Miss Piggy

Two things you'll never see in 21st century Shakespeare: A white guy playing a black (or green) dude and a woman who's not afraid to play her character as vulnerable and even a little bit weepy.

First rehearsal for Kingly the 2 was last night. We read through the play. My part--or parts--are a lot smaller than I thought, but I've got a couple of really nice monologues so that makes me happy.

The reason it makes me happy is because listening to these actors read reminds me of why I like doing Shakespeare.

Yes, YOU the actor know what you're saying. YOU have the script in front of you, etc. But lookit: The audience is going to need a little help. Let's face it, none of the people out in those folding chairs REALLY likes Shakespeare. It's something they endure because they think it's good for them--like medicine or a trip to the dentist.

It's high time actors realized their mission isn't to get on stage and act like they're better than the audience because they're doing SHAKESPEARE and you AREN'T. Their mission is to get the audience through the 3 hour production as painlessly as possible.

There is one thing...the one thing....the ONE thing....and I know I've mentioned this before....the ONE thing that really gets my goat in Shakespeare is....

Modern women.

There's this tendency with 21st century dames to make every Shakespeare female a shrew.

And Lawd, Lawd, Lawd. I wish they wouldn't.

I'm reminded of longtime 42nd Floorer A-Dub's performance as the confused, distressed wife in Comedy of Errors. It made so much sense. She was not only being true to the way Shakespeare wrote the character, but she was totally sympathetic. And funny and charming and all the things the character is supposed to be.

It was interesting.

I did Comedy a few years later at Everycity Shakespeare and the woman playing the wife played her as--guess what?--a shrew. And who wants to watch a crabby woman speaking in iambic pentameter for 2 1/2 hours?

I know I don't.

Winter's Tale was the same way. As Shakespeare wrote it, the gracious Queen is desperately, hopelessly confused but still very much in love with her nutty husband. But in our production, the actress played the Queen as being so angry and defensive you kind of thought, once Judge Hatchett brought out the surprise DNA test results that proved the child WAS the King's son, the Queen was going to drag the King's butt to divorce court.

The Queene in Kingly the 2 is supposed to be frightened, powerless, and ready to cry at the drop of a hat. Her kingdom is in tatters, her husband about to be captured and killed, and just about anybody could come up and lop off her head. Instead, she's playing it like Miss Piggy by way of the Queen of Hearts.

You don't have to play the character whiny and weepy all the way through...but just remember: sometimes it's in that perceived weakness that dignity and strength are made more evident. Raging against the tears and barking out orders to your ladies in waiting because things aren't going your way just makes you look like...Miss Piggy.