Shakespeare

I walked to the Old Vic theatre this afternoon. It took a couple hours. It was perfect. The sun was shining, there was just enough cold to make my cheeks sting a little as I walked along the River Thames. I had already seen the play I was going to (Twelfth Night, my favorite Shakespearan Comedy), but it had affected me so strongly the first time that I had to see if it could have the same effect twice. Of course, it didn't. One never gets the same feeling twice and while the seat I was in this time was actually better, it was less magical to view it straight on than up high way to the side. Still, it was wonderful, just not quite magical. At the intermission I went and bought a ticket the evening show.

No, I wasn't seeing it for the third time. Twelfth was running in Rep with Taming of the Shrew, definately not my favorite. Still, they had done such interesting things as an all male cast with my favorite show that I wanted to see what they would do with what is possibly my least favorite. It was... exquistly done. The acting was strong and the concept itself, the period they placed it in, the direction was clear, and so forth. But I still, three hours later, feel ill. Because, this play is supposed to be funny. It is a comedy. It is terrifying and they pushed the horror so far. Petruchio basically tortures his wife into submission, starves her, deprives her of sleep, force marches her, denys her clean clothes, humilates her, and what was really sickening and brilliant was that the more he hurt, the more she would cling to him.

On the way out, I overheard one young woman say that the play didn't bother her, because as a "modern" woman, she knows that the play is dated, that it was "then". The thing is, this play is just as contemporary as any of his works, it is "now". There are still women being treated this badly and there are women who accept it and come to believe that they deserve it.

I'm getting chills. I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep well tonight, despite the two hour walk. And this, this is the reason I see theatre, this is why I spend most of my money on it, most of my free time, why my roommates go to the pub and I go alone to the theatre. Because when I feel this intensely, I know that I am alive. Theatre shakes me up. Not always, but when it happens- it is a life-affirming occurance. We all need reminders now and then, that there is more to life than our everyday routine, that there are wonderful, terrible, real things outside our bubble. That humanity is capable of the exquiste love and the most horrible brutality, and sometimes, those two are frightening combined. And for me, well, I prefer my truth given to me in fiction.