have learned to love watching dance performances.
This love for the art form came about due to a handful of events. I watched movies such as West Side Story and Singin' in the Rain. I went with friends to see Prince Caspian: The Ballet (which was pretty awful, but epic). I briefly dated a dancer. I made friends with other dancers. I heard that Darren Aronofsky was making a ballet movie and began looking up more and more about the art due to interest in the film--and I thoroughly enjoyed Black Swan when it came out. Throughout the last few years, I have attended many theatre performances, several of which have included dance numbers. Gradually, I began to think of dance as an art form I wished I could do. It is an expression using the beauty of the human body in ways that I wish I had the capabilities to mimic.
Meanwhile, my love for Shakespeare has also grown. I have read a few, seen a few, and performed in a few in the last couple of years. Many of my close friends are lovers of Shakespeare as well. I got to see an incredible performance of Macbeth at the Globe. Shakespearean acting, while not necessarily my largest strength is something that I am capable of doing. His plays are incredible works full of so much power and profound ideas. They speak to me. I love studying them and working on them. It is, in my mind, right to call him the greatest playwright to have ever lived. Given that there are no things I love more than theatre, there's nothing I would rather have a career in than theatre, no art form I enjoy more than theatre, it should come as no surprise that I hold the greatest playwright in extremely high esteem.
So, when I say that I decided I was going to see Much Ado, About Nothing at the Sydney Opera House, it was kind of a big deal. Meanwhile, I also decided I was going to get a ticket to British Liaisons, a ballet about which I knew relatively little--I simply wanted to see several different shows at the Opera House while I have the opportunity. I bought my ticket for Much Ado, getting a nice seat just a few rows back from the stage and to the house right side. I put off buying the British Liaisons ticket because I was not quite as enthusiastic about it--I definitely wanted to see it but I didn't have such a high preference about where I was going to be seated.
So, Much Ado was a week ago. And I did enjoy the show. My view was good, nothing super special, but not bad. The lead actors playing Benedick and Beatrice were great. Don Pedro and Claudio were enjoyable as well. The smaller roles were a mixed bag, some being quite good, some being just okay. Don John was an interesting but ultimately dull take on the character. Dogberry made me cringe, because he was flat and boring when he should have stolen the show. Transitions in the piece were strange--actors occasionally would come on upstage slowly setting up the next scene while dialogue was still going on downstage. This was very distracting and annoying. Random moments using musical instruments throughout the show added very little and often detracted. Don Pedro, Claudio, and Don John bowed at the Interval completely shattering all suspension of disbelief. Oh and did I mention that Dogberry was just bad? To their credit, the set design was quite interesting--rather than around a garden, they placed the action inside a pool room. Quite interesting and very good use of the pool table--Benedick using all his strength to push the pool table closer when he overhears Don Pedro, Leonato, and Claudio talking was hilarious. But overall, the show was rather lackluster.
Now, to be fair, I have a history with Much Ado. Seeing a Milligan production of it is one of the earliest plays I remember watching--Lee Blackburn played Benedick; more importantly to me, Ben Lee played Dogberry (which has made it hard for me to enjoy any interpretations that are not similar to Ben's). Then, in high school, I was in Much Ado, playing Don John. I have read the play multiple times. I have, of course, seen the Kenneth Brannagh film. I probably know no other Shakespeare play better than I know Much Ado. Thus, I was let down watching Much Ado at the Opera House. It was also this performance that made me realize just how small the theatre industry in Australia really is. The fact of the matter is, there aren't that many actors here. There's not that much competition. The overall quality of theatre here simply is not as good as many of the theatres in the United States or Britain. It is a sad fact--and not one that I'm throwing out there just because of Much Ado; this is something that has been talked about at Wesley while I've been studying there.
So, I was let down by Much Ado--though, really, it was enjoyable and I don't regret going at all. Now, about British Liaisons....
