Shakespeare in the park
After an online lottery system proclaimed m and me lucky winners of two tickets to SITP and an evening fraught with transit woes and wrong directions I finally made it to the open air theatre. Now the New York Shakespeare Festival is a tradition as old as the the first published issue of Sports Illustrated magazine.
This was my first time at a play and I walked in with zero expectations.
I was blown away.
You know fine, no, brilliant acting when you see it. All the actors were brilliant in their Respective roles ; even the guy masquerading as the devil and prancing around in black hot pants. A special mention about the monologue where the magistrate talks to his inner devils us a class act. A measure of measure has been copied tirelessly in many of our desi films. If you are not well grounded in Shakespearean English like me Wikipedia is of immense help with regards to understanding the synopsis.A special mention about the background score and lighting which just added to the finesse.
At the start if the play we were all told to switch off our phones and that no photography or video recording was allowed. And strangely the audience predominately made up of locals fell in line. This was an important aspect in order to have the undivided attention of the audience towards the happenings on stage.
I muse how this play must have been when it was first dramatized during Shakespeare time when most of the special effects bling we are so used to now dint exist. Special effects are in my two cents worth opinion are tinsel or specious. The real life and soul are the actors. Each scene was so perfect. The ability to emote mannerisms and voice modulation.
Kudos to the directors .
Exposure to different tenets of culture like these is one more reason to <3 NYC.
