Coyote Theater: Medea/MacBeth/Cinderella, Merry Wives of Windsor Iowa

[cyrano]

When he was in college, Bill Rauch heard something in class that gave him a wacky idea: what if you staged those three plays simultaneously?
I was ambivalent about this--it could be pretty awesome or it could be arty and pretentious.
In the end, it was... just sort of disappointing. I was hoping for some examination of themes and how they're different or the same, maybe some keen juxtaposition. But mostly, they just put all three plays on stage at the same time and had them run parallel. Interesting from a technical perspective, though.

Merry Wives of Windsor, Iowa is an updating, largely in blank verse, of Shakespeare's "You guys won't shut up until I write you more Falstaff" play. It was the period equivalent of a Ben Stiller movie, and even with presidential politics and same sex marriage it still carries itself about like that. It was cotton candy fun.

Note on Henry V from last night: This show doesn't end after the nearly bloodless triumph at Agincourt. It doesn't end when Henry triumphantly accepts All Of France from his fellow king. It doesn't end when he successfully woos the French princess in his martial humor. It ends with the chorus coming out and saying "This was all really great, but then Henry VI took over and he was an incompetent fucksock and he lost everything they had gained and then some. Everybody died and then the dog ran away. Good night, everybody, and don't forget to tip your waitress!" End it on an up note, guys.