When I went to buy my ticket, I simply intended to buy one for a cheap seat. I quickly discovered that the show was close to selling out. As I looked through the available seats, I saw one that stood out to me, one that I strongly debated about buying. This seat was located in the dead center of the front row of the balcony. In other words, it was, literally, the best seat in the Sydney Opera House. It also cost a lot of money. Every other seat in that row was sold out. In fact, almost every other seat in that entire price bracket was sold out. And there the single best seat was looking at me, tempting me. After much debate, I decided that, while I do intend to return to Australia some day, it is unlikely that I would ever have the opportunity to pick the best seat in the venue again. Thus, I bought an expensive ticket for a show that I still didn't know that much about--and a ballet at that; me being someone who really doesn't know that much about dance.
Well, let me tell you. Walking up the red-carpeted steps to an area of seating where the vast majority of the other audience members are elderly men and women who clearly frequent the ballet was just a bit intimidating. I was seated between two old women and felt rather awkward and out of place. Then the show began. British Liaisons is actually a compilation of three ballets of differing styles from different eras. The first ballet, Checkmate, was based on the game of chess: the dancers played the chess pieces dancing across a chessboard. In the story they told, the Black Queen seduced the Red Knight who is commanded to fight her by the Red King. After their duel the Red Knight is about to strike the Black Queen down when he finds himself unable to do so. The Queen takes his sword and kills him. Then the black pieces take over the board and slay the Red King. The story was simple but told beautifully.
The second piece, After the Rain, was much more minimalist. Complex lifts and turns took place as smooth as water. The most impressive part was a pas de duex (duet with 2 dancers) of incredible power and beauty. The dancers moved across the bare stage painting an incredible picture of beauty that, frankly, I cannot describe. I was nearly moved to tears. As the piece ended, the entire theatre was silent. Then, applause exploded throughout. The piece was brief, but it was one of the strongest, most beautiful works of art I have ever witnessed.
The third ballet, Concerto, was also quite excellent and technically amazing. Many dancers moved across the stage constantly in sync with one another. They moved as if they were all of one body. It was a wonderfully done piece, though it was not quite as incredible and moving as After the Rain.
During the Intervals, there were two brief ones, one of the women next to me began talking to me. First, she asked me if I were a dancer, saying she thought I might be. Then, when I told her that no, I was an actor, she began telling me about coming to the ballet with her late husband. She was a precious lady, reminding me of an Irish nun in Paris once upon a time who gave directions to me and some friends to Notre Dame and the disappeared (true story). This woman, after the show ended, wished me luck with my studies and that I would manage to be in the right place at the right time and thus have a good career. Somehow, I felt that her wishes were more like commands. She was encouraging and kind and meeting her was a blessing.
In case you haven't noticed, I enjoyed the ballet far more than I enjoyed Much Ado. I do not regret purchasing the ticket I did at all. My seat truly was the best seat in the Opera House. I could see everything perfectly. I was moved to another world throughout it. Granted, I don't know the technical aspects of ballet and thus go into the show with less biased. However, watching British Liaisons, especially After the Rain, I felt like I was watching something special that I won't soon forget. Watching Much Ado, I felt like I was watching a decent production that I won't remember in detail for long. Both experiences were good, but gosh... I wish I could dance.
PS. The Drama Theatre at the Opera House isn't nearly as nice as the Concert Hall. Just in case you were wondering.
PPS. British Liaisons trailer, doesn't really do it justice though.
01 May 2011
Melbourne.
"We're thinking about going to Melbourne for Easter Break. Wanna go with us?" Tess and Rachel asked me several weeks ago.
"Sounds like fun. Why not?" I replied. Did I know anything about Melbourne other than it's Australia's second largest city and that it was supposed to be a bit more artsy than Sydney? Not really. Did I know that the mountains around Melbourne are absolutely gorgeous and in many ways similar to the mountains in Tennessee? Nope. Did I have any specific things I wanted to do in Melbourne? Nope. Basically, I was asked if I wanted to go on a trip and I said sure without giving it much thought.
