Elections and Dictators - Firsts and Lasts

This weekend, I got to see the opening performance of Titus Andronicus and the closing show of Clown Elections.
The first is one of Shakespear's earliest plays which is rarely produced, the latter is an original play by the very prolific local Bil Marchand, whose film and TV credits speak like the who's who of Vancouver arts scene. Both a treat to see, but one ages better with time than the other.

Clown Elections has all the makings of a hit play

1. Great plot: two wannabe gay artists have run out of money, booze and drugs and are trying to pass the time brainfucking each other as they avoid work.
2. Great premise: we are in the living room of the two poor souls as they go up and down the emotional scale from masochism and sadism in their armchairs in a small theatre in the round.
3. Great poster: the actors are blond and brunette versions of mid-twenties' hotties who spend the whole play in their tattered underwear, jumping and bobbing across the stage.

The actors are unmistakably talented, one more than the other and the dialogue was very clever - and with a little refining, this play will be a huge hit. If it is ever remounted - which I hope it does, as not enough people got a chance to see this.

Speaking of remounts, just when you though there could not be another Shakespeare being produced...ENTER Titus Andronicus: one of the least mounted plays.

1. This production is rumored to have been a west coast premiere, which might have to do with the extreme violence depicted in the story as well as the fact that ...well, it just is not the best bit of the Bard.
2. United players is an Artist's CoOp which means that the actors are professionals and can handle the lines. Which they did, though it seemed a little hurried.
3. Relevance: remounting Shakespeare always seems to beg the question "why this now?" There were some hints of American Imperialism with Gitmo and the Goths being a stand in for the Arabs...but really a weak connection, one that never blossomed.

I was glad to see both of them, but I found Clown Elections had more of an impact hence value, whereas seeing another Shakespeare play sometime just ends up being that - another Shakespeare play. Don't get me wrong, I love reading them, as the words are quite lyrical and powerful, but they can easily get lost in a theatre production - unless of course that's your thing. But like Socrates in the Platonic dialogues, I often feel that he is writing just to hear himself speak. There are moments of great lucidity and insight, and the rhythm is unmistakable, but it can go on sometimes!

Clown Elections also goes on for a while, but it is the first time you are hearing them! Though a bit reminiscent of Who's Affraid of Virginia Wolf and the early works of Kassavetes, it is an original attempt at portraying a very specific time and headspace.

more on the value of focus and intention in art later.