This might be interesting....

[cyrano]

This is the first year I've come to Ashland without having had a chance to pre-read the shows I'm going to see. Hamlet does not worry me, but I've never read Henry VI and I don't remember how familiar I am with Twelfth Night.

Comments

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Wikipedia or Cliff's Notes would be an excellent resource. :)

[jakejr.livejournal.com]

It's Henry IV Part I, btw. They typically do the Henry cycle in order from the start (and keep many of the actors in the same roles throughout), so the Henry VI plays should be a few years down the road. All you really need to know about it, I think, is that it's the beginning of the making of the man that will be Henry V, plus it has Falstaff.

And Twelfth Night is possibly my #1 favorite of the plays, but I doubt you need to have read it. This production in particular is played mostly as farce, so just kick back and enjoy. :-) Personally, I think there's something kind of pure and interesting about the experience of seeing a Shakespeare play I haven't read and analyzed to death, on the rare occasions I get to do it.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but it's not the same. The idea is to pre-hear the words, at least in my head, so that I don't spend all my energy deciphering what they're saying. I think my hearing issues play into this a lot.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

I tried that with King John, and I spent all my energy during the play trying to figure out what they were saying rather than what it meant or how it played out, or the actors's business or stuff like that.
Twelfth Night I'm probably familiar enough with that it won't be an issue, you're right. And thank you for the clarification on Henrys! I am indeed more familiar with that one.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Could be. I take your point, but I've found that a good set of actors can mitigate this quite a bit - if *you* know what you're saying, you can make it clearer through use of body language and such. I remember seeing a rather poor University production of King Lear and being completely confused, and then seeing Twelfth Night by a really good company (and director) some years later. The language was equally difficult, but the difference in comprehension was night and day.

[a-belletrist.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to hear what you think of all three of the shows. Especially Hamlet and Henry IV Part I.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

I definitely agree that a good presentation can help immensely, and Shakespeare will also do that G&S thing where he'll repeat the important stuff just to make sure y'all got it.
I haven't read Lear all the way through, but I would think that the concepts/language would be more subtle or intricate and thus trickier to convey. Does it still break down pretty much the same, when the play hits the proscenium so to speak?