Thus, Thursday 21 of April, I found myself getting onto a night train that would, with roughly 10 hours of travel time, take me across much of the Australian east coast to a destination of which I knew very little. Traveling with me were the aforementioned Tess and Rachel, as well as Alessandra and Nick. The train ride was not terrible, though none of us really got good sleep. The seats were not the most comfortable in the world and having many stops along the route resulted in frequent awakenings. Rachel and I sat together, neither of us sleeping very successfully with the occasional brief conversation about it. "This stop looks like a barn," she said to me sometime around 3 or 4 in the morning.
"Huh," I replied. "I can't see it. My contacts aren't in. It's just a blur."
"Well, it's definitely a barn."
Not even cuddling could help us slip into the world of dreams. We were in a perpetual state of tired near-sleep. But really, the train travel was not bad. Just tiring.
Nick lived in Melbourne for two years earlier in his life--once when he was six and once when he was fifteen. Thus, he had connections that resulted in us having a destination of the Lilydale train station--Lilydale being one of the suburbs of the city. However, that Friday, Good Friday, we spent meandering about the city itself.
As it turned out, the free tram that goes around central Melbourne only closes two days a year: Christmas and Good Friday. Thus, we walked. A lot. We found our way to a park, meeting a man in a bunny suit on the way. We went to a war memorial. We walked down through the city to another park with a lake. We saw black swans. We found our way to a stretch of restaurants, where we ate wonderful pizza. We meandered across a dock that ended up placing us along rocks where penguins live and thus we got to see some penguins. We played cards. And then we found our way to a tram which we paid to take us back to the train station. We walked something like 10 or 11 kilos throughout that day, which is quite a bit to do with backpacks full of a weekends' worth of clothes just after a long train ride during which little sleep occurred. Fortunately, the weather was good for us--occasional spurts of light rain cooled us down but didn't last long enough to be annoying.
Finally, we got onto a train to head to Lilydale where Stan and his son Daniel, friends of Nick's family, met us. We loaded into their vehicles and headed to their lovely home in Mt. Evelyn, a beautiful little town of nice people. We were served some wonderful food, chatted briefly, and the girls were driven to the Tromps, another family of friends who opened their home to us travelers. After a good night of sleep, we set off with Stan and Daniel to travel through the mountains.
We stopped by rivers. We saw an eccentric house. We entered a rain forest. We hiked. We went on mountain tops with incredible overlooks. We had a barbie in the middle of the woods. We were out all day, seeing beautiful sights and having excellent conversations. We went to a farm owned by Stan's nephew. We were in awe of the land. And then we went back to Stan's, where we ate good food again.
The next day we visited their church for Easter Sunday. This was the church Nick's father had preached out when his family lived in Melbourne. It was a nice place with welcoming people. I then went with the girls to the Tromp household for lunch, while Nick caught up with friends he'd not seen in years. We went for a walk while Rachel Tromp, a girl just a little younger than us, took her horse for a ride. The path was similar to the Virginia Creeper Trail--indeed, it was even a path converted from an old railway. After about an hour of walking, we got coffee at a wonderful shop converted from an old Harry Potter style train.
After returning the the Tromps, playing cards, and good dinner at Stan's, we set forth again, going to an incredible overlook that looked across the city that night. The lights were incredible. We then returned to Stan's, where we watched the classic Australian movie The Castle. The next morning, we got up early and returned to the city, where we caught a train back home to Sydney.
The weekend was wonderful. It was beautiful and I did not want to leave Melbourne. We saw so much so quickly and were so welcomed by such wonderful people. I cannot imagine spending that break better. And I didn't plan a single part of it. I was just invited, said sure, and ended up having a wonderful time. Then, almost as soon as the Melbourne trip came to a close, we got on a bus to head westward into the Outback. But that's another story.
"Sounds like fun. Why not?" I replied. Did I know anything about Melbourne other than it's Australia's second largest city and that it was supposed to be a bit more artsy than Sydney? Not really. Did I know that the mountains around Melbourne are absolutely gorgeous and in many ways similar to the mountains in Tennessee? Nope. Did I have any specific things I wanted to do in Melbourne? Nope. Basically, I was asked if I wanted to go on a trip and I said sure without giving it much thought.
