1. Trevor Dunn sure knows The Tempest. His presentation was the last of the PBS series Shakespeare Uncovered. His guided tour included interviews with scholars and actors (including Helen Mirren) and dove deeply into what he saw Shakespeare getting at in his grand, experimental farewell to the theater, in his grand, experimental plunge into Prospero's struggle with magic and control and his inner conflict between vengeance and forgiveness. It's a short play. Dunn didn't bring this up, but with all of its experimentation, Shakespeare stays true to the most traditional of dramatic structures, the three Aristotelian unities of time, place, and action (I suppose he is the loosest with unity of action). Watching this was a splendid way to pass a part of a snowy Friday morning.
2. After a Klondike stroll to the Kiva and the liquor store for
some groceries and a bottle of warming brandy, I continued immersing
myself in listening to people of the theater wrestle with Shakespeare
and bring a play alive by watching Al Pacino's documentary movie, Looking for Richard, a feature film length treatment of putting Richard III together.
As often happens when I watch Shakespeare performed by superb actors,
it was the women who moved me to tears. First, Penelope Allen moved
me, first in her fierceness at the table during the cast's read through
as she fought for what she saw as true about her character, Elizabeth,
and then in her fierce performance playing Elizabeth. Secondly, the
tears flowed freely when the movie featured Estelle Parsons playing
Margaret, the cursing, prophetic, haunted, and haunting widow of King
Henry VI (murdered by Richard III). The men in Richard III are
all politics, all cunning, all plotting, always maneuvering to retain
power or seize it. Not these two women. They express their outrage
with and their disgust with the bloody events of Richard III's cold,
calculating, murderous ascent to the throne. The men coldly create the
horror. Elizabeth and Margaret make us feel it.
3. The Deke and I split one the best tasting sandwiches I've ever enjoyed. It was on the specials board at the Pour House: BBQ Beef Brisket.
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