By Jennifer Mustoe (and friends)
I am sorry to tell you that the review you are about to read is about shows that closed on Saturday night, the evening I watched them. So as jazzed as you will be in reading this review, the possibility of witnessing this splendor for these plays is past. However, read on and I will whet your appetite Grassroots Shakespeare Company’s fall line up, which is sure to be spectacular.
I have been a big fan of GSC for several years. If you like fun, you like Shakespeare, you like being part of an active audience or watching people who like to interact with the performers onstage… If you like watching brilliant actors take Shakespeare and make it an organic experience that all can understand and enjoy… If you like watching shows in unusual venues… If you like to see free shows… Grassroots Shakespeare Company is for you. I insist.
My companions and I, all Front Row Reviewers Utah reviewers (Joel Applegate, my son Caden Mustoe and my husband, Craig Mustoe) got to the Provo Castle Amphitheater right before the 6 PM curtain for Much Ado About Nothing. It. Was. Hot. As in the sun was beating down, I went to sit on the side stones (it’s all stone–bring a blanket to sit on if you don’t pay for the chaired seats.) Soon, however, the clouds covered the sun, and before we knew it, the rain came pattering and then slightly pouring down. But the show played on!
Front Row Reviewers Utah has already reviewed the final comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, in this grouping of three shows, so I will only discuss it briefly later in the review. The first play, Much Ado About Nothing, shares some of the cast with the second and sometimes the third play. The actors that were only in Much Ado are: Ronnie Stringfellow who played Beatrice with some real sass and lovely, hilarious Kayla Smith as Hero (loved the hair swoop) (she also did a bit as Boy.)The multi-talented Topher Rasmussen (who makes a gorgeous blonde in Shrew) and the extraordinary Davey Morrison Dillard (also the star of Shrew) added to the cast of Much Ado.
The second play was Henry IV, Part 1. I admit, I’m not a big fan of Shakespeare’s histories simply because I don’t know that much English history. However, in this particular play we find Falstaff, who has been reputed to be one of Shakespeare’s finest characters. The young man who played Falstaff (Levi Brown) (who also played a woman, fully red bearded and all in one of the comedies) did such an amazing performance. Falstaff is a comic figure, a very rotund one! But Brown showed Falstaff’s vulnerability and love for Prince Hal in such a warm and nuanced way. Bravo! The delightful Eric Geels; the haunting and multi-talented James Bounous; gifted Jessamyn Svennson (who can juggle as we saw in the pre-show); skilled Jarom Blunt; the lovely, accomplished Bianca Morrison Dillard (in all three shows, she plays men more than women and does a fine job); funny and canny Lily Hye Soo Dixon; the winning Dominic Zappala; capable Cameron Thredgold; the talented Eric Geels; amazing Trevor Christensen (with his great laugh at each entrance in Much Ado; and Steven Pond finish out the cast of Henry IV, Part 1, and most were in Much Ado as well. As I’ve said, though I’m not a fan of histories, GSC made this enjoyable and understandable. The funny parts were really funny and the difficult (for me) parts were made clear.
For me, nobody does Shakespeare’s comedies better than Grassroots Shakespeare Company. I asked my husband, who’d never seen one of their performances, what he thought. He said, “It was as great as you said, but I didn’t think it was that going to be that silly and fun. If I could describe it in one word, I’d say “madcap”.” (He’s an English teacher. He actually says words like that.)
GSC’s comedies are like a delicious melding of song, dance, amazing blocking, terrific interpretations (and for me, they’re more like translations–regularly through their shows I think, Oh, so that’s what Shakespeare meant!) and color, words, and frivolity. They never cease to delight me.
The final show, The Taming of the Shrew can be described in one word: HI-LAR-I-OUS! Though all the players did fantastic, huge applause to Davey Morrison Dillard for being the crabbiest, most cantakerous, unlikeable female I’ve ever seen in a show. This is an all-male cast (as Shakespeare did in the old days) and Dillard plays one mean lady. The other person in the cast that deserves serious props is Jack Kyle Oram. He wasn’t originally cast in this show and jumped in at the last minute. Though at times he quite obviously held the script in his hand (and that made it just funnier), he did excellent character development and blithely handled this task. Good job!
The most amazing thing about the GSC system and also its actors is (this is from their website):
What we (don’t) do:
- No Director: Actors stage the show themselves.
- No Costumer: Actors bring their own costumes.
- No Lighting Designer: Actors play to a visible audience.
- No Tech Week: Only a few days for rehearsal.
- No Fourth Wall: The audience is part of the play.
- No Concept: The story tells itself.
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They need to add something about how they are all crazy good memorizers, as many of these actors were in all three plays. Have you ever tried to memorize Shakespeare? For me, one monologue is enough to make me burn up an enormous amount of gray cells. But these actors are spot on with their lines. They also bring in players they’ve had in the past to step in at the last, last minute.
GSC has an excellent fall season. Please check their website (http://bit.ly/13HnYnI) and Facebook page (http://on.fb.me/183YLDl) for more info.
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