Thus, Thursday 21 of April, I found myself getting onto a night train that would, with roughly 10 hours of travel time, take me across much of the Australian east coast to a destination of which I knew very little. Traveling with me were the aforementioned Tess and Rachel, as well as Alessandra and Nick. The train ride was not terrible, though none of us really got good sleep. The seats were not the most comfortable in the world and having many stops along the route resulted in frequent awakenings. Rachel and I sat together, neither of us sleeping very successfully with the occasional brief conversation about it. "This stop looks like a barn," she said to me sometime around 3 or 4 in the morning.
"Huh," I replied. "I can't see it. My contacts aren't in. It's just a blur."
"Well, it's definitely a barn."
Not even cuddling could help us slip into the world of dreams. We were in a perpetual state of tired near-sleep. But really, the train travel was not bad. Just tiring.
Nick lived in Melbourne for two years earlier in his life--once when he was six and once when he was fifteen. Thus, he had connections that resulted in us having a destination of the Lilydale train station--Lilydale being one of the suburbs of the city. However, that Friday, Good Friday, we spent meandering about the city itself.
As it turned out, the free tram that goes around central Melbourne only closes two days a year: Christmas and Good Friday. Thus, we walked. A lot. We found our way to a park, meeting a man in a bunny suit on the way. We went to a war memorial. We walked down through the city to another park with a lake. We saw black swans. We found our way to a stretch of restaurants, where we ate wonderful pizza. We meandered across a dock that ended up placing us along rocks where penguins live and thus we got to see some penguins. We played cards. And then we found our way to a tram which we paid to take us back to the train station. We walked something like 10 or 11 kilos throughout that day, which is quite a bit to do with backpacks full of a weekends' worth of clothes just after a long train ride during which little sleep occurred. Fortunately, the weather was good for us--occasional spurts of light rain cooled us down but didn't last long enough to be annoying.
Finally, we got onto a train to head to Lilydale where Stan and his son Daniel, friends of Nick's family, met us. We loaded into their vehicles and headed to their lovely home in Mt. Evelyn, a beautiful little town of nice people. We were served some wonderful food, chatted briefly, and the girls were driven to the Tromps, another family of friends who opened their home to us travelers. After a good night of sleep, we set off with Stan and Daniel to travel through the mountains.
We stopped by rivers. We saw an eccentric house. We entered a rain forest. We hiked. We went on mountain tops with incredible overlooks. We had a barbie in the middle of the woods. We were out all day, seeing beautiful sights and having excellent conversations. We went to a farm owned by Stan's nephew. We were in awe of the land. And then we went back to Stan's, where we ate good food again.
The next day we visited their church for Easter Sunday. This was the church Nick's father had preached out when his family lived in Melbourne. It was a nice place with welcoming people. I then went with the girls to the Tromp household for lunch, while Nick caught up with friends he'd not seen in years. We went for a walk while Rachel Tromp, a girl just a little younger than us, took her horse for a ride. The path was similar to the Virginia Creeper Trail--indeed, it was even a path converted from an old railway. After about an hour of walking, we got coffee at a wonderful shop converted from an old Harry Potter style train.
After returning the the Tromps, playing cards, and good dinner at Stan's, we set forth again, going to an incredible overlook that looked across the city that night. The lights were incredible. We then returned to Stan's, where we watched the classic Australian movie The Castle. The next morning, we got up early and returned to the city, where we caught a train back home to Sydney.
The weekend was wonderful. It was beautiful and I did not want to leave Melbourne. We saw so much so quickly and were so welcomed by such wonderful people. I cannot imagine spending that break better. And I didn't plan a single part of it. I was just invited, said sure, and ended up having a wonderful time. Then, almost as soon as the Melbourne trip came to a close, we got on a bus to head westward into the Outback. But that's another story.
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